Stupid Elf Tricks...

[Gurthang]

This may have been brought up before, but I have not seen it. Thus the creation of this thread.

Everyone knows, and most despise, Legolas' Mumakil stunt in RotK. Likewise, we find the drinking contest in TTT rather far-fetched and disturbing. Both scenes make Legolas look too much like superman rather than just an elf. This is bothersome because he is just that: an elf.

But what I think most of us overlook is our princeling's little trick in the Fellowship. Now, most of you are probably wondering what I am talking about, and I would have done the same until this thought suddenly came upon me. I'm talking about Legolas' little battle with the cave troll in Moria.

Now, at the time I probably laughed a little 'that was a bit over the top' laugh when I first saw the movie, but let it slide. But it really is about equally improbable as the other two occurences. The fact that he tight-rope walks a moving chain onto the back of a live troll and then just stands there for a second to draw his bow and shoot it in the head is as close to impossible as makes no difference. He then lithely hops down when the thing begins to swing in circles. Not something you'd see just anybody doing. Well, not something Legolas should be doing, anyway.

But what I'm wondering, apart from if anyone agrees with me, is why do we all overlook this scene? Many of us say that PJ got more and more over the top as the movies came out, but this shows the three to be more consistent than we first thought. So why are we always pointing to the other two stunts and forgetting this one?

[Essex]

Yes, it's almost as ridiculous as putting on a magic ring that would make you invisible...........

[The Saucepan Man]

... or an Elf running on snow without making an imprint ...

[Gurthang]

Fine, Essex, you're right; in the context of a fantasy world anything is possible. My point was that people seem to nit-pick Legolas for his later stunts, but they ignore the one that I saw in the Fellowship. That's what doesn't make sense to me.

[The Saucepan Man]

I would cite two main reasons.

First, as you hinted in your opening post, it is the first time that we see a Legolas "stunt", so it doesn't stand out particularly in the scheme of things.

Secondly, it is more in keeping with Legolas' nature as an agile Elven warrior. The shield surfing (which I don't like) and the Oliphaunt climbing (to a lesser extent, in my opinion) are more likely to "break the spell" and take us out of the story because they are less in keeping with the Legolas we know from the book and also, possibly, because we are catching on that Legolas "stunts" are becoming "set-piece" features of the films.

I would note that another Legolas moment that seems to attract little criticism is his twisting leap onto the back of his moving horse, although I still maintain that it was an anatomically impossible feat.

[Roa_Aoife]

Perhaps not anatomically impossible, but certainly in violation of the laws of Physics. Saucy makes good points, but I think another reason these stunt stand out so much is their incredible similarity to extreme sports. Legolas looks less like an Elf doing typical Elf stuff, and more like a skateboarder or surfer. It certainly breaks some of the believability when we are confronted with something so modern and familiar when we are supposed to be drawn into a strange and ancient world.

[Glirdan]

But see, the thing with that is that tight-rope walking, no matter how uncommon it is, is still, technically, a modern day thing. I think this one is over looked because of the fact that after the snow walking thing (which I really don't like), everyone thinks that Legolas can do anything. That was the impression I got. I think the other thing is that PJ wanted to develop the Elves a little more than they were described in the books. In the books, Elves are described as being light footed and agile. All of the stunts in the movies show this characteristic of the Elves. The ones in the Fellowship more so than the ones later on.

Saucy, I agree with you about Legolas's little twirl onto the horse. I thought it was cool at first, but now it just bugs me to the point of death. I hate it when he goes and defies the laws of gravity!!

[Morsul the Dark]

Originally Posted by Roa_Aoife

Perhaps not anatomically impossible, but certainly in violation of the laws of Physics. Saucy makes good points, but I think another reason these stunt stand out so much is their incredible similarity to extreme sports. Legolas looks less like an Elf doing typical Elf stuff, and more like a skateboarder or surfer. It certainly breaks some of the believability when we are confronted with something so modern and familiar when we are supposed to be drawn into a strange and ancient world.

maybe PJ madfe legolas Captain obvious to match this skateboarder image

Originally Posted by Gurthang

This may have been brought up before, but I have not seen it. Thus the creation of this thread.

Everyone knows, and most despise, Legolas' Mumakil stunt in RotK. Likewise, we find the drinking contest in TTT rather far-fetched and disturbing. Both scenes make Legolas look too much like superman

hey, i take offense to that