February 21, 2003

Haldir
Ingvanye

I just wanted to say that the Elves arriving at Helms Deep was a beautiful and moving addition. We had not seen the extended FOTR when we saw TTT, and all we had seen of Haldir, was the one or two minutes in the original release. When the camera panned down after the arrival of the Elven troops, and there was Haldir, we all cheered! In that second, he became a hero. The death scene was managed beautifully by Craig Parker, with the SloMo accentuating his expressions almost hauntingly. Very impressive job from Mr Parker, and great camera work from the crew. Not a 'cryer', I was lost for the rest of the film! And it still happens each time I see it. We then rushed out and bought the extended version of FOTR, and discovered more impressive work from Craig Parker. It's a shame we don't see him credited a bit more, he deserves it. NZ should be very proud of their product. Marton Csokas deserves more screen time, the extended version showed that need as well. PJ has sold his country to us, and the people too. Being just over the water in OZ, we feel proud of Peter, Craig and Marton, and all the other homegrown talent. What say you all?