For years I wished that someone would come along and create a film version of the Lord of the Rings that would do justice to the books... and then Peter Jackson did. I loved his LOTR films. Yes, there are plenty of things that appear in the books which didn't make it into the movie. (How many people who just want to see an action flick would get into action-hero Aragorn reciting poetry? Or that diversion with Tom Bombadil? Great writing, but not essential to the plot. Of course, I'm still disappointed that there was no Scouring of the Shire, as I felt that chapter exemplified the growth of its characters over the course of the story. I'm also annoyed that Jackson didn't do more to show that Eowyn and Faramir fall in love, other than having them stand next to one another while smiling.) Yes, there were some scenes which weren't actually penned by Tolkien (Elves coming to Helm's Deep? Arwen kicking ass? Faramir taking Frodo to Osgiliath?) but which I felt did work well into a movie.
I've mentioned before how absolutely thrilled I was with Peter Jackson's choice of Orlando Bloom for Legolas in his LOTR trilogy... and I think Jackson did a splendiferous job in his casting choices for LOTR *except* for his choice of Liv Tyler as Arwen. Yeah, he gets points for giving her a sword and letting her save Frodo from the Ringwraiths, but Liv Tyler? For those who never read the books, Arwen is supposedly the most beautiful woman (er, elf) on the planet. Can you honestly tell me that this chick is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?
I've mentioned before how absolutely thrilled I was with Peter Jackson's choice of Orlando Bloom for Legolas in his LOTR trilogy... and I think Jackson did a splendiferous job in his casting choices for LOTR *except* for his choice of Liv Tyler as Arwen. Yeah, he gets points for giving her a sword and letting her save Frodo from the Ringwraiths, but Liv Tyler? For those who never read the books, Arwen is supposedly the most beautiful woman (er, elf) on the planet. Can you honestly tell me that this chick is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?
I'm not entirely sure who I would choose as the most beautiful woman in the world (suggestions?) but not Liv!
For some reason she was also cast as Tatyana in the 1999 screen adaptation of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. As a lover of Russian lit and language, I've read Onegin quite a few times (in both English and Russian, I might add). For those who aren't familiar with the story, there's this rich cat Onegin who is essentially above it all - love, duty, responsibility - he's wholly disinterested... and then he runs across this Tatyana chick and she totally discombobulates his reality. He falls hard. Again... Liv Tyler?? Are you kidding me?
11 comments:
I'm having a hard time thinking of an actress who wouldn't have been upstaged by Mirando Otto as Eowyn. A younger Nicole Kidman, maybe? In any event, Liv Tyler certainly isn't she. Like that scene where Frodo collapses, blue-lipped and twitching, with his eyes rolling up into his head, and Liv's all fake-teary, like, "Frodo! No!" even though she just met him 10 minutes previously? If there was an oscar for "most insincere performance," she'd have won it.
I, for one, was severely miffed about not getting to see Tom Bombadil (Master of wood, water, and hill and nearly always speaking or singing in stress-timed metre) and his wife, Goldberry. Talk about hard to cast though.
As for "Arwen, who is supposedly the most beautiful woman (er, elf) on the planet," have you seen their planet, er...middle earth. It is inhabited by trolls, hobbits, ents, wraiths, etc. It's not a world of beauty contestants with flawless bodies wearing swimsuits. Maybe she is all that they have. I was also disappointed in the casting of Eowyn, but maybe this was the best that Peter Jackson could do because some actors did not want to be associated with a fantasy movie directed by a relatively unknown director tackling such a ginormous and ambitious project, and others did not care to spend so much of their time locked into shooting three time consuming back-to-back movies on the other side of the planet (Sean Connery).
Casting: Arwen—Natalie Portman actually looks elfish, but is a tad too short. In a few years Emma Watson could fit the bill. There are many beautiful actors who don't fit the height, age, or pale skin type: Audrey Tautou, Emmanuelle Chirqui, Kristen Bell, Aishwarya rai, Diane Lane, Juliette Binoche, Thandie Newton, Zhang Ziyi, Maggie Q, Jennifer Connelly, Amanda Peet, well, you get the picture.
My personal pick based on type would have been Evangeline Lilly, but she wasn't on the map yet as Lost is relatively new. So, I would have chosen the safe bet, Gwyneth Paltrow ahead of Liv Tyler as my Arwen, but neither are the most beautiful woman on my planet.
Lucky13 - well, in theory, even though Arwen had just met Frodo, she would have been well apprised of his importance and probably would have been upset over his imminent demise, despite having just met him. However, I agree that her acting was lame-o.
John - I've always pictured Tom Bombadil looking rather a lot like Tom Baker's Dr Who. I'd have liked to see Goldberry and Tom, but I also understand how if you're looking for something to cut out of a lengthy story, characters who only have one brief appearance are the ones to chop.
Despite the existence of trolls and orcs and various other ugliy beasts, the books make it pretty clear that elves are beautiful, and Arwen is essentially the most beautiful of the bunch (except perhaps her distant ancestress Luthien, of whom Arwen was supposedly the spitting image). While I wouldn't have expected Arwen to look like Miss Universe or Miss USA, she certainly would have looked better than Liv!
I think Audrey Tautou would have been awesome as Arwen (given how heights were skewed for so many of the characters in those flicks, she totally could have played the part).
Why didn't you like Miranda Otto as Eowyn? I loved her! The only thing I didn't like was the fact that her kick-ass awesome line of "No mortal man am I" (from the book) was changed in the movie to "I am no man" - which wasn't Otto's fault.
I always pictured Tom Bombadil's face as looking like a cross between Dudley Moore and Martin Short.
Not that I'm proud of that.
I expected the two women to be near Strider's equal--the likes of BSG women, or Xena and Callisto (of course, Lucy Lawless is in both). Angelina Jolie could have been Arwen though.
Are you serious? There is nothing wrong with Liv Tyler in this role!
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wow i cant believe you dont think liv tyler is beautiful... she was a totally awesome arwen. i do agree with having orlando bloom as legolas though... total hottie! :)
Please, Liv has been one of the most beatiful women alive, personaly, I didn't like too much her looks in LOTR but, have you ever seen her in stealing beaty, empire recors, heavy...? She was perfect for her role of Tatiana Larina in Onegin and also a great Arwen although I think she has lost too much beauty and personaly Claudia Linx is the most beatiful woman alive.
God are you friggin joking...Liv Taylor was AMAZING in this role! great acting on all the characters parts as well!
Liv Tyler was perfect for the role and did an excellent job. I think the reason why people didn't like her wasn't her acting, but the fact that she has very oddly placed, small breasts, which most certainly denies her the title of most beautiful woman of all time. Still, her facial features are gorgeous, especially her eyes. Overall Liv Tyler is very Tolkien-esque elven in the movie. Really beauty is so subjective that no matter what someone is going to be pissed off.. I think Angelina Jolie, for example, is atrociously ugly.
I thought Liv was an ok choice and did a pretty good job. However, my #1 choice to play Arwen would have been Angie Harmon.
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