[Elotareth]

I definately have to agree with the "star-studded cast" point. In many cases, especially Jackson's, casting immensely talented no-name actors can be a wonderful thing, as LotR is a testament to. Often, it is difficult to publicize a film like this, but LotR obviously is such a cultural phenomena that it will draw its own audience even if they are only coming out of sheer curiosity to see if it was possible to make a good movie out of Tolkien's epic. <BR>A slightly less "successful" example of no-name casting can be seen in the new Star Wars. I put successful in quotations because it is certainly a box office hit, but the acting is very lukewarm. (Can something be <I>very</I> lukewarm?) Star Wars (of which, I should add, I still remain a big fan of regardless) has its strength in the special effects department and Lucas has done no-name casting, it seems, just because he can and still get a large draw from the film's other elements. So I guess my point is that no-name casting can be a brilliant tool or something that totally drags the movie down. Jackson has, in my opinion, used it to the best of it's advantage.<BR>Oh, and thanks for the encouragement. I am well aware of the competition in the business and will do my very best to do my part in helping the industry along in getting more movies made at the quality level of LotR (even if they will never live up to the story )