Agreed.

: However that does not mean to say that peoples from a certain region of ME could possess such an accent, such as all of those from Gondor.

: Gondor would, I believe be the least offensive (I use this word with reservation) since it would mean that those who I believe should not possess an American accent, would not. Such as:

: Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Rangers, Istari, Rohirrim, Orcs, Nazgul, etc

"Least offensive" may be a gentle way of putting it. I still would argue that any distinct American accents will be jarring in the context of Middle Earth.

: And lets face it, apart from the whining tone that you 'may' encounter in the southern states of the USA, a soft, unharsh American accent is not that unpleasant.

Very charitable of you!

: It's just that a bloody of a lot of American's are Xenophobic as hell and a lot of non-American's return the favour which, unfortunately, effects much of what is said by them.

Xenophobic? Or patriotic? From your tone, it sounds as though you view the two as synonymous. There's a strong line between, hmmm, what I might term healthy national pride and sabre-rattling jingoism. But I think it fair to point out that our punters haven't beaten up any Tunisians, Belgians, or Italians in recent memory. In any case, we prefer cruise missiles for that kind of thing, and as we like to say over here, it's strictly business, not personal.

: Anyway, the point being, PJ has a tough decision and I believe he would do well to include a measure of American accent in the movie. Not because it *SHOULD* be there, but because it is going to *HAVE* to be there. And since it has to be there, let it be from one region of ME so that, 1-the accent is not scattered all over Arda, which would be very bad, and 2-there is less chance of alienating the American audience (which *HAS* to be a consideration, no matter what anyone else has said here).

I disagree. As I pointed out here recently, ELIZABETH and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE are doing brisk business over here, with not a lick of American dialect to be found in either (even if some of the actors *are* American). And there are dozens of recent foreign films which have done well here without the ubiquitous Yankee accent. Indeed, hardly any of the leads in the upcoming Star Wars movie are American. I think American audiences are quite open to the English or Commonwealth accent if it's the right movie. And LOTR has the built-in fan base to give the filmmakers that kind of flexibility. The accents don't all need to be distinctly English; however, I do think English or Commonwealth accents, in general, will fit the work far better than most American accents would. Otherwise, you risk winding up with ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES.

: Padster
: (English - well actually I like to think I'm European...hmmmm...well actually Tellurian (resident of Terra), but then again I'm not a raving homicidal Nationalist (or patriot as some like to call it and I like to think that we are all in this together rather than silly little groups hiding behind national borders - OUCH - someone just knocked me of my soap box!!)

Hey, just because y'all lost *your* empire doesn't mean we need to be partakin' of this global group hug...:-)

A brief aside: Having spent a good deal of time in the antipodes and Europe, I have to agree that any sense of nationalism is significantly more muted than you find in the U.S. When it does manifest itself, it's generally in cultural or, ah, athletic contexts. But I suppose fierce nationalism has a rather dubious track record in Europe this century...

Tellurian?!?!?!?!?