Best Movie Casting Ever?

[Ford Prefect]

Okay, so here's the twin to the Worst Movie Casting thread.

My vote goes to Jamie Foxx in Ray. Foxx nailed Ray Charles.

[surferguy]

Emile Hursch (spell?) for his future portrayal of Billy Corgon's life story.

[4X4]

Holy crap, I agree (with the OP about JF in Ray).

I also think that Joaquin Phoenix did an awesome job in Walk the Line.

Al Pacino pulls off one of the best mafia performances in Godfather II and also does a great job in Scarface. But I'm not a big fan of most of his other movies.

Chris Tucker as Smokey in Friday, FTW!

[Swarly]

Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Close this thread.

[Nehkara]

I will choose an obvious one:

Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

...and one of my favourites:

V for Vendetta

Hugo Weaving as V
-and-
John Hurt as Adam Sutler

[FlamesAddiction]

Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing... I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that roll as well as he did it.

And for as average as Val Kilmer is in so many movies, I thought he played Jim Morrison really well in The Doors.

Also, Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy. He seemed like he was perfect in it, but I don't care for him in too many other things.

[flip]

Patrick Stewart as Prof X. That man was born to play him.

Keaton as Batman. Everyone laughed when this was first announced but he did an excellent job I thought. Right up there with Bale's performance, only Bale had the better scripts and directors and cast etc.

Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. The guy can't act his way out of a paper bag, but can you really imagine anyone else pulling off "Whoa" as well as he did?

Chuck Heston in the Ten Commandments. He was born to play Moses.

The guy who played J. Jonah Jameson in the Spidey movies. He captured what I thought was going to be an untransferable character.

Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects.

Anything with Peter Sellers, especially The Party and the Pink Panther movies.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Heath Ledger, of course, was spectacular. Mickey Rourke as Randy the Ram was awesome too.

Others:
- Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector
- Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia

[Galakanokis]

Newman in Cool Hand Luke. Well Newman in just about anything...

Bruce Campbell as Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep.

[Ford Prefect]

Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing... I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that roll as well as he did it.

And for as average as Val Kilmer is in so many movies, I thought he played Jim Morrison really well in The Doors.

Also, Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy. He seemed like he was perfect in it, but I don't care for him in too many other things.

Definitely agree. Kilmer is a hard guy for me to figure out. He's done some brilliant stuff and is one of my favourite actors when he does a good role. But when he sucks, man does he ever suck hard. It seems like either one extreme or the other with him.

[flip]

The entire cast of Fargo.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack was also awesome.

[calf]

Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd in the Back to the Future Trilogy

[evilcougar]

johnny depp in Blow
tim robbins and morgan freeman in shawshank redemption
kevin spacey, helen hunt and haley joel osment in pay it forward.'
julia roberts in erin brokovich
and agree with all the good comments on wil smith. absolutley BRILLIANT in pursuit of happiness. haven't seen a movie with him in it yet that i hated.

[awildermode]

i forgot what movie it was, but...Samuel L. Jackson as an angry black man that swears, a lot.

[awildermode]

Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd in the Back to the Future Trilogy

best trilogy...EVER!

...and DMC-12 as the Time Machine was great casting.

[KTrain]

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Ironman

[Hack&Lube]

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6687/bonhamsreevesupermanpubcx9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/bonhamsreevesupermanpubcx9.jpg/1/w450.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img24/bonhamsreevesupermanpubcx9.jpg/1/)

No one can ever fill this man's boots. Another reason why the new Superman movie (and new movies) will suck.

[rubecube]

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh.

[MarchHare]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman perfectly nailed Lester Bangs in Almost Famous.

[wpgflamesfan]

Not movies but Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold and Michael C Hall as Dexter Morgan.

[fatso]

I always thought Cameron Diaz was perfect in 'Something About Mary'. Relatively unknown at the time, she was beautiful but seemingly accessible. Seemed the success of the movie turned largely on believing all those schlubs would be in love with her and think they have a chance to get her.

[Thor]

Daniel Day Lewis in almost every damn movie he's in, There will be blood, Last of the Mohican's, Gangs of New York, In the Name of the Father...

His roles in Gangs and Blood were two amazing performances.

[Papi34]

Emile Hirsh in Into the Wild
Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones
The entire cast of How i Met Your Mother
Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan
Elisha Cuthburt in The Girl Next Door

[blankall]

My favorite Val Kilmer role is Doc Holiday in Tombstone.

Best casting ever goes to Christian Bale in American Psycho.

Honorable mention.... Arnie as the Terminator and/or Conan.
The cast of Ghostbusters.
Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector.
Edward Norton in American History X
Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler
Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
Johny Depp as Edward Scissor Hands
and a perhaps controversial one of Jack Nicholson as the Joker
Any movie where Keanu Reeves is expected to play a robot

[Dion]

Charlize Theron for her role as Aileen Wuornos in the movie Monster.

[3 Justin 3]

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer.
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.

[evilcougar]

Not movies but Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold and Michael C Hall as Dexter Morgan.

LOVE dexter morgan...the whole cast is awesome. love the sister as well.
also morpheous (whats his name?) in CSI.

[Textcritic]

• John Lithgow as the angry missionary in At Play in the Fields of the Lord (a must see if you haven't already), and reciprocally, Harrison Ford as the angry atheist in The Mosquito Coast.
• Anthony Hopkins as President John Q. Adams in Amistad.
• Alan Arkin as Martin Blank's unwilling psychiatrist in Gross Point Blank (this was a classic).
• Christopher Guest and Eugene Levi in anything that they have ever done together.

[fotze]

LOVE dexter morgan...the whole cast is awesome. love the sister as well.
also morpheous (whats his name?) in CSI.Larry Fishburne was great in Boys in the Hood and Deep Cover, don't know why he never got more popular.

[CaramonLS]

Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Mickey Rourke in Sin City.....he was awesome in that movie.
Arnie as the Terminator, I cant imagine that movie without him in it

Oh and I heard Charlton Heston is going to be playing Moses in:

Canucks: Nearly 40 years of disappoinment.

[Sylvanfan]

i forgot what movie it was, but...Samuel L. Jackson as an angry black man that swears, a lot.

Well whoever cast him for Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction be it Tarantino or a casting agent deserves a lot of credit. Since that role, Jackson has probably played that role or something similar in 30% of the movies made in Hollywood.

[IgnitedSoul]

I think the whole cast for the LOTR movies was pretty much spot-on.

Another TV one that must be mentioned, Hugh Laurie as House.

[Eastern Girl]

Pretty much the whole cast of Arrested Development, if we are mentioning tv.

[wpgflamesfan]

Another TV one that must be mentioned, Hugh Laurie as House.

I gotta disagree. The show sucks as a whole for me.

Duchovney as Hank Moody has to also be mentioned.

[Ford Prefect]

Daniel Day Lewis in almost every damn movie he's in, There will be blood, Last of the Mohican's, Gangs of New York, In the Name of the Father...

His roles in Gangs and Blood were two amazing performances.

Don't forget My Left Foot.

[MJK]

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

http://sportsmed.starwave.com/media/pg2/2002/0715/photo/gooding_i.jpg

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Pretty much the whole cast of Arrested Development, if we are mentioning tv.

But hopefully it'll be a movie and, oh god, I hope it's soon!

[3 Justin 3]

I think the whole cast for the LOTR movies was pretty much spot-on.

Another TV one that must be mentioned, Hugh Laurie as House.

Have to agree, was just going to mention Laurie as I am watching House now. And the LORT casting was pretty superb.

[Superflyer]

Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam
Vin Diesel in Fast and the Furious
Jenna Jameson in I dream of Jenna
Micheal Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor in Smallville
Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, really just about any of his movies.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

The cast of American Pie. It's hard to think of many of the actors without thinking of their role in this movie.

The cast of Casino. DeNiro was awesome as always but Pesci, Stone, Woods were great as well. Hell, Don freaking Rickles was an inspired choice for his role.

[OutOfTheCube]

Daniel Craig as James Bond. Adds a completely new dimension to the character, and the movies have never been better.

[shinyDark]

i forgot what movie it was, but...Samuel L. Jackson as an angry black man that swears, a lot.

Pretty sure that was Die Hard 3... f'in' awesome!!!

[BlackEleven]

Forest Whitaker in Last King of Scotland
Dustin Hoffman in Rainman
Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas

[evilcougar]

just about anything tom hanks, anthony hopkins, kevin spacey and robin williams do. all are awesome actors, and have yet to disappoint me.

[C_Rush]

Forest Whitaker in Last King of Scotland
Dustin Hoffman in Rainman
Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas

Sweet Jumpin' Jesus, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bigtmac19]

Definitely another vote for Matt Damon in the Bourne movies and Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan.
Damien Lewis in Band of Brothers

[shinyDark]

The entire cast Shawshank, Green Mile, the Harry Potter movies, Die Hard, Firefly/Serenity...

[burnin_vernon]

Willem Dafoe -Boondock Saints
Malcolm Mcdowell - Clockwork Orange
Sean Penn & Al Pacino - Carlitos Way
Vince Vaughn - Swingers
Ben Kingsley - Sexy beast
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Steve Buscemi & Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs
Randy Quaid - National Lampoon Vacation
Steve Martin & John Candy - Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Dennis Hopper - Blue Velvet
R Lee Ermey - Full Metal Jacket

[stuck_in_chuk]

Keanu Reeves in the Bill & Ted movies - very convincing as a complete doofus moron.

Christopher Walken in The Dead Zone.

I liked David Strathairn in Sneakers.

Johnny Lee Miller as Sick Boy in Trainspotting. Heck, Ewan McGregor as Rents and the guy who played Spud were awesome as well.

[C_Rush]

Arnold as the Terminator.

[BlackEleven]

Sweet Jumpin' Jesus, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the guy is terrible in pretty well ever other movie he's done, but he was perfect for that part.

[habernac]

Forest Whitaker in Last King of Scotland
Dustin Hoffman in Rainman
Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas

the man once known as easy reader is maybe the best voice in Hollywood now. He can narrate anything.

[Dion]

Pretty much the whole cast in "Stand by Me"

[rubecube]

just about anything tom hanks, anthony hopkins, kevin spacey and robin williams do. all are awesome actors, and have yet to disappoint me.

Robin Williams is easily the most overrated actor there is. He has one or two good movies on his resume and the rest are suck.

The Good:

Fisher King
Good Will Hunting
Awakenings
Dead Poets Society

The Mediocre:

Popeye
Mrs. Doubtfire
Jumanji
All of his voice work (e.g. Aladdin)


The Suck:

Good Morning Vietnam
License to Wed (most god-awful thing I've ever encountered)
Patch Adams
Jack
Death to Smoochy
Insomnia
The Night Listener
Final Cut
Man of the Year
RV
Bicentennial Man
Jakob the Liar
The World According to Garp
What Dreams May Come (Second biggest piece of crap I've ever seen)


The guy has pretty much phoned in every role since 1990.

[Papi34]

I forgot Shia Lebeuf in Transformers. Great actor

[onetwo_threefour]

Humphrey Bogart
- Casablanca

That is all.

[octothorp]

This question is much more difficult than the 'worst casting' one; good casting is casting that just seems so obvious in retrospect. That said, some that stand out for me are Brando in Apocalypse Now, Spacey in Usual Suspects, and Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men. Hmm, weird that the first three that came to mind are all super-villains.

[Igottago]

Probably the only thing that Star Wars Episodes 1-3 got right, was casting Ewan McGregor. He really seemed like a young Alec Guiness.

Peter O' Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. Possibly the greatest acting peformance ever.

Marlin Brando in the Godfather. Actually, pretty much the entire cast of Godfather 1 & 2.

Not a movie, but James Gandalfini in the Sopranos. The show would'n't have been nearly as amazing as it was without perfectly casting someone who could pull of the complexity of Tony Soprano.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Not a movie, but James Gandalfini in the Sopranos. The show would'n't have been nearly as amazing as it was without perfectly casting someone who could pull of the complexity of Tony Soprano.

Agreed, I can't imagine the show without him....I can see other guys playing characters like Christopher, Paulie or Silvio. but not Tony, and I thought Edie Falco as Carmela was very well cast as well. I thought she was brilliant in the show. The Season 4 finale where Tony and Carm decide to separate was amazing television. Their fight scenes were so intense and seemed so true to life, it was great.

My fav line of that episode, and maybe of the show was when Carmela said in regards to Tony's cheating, "You've had quite the time on my watch".....awesome.

[Buff]

Probably the only thing that Star Wars Episodes 1-3 got right, was casting Ewan McGregor. He really seemed like a young Alec Guiness.

Peter O' Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. Possibly the greatest acting peformance ever.

Marlin Brando in the Godfather. Actually, pretty much the entire cast of Godfather 1 & 2.

Not a movie, but James Gandalfini in the Sopranos. The show would'n't have been nearly as amazing as it was without perfectly casting someone who could pull of the complexity of Tony Soprano.

I thought he was a perfect Obi-Wan Kenobi. I even like the casting of Samuel Jackson as Mace Windu.

Band of Brothers was another show/series that was perfectly cast. Every last character, even David Schwimmer was right for his role.

[Sainters7]

Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd in the Back to the Future Trilogy

YES!!! On a side note, my girlfriend got me the trilogy for Valentine's Day. We had 1.21 gigawatts of fun that night!

[habernac]

I thought he was a perfect Obi-Wan Kenobi. I even like the casting of Samuel Jackson as Mace Windu.

Band of Brothers was another show/series that was perfectly cast. Every last character, even David Schwimmer was right for his role.

the whole series was awesome, but I was very happy to see his performance. It was about as far from Ross as you could get. I hope their series about the battle in the pacific is half as good.

[driveway]

My choices for great casting:

John Leguizamo as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet

Paul Bettany as Chaucer in A Knight's Tale

Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in The Crow

Alan Ford as Bricktop in Snatch

[octothorp]

YES!!! On a side note, my girlfriend got me the trilogy for Valentine's Day. We had 1.21 gigawatts of fun that night!

Also Crispin Glover in the first one is brilliant casting.

[bigtmac19]

My choices for great casting:

John Leguizamo as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet

Paul Bettany as Chaucer in A Knight's Tale

Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in The Crow

Alan Ford as Bricktop in Snatch

Yes, I agree, two more awesome choices.

[malcolmk14]

What about Russell Brand in Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

[mykalberta]

Pacino in Scent of a Woman

Jackman as Wolverine

Langella as Nixon

James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader

[Galakanokis]

Nick Sutton as Tummler and Jacob Reynolds as Solomon in Gummo.

[VladtheImpaler]

Traci Lords in New Wave Hookers. :ph34r:

[MattyC]

I have to give another couple shoutouts to the Dark Knight.

Of course Heath Ledger

But also Gary Oldman as Lt./Comm. Gordon IMO was the best choice by far to play a young Gordon

[Gozer]

Micheal Douglas in Traffic

[Galakanokis]

I have to give another couple shoutouts to the Dark Knight.

Of course Heath Ledger

But also Gary Oldman as Lt./Comm. Gordon IMO was the best choice by far to play a young Gordon


Gary Oldman is awesome. He was great in The Professional, Romeo is Bleeding and Immortal Beloved.

[cyclone3483]

I love this thread...I really had to think about it. I won't repeat any of the ones I've already seen posted, but just mention some I didn't notice yet.

Robin Williams and Freddie Highmore in August Rush. Their chemistry on screen was infinitely compelling. Fine movie, fine soundtrack, somewhat schlocky love story, but Highmore's single-minded drive to follow the music in his head and Williams struggle to control his emotional swings from joy, fear, love, and hate...well, something to behold.

Jim Carrey in The Truman Show, Man On The Moon, and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. He's had a career filled with stinkers, but the man can truly act with the right material, and Oscar will find him one day.

Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy in Shrek (just the first one). You know you love their work in that one AND you can't imagine anyone else doing it. It puts other voice-over work (including their own sequels) to shame.

Gary Oldman in....everything. He is a chameleon, takes on roles like a second skin. You will sometimes watch a movie and not realize Oldman is in it because he is THAT talented.

And Keanu Reeves in...nothing. Seriously. Ever.

[J pold]

I forgot Shia Lebeuf in Transformers. Great actor
Kill it!

Kill it with fire!

Mutt Williams? Really?

[peter12]

Kill it!

Kill it with fire!

Mutt Williams? Really?

Haha.

I'll throw one out there, DiCaprio in Blood Diamond is excellent.

[Displaced Flames fan]

If Daniel Day-Lewis is cast in your movie? Money.

[Eastern Girl]

Haha.

I'll throw one out there, DiCaprio in Blood Diamond is excellent.

Djimon Hounsou was fantastic in that as well.

I will throw in Alan Rickman in pretty much anything. I think he's a great actor. He was even great as the Sheriff in Robin Hood. Costner... not so much.

[J pold]

Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

[spydermal]

The Simpson family in The Simpsons Movie. Spot on.

[J pold]

Marlin Brando in the Godfather. Actually, pretty much the entire cast of Godfather 1 & 2.

Not a movie, but James Gandalfini in the Sopranos. The show would'n't have been nearly as amazing as it was without perfectly casting someone who could pull of the complexity of Tony Soprano.
Great post have to agree with all.

[bigtmac19]

I will probably get slammed over this, but am I the only person on here who absolutely cannot stand Daniel Day Lewis, nor any movie of his?
Gangs of New York was the biggest piece of trash I've ever seen.

[peter12]

I will probably get slammed over this, but am I the only person on here who absolutely cannot stand Daniel Day Lewis, nor any movie of his?
Gangs of New York was the biggest piece of trash I've ever seen.

Average movie with Daniel Day Lewis being the only shining exception.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I will probably get slammed over this, but am I the only person on here who absolutely cannot stand Daniel Day Lewis, nor any movie of his?
Gangs of New York was the biggest piece of trash I've ever seen.

He was excellent in it.

Not a great movie, but far from the biggest piece of trash I've ever seen.

[Machiavelli]

nm

[mrdeeds]

Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Marc Singer as The Beastmaster.

[Jason14h]

Adam Sandler in the Waterboy.

W-W-W-W-Waterboy

[agubuan]

Howard Stern as Howard Stern in Private Parts.

[Puxlut]

Kevin Spacey-Usual Suspects
Al Pacino-Scent of a Woman
Bill Murray-Caddy Shack
John Leguizamo-Carlito's Way
Jason Mewes-in any Kevin Smith movie
James Franco-Pineapple Express
Leo Fitzpatrick-Kids (that guy creeps me out)
John Cleese-Fawlty Towers
Dustin Hoffman-Rain Man
Jack Nicholson-One flew over the cuckoos nest
Billy Bob-Slingblade
Ed Norton-American history X
Gary Oldman-Fith Element

Not quite sure who did Hunter Thompson better...

[Swarly]

Morgan Freeman in any movie he narrates.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The entire cast od Glenngary/Glenn Ross

[Phanuthier]

I guess of the ones not mentioned yet, Christian Bale in The Machinest and American Psycho (and Batman).

Elisha Cuthburt in The Girl Next Door... I had the biggest crush on her after seeing that movie.

[Dion]

John Candy and Steve Martin - Planes Trains & Automobiles.

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[Dion]

Kevin Spacey - K-Pax

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[Ford Prefect]

Here's one I find kind of weird ... The Flintstones. I thought John Goodman and Rosie O'Donnell was perfectly cast in that movie, but I still totally hated the movie. I can't think of another movie with great casting, (Rick Moranis excluded) that I hate as much as The Flintstones movie.

And why are evil characters so easy to cast? Just hire Christopher Walken, John Malkovich or Anthony Hopkins and voila.

[bigtmac19]

Here's one I find kind of weird ... The Flintstones. I thought John Goodman and Rosie O'Donnell was perfectly cast in that movie, but I still totally hated the movie. I can't think of another movie with great casting, (Rick Moranis excluded) that I hate as much as The Flintstones movie.

And why are evil characters so easy to cast? Just hire Christopher Walken, John Malkovich or Anthony Hopkins and voila.

Edward Norton also makes a great evil character.

[octothorp]

Edward Norton also makes a great evil character.

Not to mention Malcolm McDowell!

[psycho_demonata]

how about the cast from Big Fat Greek Wedding lol. They're not well known but they were good.

Arnold Vosloo as the The Mummy Imhotep

[PsYcNeT]

Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore

[Boblobla]

Not to mention Malcolm McDowell!

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite villains.

[Ford Prefect]

The entire cast od Glenngary/Glenn Ross

Or better yet, the entire cask of Glenngarry or Glennross.:)

[nfotiu]

Robin Dunne in the trifecta of awesome sequels to Cruel Intentions, American Psycho and The Skulls.

[troutman]

Hanson Brothers

[Gozer]

George Clooney in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou

[jydk]

Day-Lewis in TWBB. You replace him with anyone else and that movie goes straight to DVD

[jammies]

George Clooney in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou

"Well, I don't want Fop, goddamn it! I'm a Dapper Dan man!"

[Sylvanfan]

Here's one I find kind of weird ... The Flintstones. I thought John Goodman and Rosie O'Donnell was perfectly cast in that movie, but I still totally hated the movie. I can't think of another movie with great casting, (Rick Moranis excluded) that I hate as much as The Flintstones movie.


You're talking Rosie "The game is over because I'm singing" O'Donnell being cast as Betty Rubble? No way dude, Betty was everybit the tooth pick that Wilma was and they get a hefty broad to play here? She should have been Barney and Moranis should have been cast as Betty, would have been a more accurate representation of physiques.

[Ford Prefect]

You're talking Rosie "The game is over because I'm singing" O'Donnell being cast as Betty Rubble? No way dude, Betty was everybit the tooth pick that Wilma was and they get a hefty broad to play here? She should have been Barney and Moranis should have been cast as Betty, would have been a more accurate representation of physiques.

I don't know, Rosie wasn't in the same weight class as the cartoon Betty to be sure, but I thought she had the right personality for the role. Or should I say, lack of personality.

[Dion]

Jack Nicholson - The Shinning

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