What actor in movies seems less then in book?

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
Well it doesn't matter how old Sean Astin is - it matters how old he looks. He doesn't look that much older than Elijah Wood. Pippin and Merry on the other hand had gowls and wrinkles - which Merry and Pippin should NOT have had.

I think Sean Astin looks his age -- some years older than Elijah. But the hobbits' ages doesn't bother me all that much. I think all the hobbits were well cast, although I have some problems with Merry's and Pippin's characters. There are worse things in the movies than getting the ages wrong.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by cassiopeia
I think Sean Astin looks his age -- some years older than Elijah. But the hobbits' ages doesn't bother me all that much. I think all the hobbits were well cast, although I have some problems with Merry's and Pippin's characters. There are worse things in the movies than getting the ages wrong.

There are worse things to get wrong than their ages - but they are my most hated characters - up there with Arwen - in the movie. Their youth was one of the things that was important to the story - their innocence. In the movie they just look like a bunch of middle aged idiots. Pippin and Merry - especially Pippin - were two of my most favorite characters in the books.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Originally posted by Cassiopeaia
The worst character for me was Gandalf in the ROTK (I thought he was excellent in the FOTR). When he repeatedly hit Denethor, all I could do was shudder and wonder how they got it so wrong. I thought Phillipa Boyens was supposed to be an expert on the LOTR. Doesn't she know Gandalf cannot use force?
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I agree that the Gandalf of ROTK was pretty bad, not only imposing his will by force in a "palace coup" in Minas Tirith, but also his fighting and constant use of wizard's rod as a simple pole
(and not even using the line "Rohan will come..." when asked by a Gondor soldier). There's an interesting/depressing deterioration of Gandalf's depiction in the course of the three movies, but elements of his part are well done, while I can find nothing in Denethor's presentation in TTT dvd or ROTK which was well done.

My view is that Merry and Pippin were adequately scripted and well-acted, biggest exception is that scriptwriters should have had a more believable way of including them on the quest then the absurdly improbable way they they came across Frodo and Sam. But that doesn't effect the characters depiction in the movies.

And after listening to PB on the FOTR dvd I am disappointed. Perhaps she was overruled.

[Nurvingiel]

Also, I thought Hugo Weaving was miscast as Elrond. I've complained about this before, but his mannerisms, inflection, facial expressions etc. are exactly the same as his role as Agent Smith in the Matrix. Jackson also crafted terrible lines for him to go along with Arwen's terrible story arc. (He claimed he took a lot from the appendicies, but if he had, it still would have been canon right? )

[sun-star]

The more I think about it, the more actors I realise I was dissatified with. The main one is Sean Astin. He was OK in FoTR, but in the other two he was dreadful. Sam is my favourite character in the book, but every time he opened his mouth in the film I cringed - I didn't think he had any subtlety in his acting and his accent made my skin crawl. I also agree that Merry, Pippin and Gimli didn't give any sense that their characters were more than comic relief. And why did Galadriel and Arwen speak in whispers all the time - was it supposed to sound more spiritual?

I can't think of anyone else I feel strongly about though

[squinteyedsoutherner]

There's an interesting/depressing deterioration of Gandalf's depiction in the course of the three movies,

There is deterioration in Gandalf’s wardrobe as well. The wig and the fake beard look terrible, in some scenes it looks like something SNL would throw together between commercials as a spoof. And what is the deal with the wizard ballet slippers (look at his feet when is standing before Denethor) Saruman and Gandalf are wearing? The Hobbit said Gandalf wore big black boots, I don’t see why becoming Gandalf the white necessitates new footwear.

[brownjenkins]

by far my least favorite was galadriel... i always pictured her as a dominant and stunningly beautiful elf who just eminates strength and power... by contrast Cate Blanchett is much too mild and waifish for the character, and while she is attractive, i don't see her as stunning... even if i hadn't read the books, i think i would have found her performance lacking

sam also bothered me quite a bit... i always pictured him as being much more cheery and upbeat, as opposed the the brooding sam in the movie... that said, if i hadn't read the books, i probably would have liked him more

if i avoid book comparisions, i'd say just about everyone else did a very good job, except denthor, who was just a bit too pathetic... he was so completely lacking in nobility that his death was more of a relief than the tragedy it is in the book

[Thorin II]

Most of the casting was pretty good, in my view. Liv Tyler wasn't great by any stretch, but since Arwen has a tiny part in the books, I didn't have many expectations about her (other than beauty and grace).

The glaring exception was Elrond. Some of it was the aforementioned problem where I couldn't hear him talk without thinking of Agent Smith. The bigger problem was that he seemed bitter and negative, rather than wise and kind.

[crickhollow]

perhaps this is a bad place to say this, and I know that I could be opening myself up to a lot of hate from the xenarwen bashers, but the fiasco at the fords aside, I've ended up deciding that I like Liv Tyler's Arwen. I thought her scenes in TTT good. Certainly the best added material in the movie (and by "added", I mean "not in the book").

[Nurvingiel]

I didn't like Arwen overall, but I did like her last scene. (And her in that scene.)

[Flame_of_Udun]

I agree that Elrond is my least favorite depiction. Of all the charachters, he was the least like the book version, IMO.

Denethor bugs me because of the script. In the extended TTT, I thought he was great, and I had a good feeling about ROTK, but they dropped the ball a little bit.

Still, the Gimli jokes are the worst of all. He should have been a serious warrior. I have no idea why they added the dwarf-tossing stuff.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
I didn't like Arwen overall, but I did like her last scene. (And her in that scene.)
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I've rather modified my opinion of Liv/Arwen. I thought her first scene, surprising Strider, was rather sexy, her voice and his look ("Doh! She snuck up on me again. Hey, Arwen, babe, cut me some slack, I'm trying to save one of those halfling midgets").
If PJ and pals had just made Frodo somewhat less of a whimp even the Flight to the Ford would have been redeemed (Frodo could wave Sting a bit and say "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" Then Xena could steal Elrond's and Gandalf's efforts and bring the river flood.

In a more negative movie character reconsideration, I have to admit Elrond got worse, with his constant complaining and sneering. Makes you wonder what he would have been like if he had been only half-elven and distantly related to Aragorn.

[jellyfishannah]

I hated the way they portrayed Gandalf.
I hated the way they portrayed Arwen.
I hated the way they portrayed Sauron.
I hated the way they portrayed Faramir in TTT.
I HATED the way they portrayed Denethor.
I hated the way they portrayed Galadriel.
And....well....I am not too fond of Woods' Frodo, either.
I will go into more detail when I have time.