Top 3 Best Cast Characters Thread...

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

Originally posted by AL.D

Worst:
Sponge-head orc thing - Not the actors fault, but what WERE the designers thinking?

In fact, most people actually think that
Gothmog, the Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, was not an Orc,
but in fact a Black Numenorean, such as was the Mouth of Sauron
(who was also the Lieutenant of Barad-Dur)

[Ragnarok]

The Fellowship of the Ring
1) Gandalf
2) Saruman
3) Boromir

The Two Towers
1) Eomer
2) Gollum
3) Treebeard

The Return of the King
1) Theoden
2) Aragorn
3) Sam

Overall:
1) Sam
2) Gandalf
3) Aragorn

I think for the most part all of the characters were portrayed well.

[The Nameless One]

All the performences were excellent. Nuff said...but if I had to chose....


FOTR:

1. Boromir
2. Gandalf
3. Bilbo

TTT:

1. King Theoden
2. Gollum/Smeagol
3. Faramir (better portrayal in the EE)

ROTK:

1. Samwise Gamgee
2. Peregrin Took
3. Eowen

Overall:

1.Sam
2.Theoden
3.Boromir
These three seemed to have the strongist will of any other character in the movies. They had so much pride and love for their people(especially Theoden and Boromir) that I was brought to tears in some scenes. I love pride and honor when its portrayed on screen...its so epic.

[*Lady Raven*]

Fellowship of the Ring
1)Gandalf- Sir Ian McKellan
2)Aragorn-Viggo Mortenson
3)Galadriel-Cate Blanchett

The Two Towers
1)Eowyn-Miranda Otto
2)Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
3)Merry-Dominic Monaghan

The Return of the King
1)Merry- Dominic Monaghan
2)Aragorn-Viggo Mortenson
3)Sam Sean Astin

Overall:
1)Aragorn-Viggo Mortenson
2)Merry-Dominic Monaghan
3)Gandalf-Sir Ian McKellan

Aragorn had the romantic part, Merry had the hope and joy part, and Gandalf had the hidden power part, and they all worked

[Halbarad of the Dunedain]

The Fellowship of the Ring
1. Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf the Grey
2. Viggo Mortensen as Strider/Aragorn
3. A tie between Sean Astin and Sean Bean for Samwise Gamgee and Boromir son of Denathor(II) respectivly.

The Two Towers
1. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn son of Arathorn
2. Christopher Lee as Saruman the White(of Many Colors)
3. David Whenham as Farimir son of Denathor(II)

The Return of the King
1. Sean Astin as Samwise the Brave(Sam Gamgee)
2. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn Elessar
3. Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: Gaurd of the Citadel

Overall
1. Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee [FotR, TT, and RotK]
2. Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf the Grey[Fellowship of the Ring]
3. Viggo Mortensen as Strider/Aragorn [Fellowship of the Ring]

Sean Astin got my #1 Overall due to the consistency. Gandalf the Grey as portrayed by Sir Ian McKellan was flawless in Fellowship. Yet Sean Astin pulled off a most impressive Sam Gamgee throughout the entire trilogy, with his greatest sceans in Return of the King!
I feel that other people deserve honors as well however, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in Fellowship, Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins in Fellowship, Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol in Two Towers especially, Karl Urban as Eomer son of Eomund. there are so many!

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Umm tough one.

FotR
1. Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
2. Gandalf- Sir Ian Mckellen
3. Elrond- Hugo Weaving

TTT
1. Eomer- Karl Urban
2. Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
3. Gollum- Andy Serkis

RotK
1. Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
2. Samwise- Sean Astin
3. Frodo- Elijah Wood

Overall
1. Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
2. Samwise- Sean Astin
3. Gandalf- Sir Ian Mckellen

[Halbarad of the Dunedain]

Originally Posted by Telcontar_Dunedain

Umm tough one.
Overall
1. Aragorn- Viggo Mortenson
2. Samwise- Sean Bean
3. Gandalf- Sir Ian Mckellen

I know Sean Bean and Sean Astin look a lot a like but it was Sean Astin who portrayed Samwise Gamgee Telcontar.

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Sorry. I'll edit.

[Halbarad of the Dunedain]

But if you edit my post will seem like nonsense... I think its much better as Sean Bean anyways... imagin that.... Sean Bean as Samwise... hmmm. Sean Bean, you look at his name and it seems like it would rhym, but when you say it... it doesn't!

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

It won't look like nonsense because I've said I will edit and you've said what I'm editing.

[barrelrider110]

The Fellowship of the Ring
1 – Frodo – Elijah Wood: Perfectly cast as a more reserved and inellectual hobbit. He also gave you the feeling he had great potential. Very subtle stuff.
2 – Gandalf – Ian McKellen: “Bilbo Baggins, do you take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks?” Although the line was not in the book it was my favorite and it would have been even better without the special effects.
3 - Boromir – Sean Bean. Strong portrayal of a conflicted and tragic figure. Thank you, too Mr. Bean, for erasing my mental image of Boromir as a Viking.

The Two Towers
1 – Eowyn – Miranda Otto: A nice surprise for me. My first reaction to her casting was “who dat?” but now I’m a believer. Her simple beauty stands in contrast to the more glamorous elves and I would love to see her in a strapless bikini.
2 – Gollum – Andy Sjerkis: Awesome. He stole the show.
3 – Saruman – Christopher Lee: That voice, that stare. A classic actor in a classic role. He also would have made a terrific Gandalf.

The Return of the King
1 – Aragorn – Viggo Mortensen: Had my doubts but he grew on me. Strong chin (great cleft) and piercing eyes. The speech to his troops at the black gate was his finest moment.
2 – Sam – Sean Astin: He grew on me too. He became the real hero. Sam for President!
3 – Pippin – Billy Boyd: He was great comic relief throughout the whole movie, and his scenes with Denethor were very poignant.

Overall:
1 – Gandalf – Ian McKellen
2 – Aragorn – Viggo Mortensen
3 – Gollum – Andy Sjerkis

Worst Three
So bad they made want to go to the bathroom:
1 – Elrond - Hugo Weaving: Too much scowl, and what’s with those eyebrows?
2 – Sauron’s eye: Ray Milland’s eyes in “Man with the X-Ray Vision” were better and that movie was made in the 60’s.
3 – Galadriel – Kate Blanchett: She almost came off as evil. And why did the she and Celeborn speak so slooooowly?

Comment on Sean Connery as Gandalf: He would have done a great job, but is voice is too recognizable. I would have been expecting him to say: “the name sir is Bond, James Bond.”

[The Nameless One]

Coolest Gandalf is Jack Nicholson at the Academy Awards this year.

[tolkienfan]

Fellowship of the Ring:
1. Ian McKellen-Gandalf
2. Viggo Mortensen-Aragorn
3. Sean Bean-Boromir

The Two Towers:
1. Elijah Wood-Frodo Baggins
2. Andy Serkis-Gollum/Smegol
3. David Wenham-Faramir

The Return of the King:
1. Sean Astin-Sam
2. Elijah Wood-Frodo Baggins
3. Liv Tyler-Arwen

Overall:
1. Elijah Wood-Frodo Baggins
2. Ian McKellen-Gandalf
3. Sean Astin- Sam

I thought that all of the actors did a really great job, the only character I thought maybe wasn't quite right was Treebeard. I don't know, maybe he didn't seem old enough.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Last Child of Ungoliant

In fact, most people actually think that
Gothmog, the Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, was not an Orc,
but in fact a Black Numenorean, such as was the Mouth of Sauron
(who was also the Lieutenant of Barad-Dur)

Whatever he is, it would have been a huge bonus to his character had the designers not made him look laughably stupid. And why did he get so much camera time (the scene where he was very disappointingly not crushed by hurled masonry) instead of Prince Imrahil, Éomer, Aragorn, or someone useful to the plot!?


Sean Bean and Sean Astin don't look a thing like each other! LOL They just have the same first name is all. Easy enough to mix up...

A lot of people didn't like Boromir's character in the book... something about being a corrupted villain... but I always liked his character. That's why I was so excited when he was played brilliantly in FOTR! I believe Sean Bean also played Trevalian (sp?) in a James Bond movie. So he's skillful at playing handsome bad-guys.

My top three remain:
1. Samwise - Sean Astin
2. Aragorn - Viggo Mortensen
3. Éowyn - Mirando Otto
but a definite honourable mention goes to
Boromir - Sean Bean
and
Treebeard - John-Rhys Davies
(I absolutely loved his voice!!)

EDIT: What made Arwen stand out for you in ROTK Tolkienfan? Just curious. (I mean, even with all the added stuff, she didn't have that much camera time... )

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Well at least he didn't choose her in FotR!

[Nurvingiel]

Hey leave the guy alone, he only has seven posts!

I'm legitimately curious about the reasons, because I didn't particularly like Arwen in the movies. Actually, I downright loathed her in FOTR and TTT, not for what she was (mostly), but for what she stole from other characters. But I'm not going to turn this thread into yet another Arwen-bashing-fest...

However, despite the ire I built up towards her from the first two movies, in ROTK, I liked Arwen! Yes, even after my ENDLESS rants from FOTR, I really liked Arwen in ROTK.

I have no idea why, and I was hoping Tolkienfan would shed some light on this for me. (Please don't be intimidated by my spastic ranting! )

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

I wasn't having a go at him! I was saying that it was good that he didn't chose her in FotR!

[tolkienfan]

I liked Liv Tyler as Arwen in all of the movies actually. I thought she had more dramatic scenes in The Return of the King though. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird.

[ethuiliel]

Umm...

Fellowship
1 Viggo Mortensen -- Aragorn
2 Ian McKellen -- Gandalf
3 Christopher Lee -- Saruman

Two Towers
1 Andy Serkis -- Gollum
2 David Wenham -- Faramir (OK, maybe I'm a little biased, but the script wasn't his fault and he did really well with what he had
3 Miranda Otto -- Eowyn

Return of the King
1 Sean Astin -- Sam
2 John Noble -- Denethor
3 Elijah Wood -- Frodo

overall
Can't rank them, but Andy, Viggo, and Ian, I think

[Wayfarer]

Hmm...

1) Elijah Wood as Frodo
2) Orlando Bloom as Legolas
2) Sean Bean as Boromir


Elijah Wood is someone I can actually believe looks similar to Frodo, and his acting was fairly good in the scenes where his character wasn't getting railroaded into OOCness by the director. Orlando Bloom likewise came quite well as an elf, despite a few silly scenes. Sean Bean portrayed Boromir excellently, of course.

Viggo Mortensen gets honorable mention, but nothing in his character portrayal really makes me think of Aragorn. Sean Astin likewise deserves mention, but for some reason I don't feel his character was altogether great.

I didn't particularly like Ian McKellan as Gandalf, and there are quite a few characters that I absolutely hated, starting with ALL THE OTHER ELVES who were done horribly, although that doesn't nescessarily have anything to do with the casting.