Emphasis on Characters in the Book and Movie

[Nurvingiel]

Do you think the important characters in the book and movie are the same people? In the same order of prominence? Do you think the movie accurately conveyed which characters were meant to be the most important, or do you think new inductees to Lord of the Rings have a totally different understanding than the movie's intent?

Which characters do you think had more or less focus on them in the movie in the book? How do you think this affected the portrayal of the character? How much of these discrepencies are due to the differences between book and movie media, and how much from artistic decisions about the movie?

This thread is prompted by a Lord of the Rings button I picked up for free at Movie Mart. It features Legolas standing in front of some nameless soldiers, squinting thoughtfully into the distance. I almost didn't take one, thinking other people would enjoy it more, but then I noticed about a quarter of Gimli's helmet peeking over Legolas' shoulder. I thought, "Isn't that just typical," and the button seemed to be telling me an inside joke. And the idea for this thread was born.

Let's take Legolas and Gimli for example (though any characters can be discussed). In the book, they came across as equals who overcame their differences to be best friends.

In the movie, I thought they seemed like friends from the start who liked harassing each other, but that Gimli was a buffoon, and Legolas tolerated this awkward person as a friend because of he was an endless source of hilarity. The nature of Legolas and Gimli's friendship was vastly different in the movie, but more importantly, they did not seem like equals. It seemed like Legolas got more screen time, for one. Further, Gimli was stuck mouthing dreadfully-written comic relief lines while Legolas got to do impossible stunts and see small distant objects.

Both their characters' portayal remind me of my table-top roleplaying days.

Frodo is a character I think got similar emphasis (and dignity) in both the book and the movie. However, because a lot of the parts with less action were cut or shortened (partly because of the nature of movies), he spends of lot of time gasping in horror as the Ring falls onto his finger in slow motion. How do you think this affects Frodo's character? (Partly time is conveyed less effectively in the movie, so you might not realize how much time has elapsed between one mishap and another.)

What do you guys think about book versus movie character emphasis?