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Originally Posted by MatthewM
Concerning the voice selection for this BBC adaption, I think they did a good job with the Hobbits. But I cannot stand the voice actor for Boromir, he is much too old and hoarse sounding. Gandalf sounds unconvincing and Legolas has no elegance to his speech. Gimli sounds like he has consumed too many drugs over the years.
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Well, thanks to Brian Sibley (see my last post) we have a bit more insight into Michael Hordern's Gandalf:
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As for Gandalf, Michael Hordern - if the truth were told - never entirely understood what was going on! He was, for example, genuinely perplexed by the wizard's seeming demise in Moria during Episode 8, and asked Jane Morgan whether his agent had been wrong about the number of episodes for which he was required! When told that he would be resurrected in Episode 12, he simply grunted: "Splendid! Splendid!" and shambled away.
Nevertheless, by intuition or some other theatrical magic, he became Gandalf: by turn wise, stern and compassionate, a force for good, a constant light in an ever-darkening storm.
(Of course, 'episode 8' & 'episode 12' here refer to the original broadcast of 26 episodes)
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I like the idea of him not really knowing what was going on! However, I agree totally with Mr Sibley - his Gandalf is perfect. As for Michael Graham Cox's Boromir (reprising his role in the Bakshi movie, along with Peter Woodthorpe's Gollum, & it would be interesting to know whether they were chosen for that reason) I 'liked' him , & as with Faramir, he is far truer to Tolkien's character than the more 'sympathetic' portrayal of Boromir in Jackson's movie. By coincidence Boromir makes his first appearance in this adaptation in Episode Three, which we're moving on to tomorrow. I don't see that he's too old - in the book Boromir is in his forties.
Still, this is a matter of personal taste. As I stated, I've listened to this series a good fifteen or more times over the years & I now simply accept all the voices without analysing whether or not they 'work'. When I put the CD's on I simply enter into Middle-earth again, exactly as I do with the books.