Still forming your own images of Middle-earth, or stuck with Elijah and co.?

[VanimaEdhel]

I had a crush on him once, and got over it when I found out Orli was (and still is) dating some girl from the movie Blue Crush (I can't keep interested in a guy who's with someone else).

Well, you shouldn't let someone like Kate Bosworth interfere with who you have a crush on. It's like I tell a lot of the Orlando Bloom fangirls: if they really like how they look, admire away. It is not as though any of them will ever actually be with the person. Then they usually hate me - though by then they're usually upset that I've said he is, in my opinion, a horrible actor so they're mad anyway. And that brings me to my reasoning for my special disapproval of Orlando Bloom and my exclusion of him from my thoughts of who "is" Legolas. I just don't see him as a very talented actor at the moment.

Aredhel, he broke I think it was a rib or two filming that shot. Though I'm still trying to figure out if that was a bad MSN article or if they really were stupid enough to have a main character (main as in not easily replaceable-Eowyn was filmed in 6 months, and Arwen in less time I think, but Orli was there the whole time) film such a dangerous scene nearer the end of filming!

And yes, Bloom did break two ribs falling off of a horse. The horse tripped, Orlando Bloom fell off the horse, landing on a rock, and the Gimli body-double fell off as well, landing on Bloom.

To this day I still can't shake the picture of him hitching a ride, swinging himself up into the saddle in TTT.

I, personally, did not care for that scene. I felt as though it was rather forced, especially as it went against the laws of physics. Elves were lithe, strong, and quick, but they were not completely superhumans, though they were immortal. This shot, in my opinion, made it look as though Elves could fly or something equally as impossible to their kind.

Getting off of the living actors for a second, the scenery was what really made the movie for me. When I was in Madrid, we went and saw Franco's Spanish Civil War Memorial. There is a church carved into the mountain. When I entered, I felt as though I walked into Dwarrowdelf. It looked a great deal like my mental images - and the onscreen images, of the place. Going back to the topic from my tangent, Peter Jackson did a magnificent job with the landscape and surrounding area of Middle Earth. I feel as though the land itself was a character in the movie worthy of mention as much as the people themselves.

[Kitanna]

I saw the FOTR before reading the books so all the characters in FOTR I have visions of them as the actors who played them. Sometimes I see Aragorn and Sam differently, but I don't think I can ever see Boromir other then as Sean Bean and the same goes for Merry and Pippin. However I read TTT before the movie came out and, as strange as this is, I envisioned Eowyn as this tough viking type woman. Buff and strong, but when I saw the movie I was surprised at how skinny and (to me) somewhat frail looking she was. Not that Mirando Otto didn't do a great job, but my whole view of Eowyn changed after seeing the movie. I didn't like her as much as I did in the books.

[Noxomanus]

I haven't got a vision of book-Boromir left,but the character didn't really live with me and Sean Bean did a great job and thus,I don't mind thinking of him as Boromir.

Ian McKellen definitely IS Gandalf as I imagined him and he was a perfect choice. No problem going on there either.

Sam,Merry & Pippin were neat and,in my opinion,severely outshined Frodo. And that's where we meet the problem. Elijah Wood must be the softest,weakest, most homosexual looking (excusez le mot) and chickened Frodo they could have ever chosen. In nothing is he like book Frodo who is merely insecure and uncomfortable at many occasions,rather then s&%*&g his pants every time something nasty comes along. I'm not surprised many movie-goers mistook his relationship with Sam for a homosexual one. All in all, movie-Frodo is an irritating wimp and I'm VERY glad he hasn't replaced my view of book-Frodo.

Everyone else has turned into a mixture of original view and movie-influenced one. Not a bad thing.

[The Saucepan Man]

I'm not surprised many movie-goers mistook his relationship with Sam for a homosexual one.

That particular nasty piece of misinterpretation was around long before the films ever came out. For people who have the inclination to so so, there is sufficient material in the book to view the relationship between Sam and Frodo in that way. Personally, I am glad that they had the courage not to exclude such material from the films.

I have to say that I wasn't a fan of Elijah in the first two films, and indeed throughout much of RotK. Too much eye rolling and falling on his backside for my tastes. And, although I have no problem with a youthful looking Frodo since there is material in the book to justify that, I did feel that he lacked the experience to portray the depth of Frodo's character. However, I can forgive him much for his performance from the "Wheel of Fire" speech through to the Eagle rescue. For me, Elijah's Frodo came of age in those scenes.

[Noxomanus]

Being convincing in the last parts of an in total 9,5 half hour movie does not qualify as good acting in my honest opinion.

[The Saucepan Man]

Being convincing in the last parts of an in total 9,5 half hour movie does not qualify as good acting in my honest opinion.

Well, I personally would not criticise the quality of his acting throughout the three films, simply his realisation of Frodo the character from the books (which is as much, if not moreso, the fault of the script-writers). But since Frodo, in common with many characters in the films, is not the same character as that portrayed in the book, I can live with this (even if I do find his eye-rolling and falling over irritating in parts). But, in those final scenes, I caught clear glimpses of the original Frodo and this, for me, made those scenes even more moving.

Now that I am re-reading the book again, the Frodo in my head has an Elijah-ish quality in terms of his appearance (although he is not identical) but his character remains quite different from the character portrayed by Elijah throughout much of the film trilogy.

[Osse]

Having nestled myself in the lush grass in the shade of that great tree of objectivity, I feel it is finally time for me to stop just reading the posts on this thread and actually contribute! I, like many of you, my esteemed colleagues, am not a fan of Mr. Wood. Indeed one might be so bold to say that master Elijah is my least favourite choice for any character in any of the three films. Now before I go on, Saucie, I know that you feel that the age appearance of Elijah’s Frodo is justified, from both the text and Tolkien’s own musings, however, I still find his appearance most un-hobbitish and immature. It is impossible to look at someone of his appearance and still be given those feeling of youthful, yet deep wisdom that we are given when we imagine the book driven Frodo. Frodo always had an air of knowledge and affluence around him, something that (at least for me) did not come across in Mr. Wood’s portrayal of the character at all.

I know you are not saying that he fits the um… (Can’t be shoes…) hat of the book-Frodo, and you were merely saying that he wasn’t all that bad in the last portions of Return… and I see your point, he certainly did show at least some acting prowess, prowess that I had convinced myself he did not possess in the dying scenes. This however, is by no means redeeming, and listening to the little prat in person makes my skin crawl, and certainly makes any less-harsh feelings I felt towards him fade like mist in the sun.

To be completely honest, I have certainly found myself half pondering what Tolkien would be like for me if the films had not emerged as they had of late. Though they certainly haven’t ruined any of my imaginings, they have certainly made them become more obscure and more difficult to find. I really have to probe to get past the visual portrayals, and whereas in the past I was able to imagine them without the text being fresh in my mind, I now need to have recently read or scanned at least portions of the texts. Others have stated that they felt the films just added to their imaginings and if anything made them stronger, I however feel that at least a part of my private enjoyment has been taken – when the films were non existent, my imaginings were mine and mine alone. – No one on earth imagined anything quite the way I did! This to me was like a private affair with the professor and his writings, and added to the pull of appeal that I felt.

However, minor characters that I hadn’t really formed detailed mental images of, I believe, benefited from the films – though the images weren’t mine, at least they were there!

All in all however, I think seeing Middle Earth and its peoples in such visual splendour was fantastic, and though it has perhaps taken somewhat from my literary experience, it has nonetheless added to my enjoyment of Tolkien’s works… sometimes you have to lose some of what you love in order to really appreciate it.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.