So, Best and Worst Characters?

[Gurthang]

I don't know if this really counts, but here goes.

I thought that Gollum was done very well. Even though he's not a real actor(that we see anyway), he was made out to be the exact creepy, slinky character that I thought he was. He might not have been book-perfect, but he was still very well done. I especially like the fight between Gollum and Smeagol while they're sitting on that rock. The camera pans back and forth like its two people. It might be a little overdramatized, but it really brings out the conflict between the two personalities.

[Lalwendë]

One thing I will say for the film is that they do seem to have made an effort to make the families have a plausable resemblance although I am surprised they didn't make sean Bean lose the accent that blew the whole thing... but then he kept it even to play Macbeth on stage in London....

He does keep his accent seemingly with every part he plays, but I think this stems from a particular 'school' of acting in Britain. If you listen to Bernard Hill, he too retains vestiges of his accent, and they allowed Billy Boyd to use his own accent too. I like this - there is nothing to say what accent various characters might have had, only guidance on pronunciation, and it is entirely feasible that characters might sound slightly different. If they allowed such large regional variations within Hobbits of The Shire, then why should there not be some variation within Gondor. And it did sound good, anyway.

Now, I thought Denethor was eating not cherries, but cherry tomatoes (the work of the devil). I found a lot of the other instances of poor table manners slightly in poor taste, especially where they seem to demean the character of Gimli a bit too much, but when Denethor is seen eating in such a manner I found it underlined his character as portrayed in the films (not his book character), as we see him gorging while his son is sent out to battle needlessly.

As for Gollum, Andy Serkis turned in a vocal performance not to be forgotten, which is all the more brilliant considering that he based it on the sound of a cat coughing.

[Mithalwen]

I think Denethor's table mannerswere awful and if they hadn't meant to have been they wouldn't have focussed on them so much. I think they were intended to represent his decline into selfish concerns to the point of madness - greed and decadence in the face of disaster. Book denethor was a noble lord among noble lords, proud and cultured - and to an extent Gondor was a more "civilised" land than Rohan a place of scholars not just soldiers. Such a man would not have eaten like a pig - to eat thus has been poor manners I would say even in a time that did not use cutlery as we do.

As for Sean Bean's accent - I know that Sean Bean is from that generation that didn't have to shed accents to get on (unlike say Edward Petherbridge who came from Yorkshire perhaps 20 years earlier, or the divine voiced George Irving (Meyer in "Holby City" ) who came from South Shields. However, to my mind it is as bizarre as everyone speaking RP to have not got him to clean up the accent when his Australian "father and Brother" spoke accentless English. I didn't mind Pip haveing a different accent since he came from a different part of the shire (tho really Merrry should have had the Celtic tones !) . And by ROTK I had stopped Bernard Hill to say "go on gissa job" and accepted him as Theoden. As far as I recall from articles about the making they had toyed with giving different peoples different accents and I think some of these indecisions seem to have lurked - Eowyn sounding unevenly irish at times and Viggo..... so Lal while I agree about what you say about peoples .... I expected the same family to sound more alike... but then hardly anyone in the Archers sounds like they belong in the Midlands... grr 'cept for when Will was younger with a pet Badger "it will be moider if they kill Stroipey" ....

[Lalwendë]

However, to my mind it is as bizarre as everyone speaking RP to have not got him to clean up the accent when his Australian "father and Brother" spoke accentless English.

Would you say his accent came through so strongly though that it was intrusive? I always thought I only noticed it simply because I'm so used to the accent, and I noticed the long vowels and that kind of thing. By contrast, I'm not used to West Country accents and despite what so many have said, I still can't see much wrong with Sean Astin's accent!

I didn't mind Pip haveing a different accent since he came from a different part of the shire (tho really Merrry should have had the Celtic tones !) .

I agree with you there that Merry ought to have been the one with such a distinctively different accent, although of course both actors were suited to their roles and it wouldn't have 'done' to swap them about.

And by ROTK I had stopped Bernard Hill to say "go on gissa job" and accepted him as Theoden.

That image of Yosser Hughes just does not die though. I've seen Bernard Hill in so many roles but immediately think of him in Boys From the Blackstuff as soon as he comes on screen and it does take a while for that picture to be replaced by whatever role he is now playing!

[Boromir88]

but when Denethor is seen eating in such a manner I found it underlined his character as portrayed in the films (not his book character), as we see him gorging while his son is sent out to battle needlessly.

Lal, if Denethor was the only case of eating slobbishly, I would agree with you. But, as pointed out in one of my previous posts Jackson has a tendancy to do this in each of the movies, making it look like he just put it in there for the heck of it, and nothing to do with showing Denethor's character.

[Finwe-89]

Well, if I need to pick a worst character, then it will be ( of the films ) Denethor, I just hate him! He only showed love to Boromir, but deep in that rocky heart of him, he loved Faramir too

[Boromir88]

Boromir didn't have it quite so easily either. Yes, Denethor did favor him over Faramir, and probably treated him like a loving father should. However, Denethor put a lot of pressure on Boromir to be victorious. Denethor saw Boromir as Gondor's last hope in winning, and put a lot of pressure on Boromir to be a leader of men, and to bring back this "great gift," as Denethor hints at in Minas Tirith. He tells Gandalf "Boromir would have brought it (the ring) back to me." (yes I paraphrased). That's why when Boromir dies, Denethor slips drastically down hill believing all is lost.