Rate the Cast's performance. - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

aelithes · 01-26-2005, 03:24 PM

I agree with a lot of what people have already said, but just a couple further comments (I'm treating almost exclusively vocal delivery and close-up acting, but I in no way claim full comprehensiveness!):

Orlando Bloom (Legolas) - (7/10) Indeed he did a satisfactory job for a first film, and I particularly liked his physical acting, but his facial expressions in the close-ups leave much to be desired. He seems not to have much control over his facial movements at all - the spontaneous scrunching and un-scrunching up of his eyes in nearly every close-up shot is rather distracting and takes me right out of the emotional headspace.

Ian McKellen (Gandalf) - (10/10) With Bloom as a foil, I think it's quite easy to see how controlled and masterly McKellen's performance is. E.g., in his speech to Pippin inside the second gate of Minas Tirith ('all turns to silver glass') required very little preparation.

Bernard Hill (Theoden) - (9/10) His argument with Aragorn in the Hornburg before the battle and his death scene are spot on, and I thought his rallying cry to the Rohirrim easily trumps that of Aragorn to his men outside the Black Gate.

Sean Astin (Sam) - (10/10) He really doesn't come into his own, both in terms of his character and his acting prowess, until the final film... and there were definitely certain instances in which halfway through an otherwise cheesy line, I would think, 'Surely he's futzed this up' and begin to cringe; but then he'll deliver the last of it and totally clinch it (e.g., '"Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to,' and 'That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for').

Christopher Lee (Saruman) - (8.5/10) I would've given him better score had I not seen his death scene at the beginning of ROTK EE. I was not feeling his performance at all, it felt very contrived and self-conscious, and quite anti-climactic. In all of his other scenes I thought he was wonderful, and his characterisation coalesced quite well with Tolkien's vision (of course, being the Tolkien nerd he is :o) ).

gorthaur_cruel · 01-26-2005, 10:02 PM

I'm a harsh grader.

Men:

Sean Bean (Boromir)- 8.5/10. Good performance, I guess. I don't know why I didn't give him anything higher, but he somehow never reached out to my heart.

Bernard Hill (Theoden)- 9.5/10, Not bad. He had a very commanding air about him, as he's supposed to.

John Noble (Denethor)- 6/10. As somebody mentioned above, he overacts. You don't quiver with hate like he does, normally, no matter how much you may not like that person. I don't think Denethor ever wanted to actually strangle Gandalf to death, but John Noble makes it seem like that. The script de-characterized Denethor enough, but I believe the actor took it even further. He also shouts too much. When he's hallucinating, his acting looks like it could have been done by anybody. Not the greatest performance here. But of course, if PJ made him act that way, then it's not his fault, I guess. But the same could be said for every actor

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)- 7/10, He did a good job as a warrior, but as a king, I don't think he had the nobility and majestic air that he should have had. Viggo the Ranger was the best, followed by Viggo the warrior. King Viggo just didn't seem good to me. Anyway, that isn't to say that Viggo the Ranger didn't have faults. He mumbled too much, and I had a hard time understanding him many times.

Karl Urban (Eomer)- 9/10 - He did a good job as Eomer, but there wasn't enough scenes with him in it for me to judge properly. From the little that we did see of him, I have no complaints.

Brad Dourif (Grima)- 7.5/10, He does a fairly decent job of acting the vileness that he's meant to, but not anything superb. He would have got an 8.5 or so if it weren't for two little scenes that really make me think "What a bad actor". When Gimli steps on him saying "I would stay still if I were you", his look of "fear" and his shudder is too fake. The other scene is where he says "Send me not from your side" to Theoden, which also sounds fake and memorised.

David Wenham (Faramir)- 8/10, Not bad, but not outstanding either.

Women

Miranda Otto (Eowyn)- 8.5/10,

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)- 8/10 I never minded her. She just feels like Galadriel...but she didn't have anything outstanding either, so no 9 for her.

Liv Tyler (Arwen)- 6/10, Talks, no whispers in the same annoying tone throughout 99% of the movies.

Elves

Hugo Weaving (Elrond)- 7/10. I personally think they chose the wrong person for Elrond. Not only because the script made him out to be just a plain Elf-father who doesn't like Men, but he never striked me as Elrond. His face is not ageless. He doesn't seem calm and serene as I always imagined Elrond to be. He gives absolutely no sense of wisdom in the movie. This is half due to the script, which is why I gave him at least a 7, but the other half of the reason lies with him, I fear...

Craig Parker (Haldir)- 6/10. Also not good.

Martin Czoskas (Celeborn) 4/10, Worst actor in the entire movies, IMO. I don't think anybody felt that Celeborn was "wise" here. His voice is even more annoying than the other Elves. Every single one of his lines sounds memorised.

Orlando Bloom (Legolas) 7/10. Gah...does he ever say sentences more than 6 words? (Okay, he does, but too occasionally) His portrayal of Legolas makes him seem like a portable arrow-shooting machine: one that is handy and useful, but nothing more.

Dwarves

John Rhys-davies (Gimli)- 8.5/10, He plays out well the roles that were given to him. Can't blame him for the idiocy of the script. Yet, as he had no particularily memorable moments, whether due to the script or not, he can't get anything higher than this, m'afraid.

Hobbits

Andy Serkis (Gollum)- 8.5/10. I don't know...sometimes he striked me as the perfect Gollum. Sometimes, he overdid it. His "gollum" noise also sounds fake. Tolkien describes it as trying to make the "g" sound while swallowing. Serkis just coughs "gollum", which doesn't sound realistic at all.

Sean Astin (Sam)- 9/10 Meh...running out of time. I'll just give a detailed analysis on characters I have something to say about.

Ian Holm (Bilbo)- 9/10 Great job as Bilbo.

Billy Boyd (Pippin)- 8/10.

Dom Monaghan (Merry)- 8/10,

Elijah Wood (Frodo)- 6/10, Rates hardly better than Celeborn. His whimperings make me want to just reach out and choke him. I never sensed any wisdom out of him. He does the same scared acting throughout the movies, without any change. I think he's one of the actors of LotR that should've been replaced.

Wizards

Christopher Lee (Saruman)- 10/10 - I was just stunned by him. Notice how he's the only one that got a 10/10 on my scale. His look of pride as he looks at his new Uruk Hai is priceless. His voice just has a commanding air. I often wonder whether he and Ian McKellen should've swapped roles. In the books, Gandalf has the more commanding presence, and is stronger (as Gandalf the White at least), while Saruman is just this coward who isn't supposed to have as much charisma as Lee shows.

Ian Mckellan (Gandalf)- 9/10 - He seems to be the perfect choice for Gandalf the Grey. But as Gandalf the White, his quality falls quite a bit.

Finwe-89 · 01-27-2005, 07:03 AM

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) 9/10 I think he act really good like Aragorn, not that good like Aragorn in the books, but it was very close

John Rhyes Davis (Gimli) 8/10 Gimli is a very cool little dwarf and has his good moments. The good moments in the movies were the funny ones. But it could be better

Orlando Bloom (Legolas) 7,5/10 I really love Legolas, but in the movies his lines really sucked, only his actions were cool like shootig with his bow.

Liv Tyler (Arwen) 8/10 I think Liv acted good as Arwen, but she talked too soft, much too soft. Arwen is a beautiful Elf and Liv is beautiful as wel, so that was a good match.

Ian Mackellen (Gandalf) 10/10 Ian was the best of all! He was also nominated as ''Best Actor'' in 2001 for The Fellowship of The Ring, and he deserved to win that Oscar. I'd really enjoined the acting of Ian as Gandalf, the best one of the movies!

Sean Bean (Boromir) 10/10 It was really unbelievble that Sean really acted like Boromir, I feared that Sean wouldn't put Boromir good in the movies, but he was one of the best! Great job!

Karl Urban (Eomer) 9,7/10 Eomer was a real leader, and showed no fear for whatever enemy. And Karl really showed that with his acting talent.

John Noble (Denethor) 10/10 John... oh my god, wow he was really acting the son of a **** that Denethor was. I'd really loved it... I don't have the words for it

Bernard Hill (Theoden) 9/10 Bernard really showed with his acting that Theoden was a true king that would do anything for his people, and that was great.

There are many more, but I don't have time to rate them all, but I will later

Faramir · 01-27-2005, 08:54 AM

Hugo Weaving (Elrond) 5.2/10.I think hugo was awful...he had such a stern look all the time...he just didnt truly fit the part as well as i thought he would...well i guess he would be better than some of the others who auditioned for elrond i.e: David Bowie.

Thinlómien · 02-03-2005, 08:11 AM

I just grade the best and the worst:
The Worst:
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn - 2/10 He's horrible and so far from the noble Aragorn I imagine... That super ranger-grin gives hïm those 2 points...
David Wenham as Faramir - 3/10 Poor at acting. Ugly expressions. Tries to imitate Viggo Mortensen. Those 3 points for EE's, he's good in them really...
Well I didn't like Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood or John Noble (he's not a poor actor, the role's just so stupid and he makes Denethor a comic character - that's not fun!) either.
The Best:
10/10 - Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Ian Holm as Bilbo, Sean Astin as Sam, Christopher Lee as Saruman and of course Sean Bean as Boromir and Andy Serkis as Gollum.
9/10 - Bernard Hill as Théoden, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Billy Boyd as Pippin and the guy who plays Háma (I don't know his name...).

Finwe-89 · 02-03-2005, 09:39 AM

Not that I don't agree with you, but Hamá was bearley in the movies and had too few lines! So I don't think you can rate him

Laitoste · 02-04-2005, 06:31 PM

I'm afraid I have to differ from most everyone else's opinion in this case. I really did not like Sean Astin as Sam. For whatever reason, he didn't portray the simplicity and common sense of this character as much as I would have liked. I remember in the cast commentary for The Two Towers , he said something about how he had watched the animated Lord of the Rings and had disliked how that Sam bumbled around so much. That would have been closer to the Sam I know. This new Sam seemed depressed, almost, and lacked the desperate cheerfulness that I dearly loved.

01-26-2005, 03:24 PM	#1
aelithes Pile O'Bones Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 19	I agree with a lot of what people have already said, but just a couple further comments (I'm treating almost exclusively vocal delivery and close-up acting, but I in no way claim full comprehensiveness!): Orlando Bloom (Legolas) - (7/10) Indeed he did a satisfactory job for a first film, and I particularly liked his physical acting, but his facial expressions in the close-ups leave much to be desired. He seems not to have much control over his facial movements at all - the spontaneous scrunching and un-scrunching up of his eyes in nearly every close-up shot is rather distracting and takes me right out of the emotional headspace. Ian McKellen (Gandalf) - (10/10) With Bloom as a foil, I think it's quite easy to see how controlled and masterly McKellen's performance is. E.g., in his speech to Pippin inside the second gate of Minas Tirith ('all turns to silver glass') required very little preparation. Bernard Hill (Theoden) - (9/10) His argument with Aragorn in the Hornburg before the battle and his death scene are spot on, and I thought his rallying cry to the Rohirrim easily trumps that of Aragorn to his men outside the Black Gate. Sean Astin (Sam) - (10/10) He really doesn't come into his own, both in terms of his character and his acting prowess, until the final film... and there were definitely certain instances in which halfway through an otherwise cheesy line, I would think, 'Surely he's futzed this up' and begin to cringe; but then he'll deliver the last of it and totally clinch it (e.g., '"Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to,' and 'That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for'). Christopher Lee (Saruman) - (8.5/10) I would've given him better score had I not seen his death scene at the beginning of ROTK EE. I was not feeling his performance at all, it felt very contrived and self-conscious, and quite anti-climactic. In all of his other scenes I thought he was wonderful, and his characterisation coalesced quite well with Tolkien's vision (of course, being the Tolkien nerd he is :o) ). __________________ Caelum videre iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus.

01-27-2005, 07:03 AM	#3
Finwe-89 Wight Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In Lotholorien, looking in the mirror that shows that there is still hope for life... Posts: 84	Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) 9/10 I think he act really good like Aragorn, not that good like Aragorn in the books, but it was very close John Rhyes Davis (Gimli) 8/10 Gimli is a very cool little dwarf and has his good moments. The good moments in the movies were the funny ones. But it could be better Orlando Bloom (Legolas) 7,5/10 I really love Legolas, but in the movies his lines really sucked, only his actions were cool like shootig with his bow. Liv Tyler (Arwen) 8/10 I think Liv acted good as Arwen, but she talked too soft, much too soft. Arwen is a beautiful Elf and Liv is beautiful as wel, so that was a good match. Ian Mackellen (Gandalf) 10/10 Ian was the best of all! He was also nominated as ''Best Actor'' in 2001 for The Fellowship of The Ring, and he deserved to win that Oscar. I'd really enjoined the acting of Ian as Gandalf, the best one of the movies! Sean Bean (Boromir) 10/10 It was really unbelievble that Sean really acted like Boromir, I feared that Sean wouldn't put Boromir good in the movies, but he was one of the best! Great job! Karl Urban (Eomer) 9,7/10 Eomer was a real leader, and showed no fear for whatever enemy. And Karl really showed that with his acting talent. John Noble (Denethor) 10/10 John... oh my god, wow he was really acting the son of a **** that Denethor was. I'd really loved it... I don't have the words for it Bernard Hill (Theoden) 9/10 Bernard really showed with his acting that Theoden was a true king that would do anything for his people, and that was great. There are many more, but I don't have time to rate them all, but I will later __________________ Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum- ishi krimpatul... Beware: Don't speak this loud when you're alone in the dark... Unless you really want it... But don't say I didn't warn you...

02-03-2005, 09:39 AM	#6
Finwe-89 Wight Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In Lotholorien, looking in the mirror that shows that there is still hope for life... Posts: 84	Not that I don't agree with you, but Hamá was bearley in the movies and had too few lines! So I don't think you can rate him __________________ Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum- ishi krimpatul... Beware: Don't speak this loud when you're alone in the dark... Unless you really want it... But don't say I didn't warn you...

02-04-2005, 06:31 PM	#7
Laitoste Wight Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Behind the hills Posts: 164	I'm afraid I have to differ from most everyone else's opinion in this case. I really did not like Sean Astin as Sam. For whatever reason, he didn't portray the simplicity and common sense of this character as much as I would have liked. I remember in the cast commentary for The Two Towers , he said something about how he had watched the animated Lord of the Rings and had disliked how that Sam bumbled around so much. That would have been closer to the Sam I know. This new Sam seemed depressed, almost, and lacked the desperate cheerfulness that I dearly loved. __________________ "If we're still alive in the morning, we'll know that we're not dead."~South Park

01-26-2005, 10:02 PM	#2
gorthaur_cruel Haunting Spirit Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 92	I'm a harsh grader. Men: Sean Bean (Boromir)- 8.5/10. Good performance, I guess. I don't know why I didn't give him anything higher, but he somehow never reached out to my heart. Bernard Hill (Theoden)- 9.5/10, Not bad. He had a very commanding air about him, as he's supposed to. John Noble (Denethor)- 6/10. As somebody mentioned above, he overacts. You don't quiver with hate like he does, normally, no matter how much you may not like that person. I don't think Denethor ever wanted to actually strangle Gandalf to death, but John Noble makes it seem like that. The script de-characterized Denethor enough, but I believe the actor took it even further. He also shouts too much. When he's hallucinating, his acting looks like it could have been done by anybody. Not the greatest performance here. But of course, if PJ made him act that way, then it's not his fault, I guess. But the same could be said for every actor Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)- 7/10, He did a good job as a warrior, but as a king, I don't think he had the nobility and majestic air that he should have had. Viggo the Ranger was the best, followed by Viggo the warrior. King Viggo just didn't seem good to me. Anyway, that isn't to say that Viggo the Ranger didn't have faults. He mumbled too much, and I had a hard time understanding him many times. Karl Urban (Eomer)- 9/10 - He did a good job as Eomer, but there wasn't enough scenes with him in it for me to judge properly. From the little that we did see of him, I have no complaints. Brad Dourif (Grima)- 7.5/10, He does a fairly decent job of acting the vileness that he's meant to, but not anything superb. He would have got an 8.5 or so if it weren't for two little scenes that really make me think "What a bad actor". When Gimli steps on him saying "I would stay still if I were you", his look of "fear" and his shudder is too fake. The other scene is where he says "Send me not from your side" to Theoden, which also sounds fake and memorised. David Wenham (Faramir)- 8/10, Not bad, but not outstanding either. Women Miranda Otto (Eowyn)- 8.5/10, Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)- 8/10 I never minded her. She just feels like Galadriel...but she didn't have anything outstanding either, so no 9 for her. Liv Tyler (Arwen)- 6/10, Talks, no whispers in the same annoying tone throughout 99% of the movies. Elves Hugo Weaving (Elrond)- 7/10. I personally think they chose the wrong person for Elrond. Not only because the script made him out to be just a plain Elf-father who doesn't like Men, but he never striked me as Elrond. His face is not ageless. He doesn't seem calm and serene as I always imagined Elrond to be. He gives absolutely no sense of wisdom in the movie. This is half due to the script, which is why I gave him at least a 7, but the other half of the reason lies with him, I fear... Craig Parker (Haldir)- 6/10. Also not good. Martin Czoskas (Celeborn) 4/10, Worst actor in the entire movies, IMO. I don't think anybody felt that Celeborn was "wise" here. His voice is even more annoying than the other Elves. Every single one of his lines sounds memorised. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) 7/10. Gah...does he ever say sentences more than 6 words? (Okay, he does, but too occasionally) His portrayal of Legolas makes him seem like a portable arrow-shooting machine: one that is handy and useful, but nothing more. Dwarves John Rhys-davies (Gimli)- 8.5/10, He plays out well the roles that were given to him. Can't blame him for the idiocy of the script. Yet, as he had no particularily memorable moments, whether due to the script or not, he can't get anything higher than this, m'afraid. Hobbits Andy Serkis (Gollum)- 8.5/10. I don't know...sometimes he striked me as the perfect Gollum. Sometimes, he overdid it. His "gollum" noise also sounds fake. Tolkien describes it as trying to make the "g" sound while swallowing. Serkis just coughs "gollum", which doesn't sound realistic at all. Sean Astin (Sam)- 9/10 Meh...running out of time. I'll just give a detailed analysis on characters I have something to say about. Ian Holm (Bilbo)- 9/10 Great job as Bilbo. Billy Boyd (Pippin)- 8/10. Dom Monaghan (Merry)- 8/10, Elijah Wood (Frodo)- 6/10, Rates hardly better than Celeborn. His whimperings make me want to just reach out and choke him. I never sensed any wisdom out of him. He does the same scared acting throughout the movies, without any change. I think he's one of the actors of LotR that should've been replaced. Wizards Christopher Lee (Saruman)- 10/10 - I was just stunned by him. Notice how he's the only one that got a 10/10 on my scale. His look of pride as he looks at his new Uruk Hai is priceless. His voice just has a commanding air. I often wonder whether he and Ian McKellen should've swapped roles. In the books, Gandalf has the more commanding presence, and is stronger (as Gandalf the White at least), while Saruman is just this coward who isn't supposed to have as much charisma as Lee shows. Ian Mckellan (Gandalf)- 9/10 - He seems to be the perfect choice for Gandalf the Grey. But as Gandalf the White, his quality falls quite a bit.

01-27-2005, 08:54 AM	#4
Faramir Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: In the Forest of Ithilien. Posts: 43	Hugo Weaving (Elrond) 5.2/10.I think hugo was awful...he had such a stern look all the time...he just didnt truly fit the part as well as i thought he would...well i guess he would be better than some of the others who auditioned for elrond i.e: David Bowie.

02-03-2005, 08:11 AM	#5
Thinlómien Shady She-Penguin Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a far land beyond the Sea Posts: 8,093	I just grade the best and the worst: The Worst: Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn - 2/10 He's horrible and so far from the noble Aragorn I imagine... That super ranger-grin gives hïm those 2 points... David Wenham as Faramir - 3/10 Poor at acting. Ugly expressions. Tries to imitate Viggo Mortensen. Those 3 points for EE's, he's good in them really... Well I didn't like Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood or John Noble (he's not a poor actor, the role's just so stupid and he makes Denethor a comic character - that's not fun!) either. The Best: 10/10 - Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Ian Holm as Bilbo, Sean Astin as Sam, Christopher Lee as Saruman and of course Sean Bean as Boromir and Andy Serkis as Gollum. 9/10 - Bernard Hill as Théoden, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Billy Boyd as Pippin and the guy who plays Háma (I don't know his name...).