this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
80 points (73.8% liked)

Unpopular Opinion

6325 readers
67 users here now

Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!


How voting works:

Vote the opposite of the norm.


If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.



Guidelines:

Tag your post, if possible (not required)


  • If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
  • If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].


Rules:

1. NO POLITICS


Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.


2. Be civil.


Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...


Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.


5. No trolling.


This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.



Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Martin Freeman would have been a much better Frodo. Elijah isn't even in the top 100 list of actors that I would cast as Frodo.

The LOTR movies succeeded despite him.

Don't get me wrong, I like Elijah. I just feel that he was miscast in those films.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 119 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Damn, that's a seriously unpopular one!

But, consider this.

It wasn't so much Elijah by himself that made his Frodo great.

It was the chemistry and dynamic he had with other actors, especially Astin. The way they played off of each other made the movies great. It was synergy. Mind you, Astin killed it as Sam. Just a brilliant performance, and he could have carried anyone as Frodo the way Sam carried Frodo.

But the two of them? Possibly the most amazing duo performance I've ever seen. They made each other better, and the way they expressed the lines together was bloody art. I genuinely don't think there are many actors that could have paired up as well as they did.

Are there other actors that could have done a better Frodo in other ways? I wouldn't argue with anyone that said yes. There's certainly plenty that could have done as well (though Wood does bring a delicate vulnerability to the role that's hard to deny).

I've seen suggestions of alternative casting for every role, but I can't think of any for Frodo and Sam that would have been so magical.

[–] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago

Thank you. I appreciate your perspective so much!

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

Huh. That's true. I've never even thought to question Sam's casting. Sean Astin is the emotional bedrock of the trilogy. Elemental.