Rating For The Cast As An Ensemble: 10/10
Elijah Wood: 10/10- He did a great job of transforming from an innocent, optimistic, young hobbit into an individual almost wholly controlled by the ring. The scene at the end of ROTK when he decides to claim the ring for his own was shocking and distressing, and the way Elijah handled it in the film version made me feel the same way. He was gyped big time at the Oscars
!
Sean Astin: 10/10- A beautiful performance,
especially in ROTK
! Sam's struggle, both with himself and trying to remain true to Frodo, even after things started going sideways between them, really came through in his portrayal, as well as how much Sam truly cared about Frodo. He was truly cheated at the Oscars, even more so than Elijah
!
Dominic Monaghan & Billy Boyd: 9/10 for both- Each of them did a great job showing the transition from mischievous, foolish young hobbits into wise, courageous individuals willing to die for Frodo if necessary. Of the "younger" characters, Merry and Pippin changed the most, IMO.
Viggo: 10/10- His portrayal of Aragorn was absolutely FLAWLESS! It's impossible to imagine anyone else in that role! He played the hesitant savior/leader who finally embraces his/her destiny perfectly! Another cast member that was robbed badly at the Oscars
.
Orlando: 8/10- Great job for his very first film role, and he was perfect for the part. I give him an eight only because Legolas wasn't developed as well as I would have liked, except for his friendships with Aragorn and Gimli.
John Rhys-Davies: 8/10 for his portrayal of Gimli (for the same reason I gave Orlando's performance an eight), 9/10 for the voice work he did for Treebeard- he took a completely CGI creature and gave it/him a personality and character as human as any of the
truly humanoid characters.
Ian McKellen: 10/10- Same thing as with Viggo- I can't imagine anybody else in the role of Gandalf. He looked the part, he acted the part, and he really humanized the character. I'm glad at least
he was recognized for his work
.
Sean Bean: 10/10- He took what little time his character got onscreen in the theatrical version of the film and went all-out with his performance, giving Boromir depth and making viewers really feel his absence, rather than leaving them with the feeling "Oh, Boromir died, how sad/he deserved it. Let's get on with the main plot now", something that could very well have happened in the hands of the wrong actor. The scenes with him added into the extended versions of FOTR and
The Two Towers only made that awareness of Boromir's absence more acute, IMO.
Christopher Lee: 10/10- He was wonderfully evil as Saruman
! He made me shudder every time he was onscreen, and his voice,
! Oooh! *shivers fearfully*
Hugo Weaving: I'm going to depart from the majority here and give him 9/10. He did well with what parts the films required his character to play in their plots, namely, Arwen's father, a sort of helper for the Fellowship to complete its quest, a protector of the parts of Middle-Earth still untouched by Sauron & his influence, and a means of seeing the dire situation in Middle-Earth through the eyes of those elves that decided to delay going to the Undying Lands. He did a particularly good job of showing how precious a child Arwen was to Elrond, and that, IMO, was the most important aspect of his character: his role as a father.
Cate Blanchett: 8/10- Like Hugo Weaving and Liv Tyler, (who I'll comment about next) she did a great job fulfilling Galadriel's role in the films' plots: a protector, guide, and helper for Frodo. I only give her performance an eight because I would have liked to see more about how Galadriel gave Frodo the strength to continue on his quest to destroy the ring.
Liv Tyler: Another departure from the majority- 9/10. She did an excellent job satisfying Arwen's role as the driving force behind Aragorn's final decision to take part in the quest to destroy the ring, and enabling him to keep his will to continue in it strong, even after Gandalf's death, Frodo & Sam's departure, and losing track of Merry & Pippin.
Andy Serkis: 10/10- One word about his performance as Gollum- WOW
! It's so wrong that he wasn't nominated for best supporting actor at the Oscars
!
David Wenham: 9/10- He did an excellent job as Faramir
! I give him a nine only because of the way his character was changed in the films. It works in the extended editions because the added scenes showed why he was tempted by the ring, but it's too much character alteration in the theatrical versions
.
Karl Urban: 9/10- His portrayal of Eomer was very good, especially in terms of his sibling relationship with Eowyn, and his valiant, determined attempt to make Théoden see that Grima was actually a spy/tool of Saruman. His performance gets a nine because he wasn't in the last two films nearly enough
.
Miranda Otto: 7/10- Her performance as Eowyn was pretty good, but the character wasn't developed enough, IMO. The additional scenes with her in the extended editions of the films only bring that number up to 8/10.
Bernard Hill: 10/10- Another actor, like Sean Bean, who managed to give an excellent performance with a rather small amount of screentime, and left the audience with a pretty deep feeling of sadness when the character he/she played died.
John Noble: 9/10- He did a great job as Denethor! I hated the character, but he did very well with the role. I give him a nine because I would have liked to see more scenes from the books with him in the films (e.g. when Pippin finds out that he's in possession of one of the palantirs, and part of the reason he's so crazy and despicable is because he looks into it ALL THE TIME).
Brad Dourif: 10/10- His physicality was what made the role of Grima for me
. His skulking, smarminess, and sliminess reflected his character's name (Wormtongue) and personality
perfectly ! Ick
! The only performance that topped his, in terms of physicality, was Andy Serkis' portrayal of Gollum
.
Ian Holm: 10/10- He was the perfect Bilbo, it's very hard to imagine anyone else in the role
! He managed to show the conflict going on within the character (and what Frodo would go through later on) in all its devastating glory in only
a few minutes of the first film
! That ability to give a complete picture of a character's personality, main characteristics, and conflicts in only a few scenes in a single movie is just amazing to me
!
Alexis
)
/10 (Welcome to Rivendell Mr. Anderson 
)
)
don't kill me!! please don't kill me! he get's about an 9/10....um, yeah. i just thought his performace could have been a bit better as an elf.
I'm not obsessed, honest, not obsessed, not obsessed.... I LOVE LOTR!!!!!!!!! Okay, maybe I am obsessed.
