A Classic Era LOTR Movie

[Archaic Elf]

Clint Eastwood as Aragorn? Hmm. I think he would be a cool Strider, but once he declares himself to be Aragorn son of Arathron, it would be kind of weird. Eastwood is so gritty, I couldn't see him as a king. He could pull it off, but it would be surreal.

Carroll O'Connor as Theoden would be funny if he called Pippin a 'meat head' just one time. I don't think anyone would complain when he goes off to his funeral pyre.

Thanks for the link Mister Underhill. There's some hilarious stuff in there. I would have to say that Samuel L. Jackson should be Aragorn and Denzel Washington should be Saruman instead. Jackson would not be easy on the hobbits at all. That would be great.

LionPixie said the Mouth of Sauron should be Kurt Russell
RKittle said Butterbur should be Meat Loaf
Both those ideas are can't miss, especially if the Prancing Pony turns into a huge musical. Kurt Russell would own that role. Hopefully they give him an eye patch just for theatrics.

The Devo soundtrack idea would be funny for a LOTR John Hughes type teen flick. We have to destroy the ring or there won't be a Spring Break in Hobbiton. No way! Molly Ringwald for Eowyn. Maybe Patrick Swayze can be Boromir. Andrew McCarthy as a very, very unlikely Aragorn. Now I want to see Bill and Ted (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) as Frodo and Sam. I have to say though that a metal soundtrack would just be too cliche, so keep it New Wave.

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Frodo -- James Cagney

Now that would be something to see.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Frodo -- James Cagney

Originally Posted by Archaic Elf

Now that would be something to see.

Hey, they were trying to make Cagney take the Robin Hood part that Errol Flynn eventually turned into the classic adaptation. Cagney as Frodo makes more sense than as Robin of Loxeley. Cagney was very short, after all.

[skip spence]

How about Charton Heston as Boromir?

He would be perfectt for the scene when Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo. No-one can despair in the gravel quite like old Charton Heston...

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by skip spence

How about Charton Heston as Boromir?

He would be perfectt for the scene when Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo. No-one can despair in the gravel quite like old Charton Heston...

I saw him on stage in London years ago in "A man for all seasons". He was really very good which I didn't expect from a film star. Really had a great stage presence.

[Aiwendil]

This will probably mean nothing to 99.9% of people, but I've been watching a lot of Fritz Lang lately, so here's The Lord of the Rings as a Weimar-era German silent epic:

Directed by Fritz Lang
Screenplay by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou
Produced by Erich Pommer for UFA
Music by Gottfried Huppertz

Frodo: Walter Janssen
Sam: Georg John
Merry: Gustav Frohlich
Pippin: Gustav von Wangenheim
Bilbo: Otto Wernicke
Gollum: Peter Lorre (obviously!)
Gandalf: Bernhard Goetzke
Aragorn: Gustav Diessl
Boromir: Hans Adalbert Schlettow
Denethor: Rudolf Klein-Rogge (actually he'd make a great Orc but is much too good an actor to waste in such a small role)
Faramir: Erwin Biswanger
Legolas: Conrad Veidt
Gimli: Heinrich George
Theoden: Theodor Loos
Eomer: Paul Richter
Eowyn: Camilla Horn
Wormtongue: Alexander Granach
Celeborn: Alfred Abel
Galadriel: Brigitte Helm
Elrond: Fritz Rasp
Saruman: Werner Krauss
Radagast: Gosta Ekman
Arwen: Lil Dagover
Grishnakh: Max Schreck (you could even use his costume/makeup from Nosferatu)
Barliman: Emil Jannings

Actually, Peter Lorre as Gollum would also be a great choice for a '30s British version or a '40s Hollywood version.

I was going to do one as a Kurosawa samurai epic too, but realized I don't know enough Japanese actors. But how about Toshiro Mifune as Aragorn and maybe Takashi Shimura as Boromir?

[Morthoron]

Gotta love German expressionism! Max Schreck as Nosferatu was iconic, but Conrad Veidt (who a few of us have mentioned for his 'talkie' roles) was even more versatile. Have you seen Veidt in 'The Man Who Laughs'? One of the great silent movies:

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

This will probably mean nothing to 99.9% of people, but I've been watching a lot of Fritz Lang lately, so here's The Lord of the Rings as a Weimar-era German silent epic:

Heh, and I thought my John Ford cast was obscure! It's been years since I watched any Fritz Lang, I should check Netflix Watch Instantly, I bet they have a few of those old classics on there.

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

I was going to do one as a Kurosawa samurai epic too, but realized I don't know enough Japanese actors. But how about Toshiro Mifune as Aragorn and maybe Takashi Shimura as Boromir?

Nobody could do Théoden's transformation like Shimura, though it's probably inevitable that he'd play Gandalf:


Shimura would make a great Frodo too, come to that; he's probably one of the most versatile actors in cinema history.

Anyway, I was thinking of Tatsuya Nakadai (the gunslinger from Yojimbo) as Boromir:


Maybe Kamatari Fujiwara for Gollum:

[Mister Underhill]

And breaking this into a double-post to make an exception to the three-images rule:

Isao Kimura for Faramir:


Seiji Miyaguchi might work for Saruman:


...although Masayuki Mori might be a better choice:


Of course I've left the hobbits all uncast so far, but I have a few ideas about that too. More will be revealed.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

This will probably mean nothing to 99.9% of people, but I've been watching a lot of Fritz Lang lately,

Has your inner Star Wars fan led you to Lang? Mine did, but all I've seen, alas, is Metropolis--and I can' even say which version that was--but I can at least say that I must be in that 0.1% of people you are talking about.

[Aiwendil]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Have you seen Veidt in 'The Man Who Laughs'?

Yeah, he was great in that too. Casting him as Legolas might be a bit of a stretch, but I think he could do Elvishness pretty well. Quite different from Orlando Bloom, though.

Originally Posted by Mr. Underhill

Anyway, I was thinking of Tatsuya Nakadai (the gunslinger from Yojimbo) as Boromir

Perfect! I was trying to think of a villain for him to play, but I can definitely see him as Boromir.

Originally Posted by Bethberry

Has your inner Star Wars fan led you to Lang? Mine did, but all I've seen, alas, is Metropolis--and I can' even say which version that was--but I can at least say that I must be in that 0.1% of people you are talking about.

I think it was more through Hitchcock that I got into Lang, though I definitely remember hearing about Metropolis in connection with Lucas's THX-1138 and being intrigued by that as well. I actually got to see the new restoration of Metropolis on the big screen a few weeks ago and was reminded of the excitement of seeing the Star Wars films on the big screen when they were re-released back in the '90s.

As a Tolkien fan, you might want to check out Lang's two-part adaptation of the Nibelungenlied if you liked Metropolis.