Saruman also had greater power than Gandalf-- The confrontation at Isengard wasn’t a demonstration of Gandalf’s power, but of his greater authority. And while it’s in no way certain that the Balrog was more powerful than Gandalf, neither was it certain that Gandalf was more powerful than the Balrog (especially since, like all the Istari, he was operating under significant imposed limitations).
you have combative ainur and you have those who just give lip. among the valar, morgoth had the greatest power but he can be bested in a physical combat by tulkas (and maybe orome.)
among the maiar, the two most prominent are eonwe, herald of manwe who can beat anyone in a fight (even valar?) and the hand maiden of varda (forget her name.) there are also Osse and Uinen. olorin is definitely not a warrior-type ainur.
on the dark side, the most powerful maiar was sauron but he was not really the warrior type. morgoth’s chief warriors were balrogs (and dragons.)
My images of the characters were painted by the “Middle Earth Quest” lines of gamebook.
Orthanc fits the pre-conceptions I have of the place; the ones that took my breath away were Hobbiton and Minas Tirith.
Character-wise, Elrond was the most jarring. I figured Elrond would be a bit more warm, and welcoming, but he got this sour face on all the time.
agree. the hobbit put it best:
“strong as a warrior, wise as a wizard, as venerable as a dwarf king, and as kind as summer.”
FOTR was a bit more dramatic in describing gandalf, glorfindel and elrond:
“gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two. but his broad shoulders, long white hair ans snowy beard gave him the look of a king in some ancient legend. and underneath those bushy white eyebrows were eyes set like coal than can instantly leap into fire.”
“glorfindel was tall and straight. his hair of flowing gold. his face was young and fair and full of joy. his voice was like music. wisdon sat on his brows. and on his arms lay strength.”
“elrond had a face that was ageless, neither old nor young. but in them were memories both fair and sad. his hair was raven black, his eyes grey as twilight. venerable he seemed like a king crowned by many winters, yet hale as a tried warrior in the fullness of his strength.”
I think that before saying Frodo was mis-cast and too young, you need to take into account how the movie changed the timeline of the story. Frodo was 50 in the book, but in the book he received the ring from Bilbo when he was 33 (just out of his tweens) and then stayed in the Shire for 17 years before setting off on his quest. In the movie, he set off almost immediately; this was IMHO a good change from the book, as it would be hard to have a good in-movie reason for just laying about for 17 years.
So Wood’s portrayal of a young adult is good casting for the timeline of the movie.
it wasn’t just the mis-cast for the role of frodo. that’s actually a minor after-thought. and you can’t fault the producers and director. they did a great job. it’s the frustration of realizing that an excellent read like LOTR is impossible to fully recreate on screen with live actors. for instance, how can one re-create boromir’s arrogant discourses? “believe not that in gondor, the blood of Numeror is spent, nor is its glory forgotten.” how can one re-create gimli’s proud and taciturn behavior when confronting a stranger? “then eomer son of eomund, let gimli the dwarf gloin’s son warn you about foolish words concerning the lady galadriel. you speak of something that is wise and fair beyond the reach of your thought and only little wit can excuse you.” and finally, how can elijah wood make audiences feel the dread and horror the ring brings to his mind?
you can’t. proof to that is the sorry way two of three very dramatic scenes in FOTR were rendered, all of them involving the ring: 1) bilbo’s departure and voluntary surrender of the ring and 2) the temptation of galadriel. only bilbo’s relapse for the ring’s allure while at rivendell was well-directed.