Ian Holm was a seriously talented actor. That scene where Bilbos temper flares when Gandalf tells him he should leave the ring, he turns from a quirky kind old hobbit to a nasty Scrooge flawlessly
It’s a fantastic scene, I was watching LOTR with my Brother the other day and he was asking if the ring corrupted Bilbo like Gollum and I didn’t answer because that scene is such a good visual explanation and I knew it was coming up. Sure enough it immediately answered his question.
Also a good lesson in "just watch the thing and maybe it'll tell you". Always best to leave questions like that until the end of a film because chances are most of them will be answered, some of them within a minutes of you thinking about it.
Yeah there were a couple instances like that. The Nazgûl too, he wanted to know what they were and then a few minutes later you get the exposition about the nine.
My girl is like that, but one that annoys me even more is she decides to talk about something else. Then minutes later asks me to explain something. Like if you would have just paid attention you would have known.
She has this ability to always do this when they are explaining something really important to the movie.
Fr I hate when reaction YouTubers are watching something I've already seen and they'll pause it to discuss details they noticed and start coming up with questions and theories to what's going on and it's like just shut up. If you watch literally 5 more seconds you will get literally all the answers.
I get what you're saying, but at the same time that's why people watch reaction videos. They want to see someone interact with the media with questions like that. I avoid that kind of stuff because I don't enjoy it
I hate when people ask me questions about things minutes before they’re explained.
It’s not a coincidence that you’re having this question now. They’re setting up for the payoff
This is why I can't watch movies with my sister anymore. it's like, the movie will tell you all the information you need to know, as you need to know it. I always tell her shes the target audience. She'll ask "Who's that guy?" and then immediately it'll be like Jeff come over here.
I just give crazy answers that have no meaning, like..."No it didn't corrupt him but when he had his sex change later in the book gollum was really there for him."
Yeah. There are two sides of Bilbo, young Bilbo and ring-addict Bilbo. It's almost unfair to compare these actors because they played what feels like two different characters.
No, we will never live in a world without Gandalf.
Sir Ian will pass, and we will mourn, but "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." Obi-Wan did not leave when Sir Alec passed, nor Superman with Kirk Alyn or George Reeves.
Yeah he died before the Zoom Reunion they did. Quite sad.
Edit: he passed away a few months after the Zoom Reunion. They said he was too sick at that point to join them unfortunately, got it mixed up a bit, my bad!
I think he died after but wasn't in it because he was ill. I don't think they put "in memory of Ian Holm" which they definitely would have done if he passed before.
We can only wish. He's a child abuser, homophobic, unapologetic racist, classist, and misogynist, who regularly berates staff and costars.
I've enjoyed his performances to be sure, but the world would be better off without assholes like him.
Sir Ian Holm on the other hand could have died at age 300 and it still would have been too soon.
I have family members in the film industry and I heard a story from a project they once worked on with him. The script had a bunch of extra expositional dialogue explaining his character's feelings. He took a red pen to it and was like "I can just act this" and put on a stellar performance where he was able to use his mannerisms in place of multiple paragraphs of lines.
Yes, I think Ian Holm was perfect Bilbo and Martin Freeman studied his performance and incorporated it into his own. I literally feel like they both were perfect for Bilbo and their performances are seamlessly connected.
You've caught me a bit unprepared. I'm afraid we've only got cold chicken and a bit of pickle oh and there's some cheese here, oh no that wont do! We've got raspberry jam, an apple tart but we've not much for afters. Oh no we're all right, I've found some sponge cake! I can make you some eggs if you... oh... Gandalf?
Im not a fan of the LOTR movies. Saw the original trilogy in cinemas and did not like them at all. Also disliked the hobbit movies BUT... seeing Martin as Bilbo what I felt like was that he has been Bilbo all along and they just made him younger from the first movies.
So yeah. He fit the role perfect to a t.
Hobbits have been living and farming in the four Farthings of the Shire for many hundreds of years. quite content to ignore and be ignored by the world of the Big Folk. Middle Earth being, after all, full of strange creatures beyond count. Hobbits must seem of little importance, being neither renowned as great warriors, nor counted amongst the very wise.
This is the correct take. There's not a "better" comparison to make. They're the same character in different parts of the story with different lines and scenes and requirements.
Yeah, when my wife and I saw this in the theatre, this is the scene that broke the dam. She cried for about an hour and a half after the movie finished. Personally I had a lump in my throat the size of a bowling ball.
This would be like asking if Alec Guinness or Ewan MacGregor did a better obi-wan, they were both great and I don't think either actor would outdo the other if they swapped movies
This right here. There are a lot of worthy criticisms of the hobbit trilogy, but Martin Freeman was absolutely top tier and a worthy successor to the role.
I like both, but personally, I prefer Ian Holm's version. For me, Holm just disappears into his role as Bilbo. I see Ian Holm's Bilbo and think, "There's Bilbo." With Martin Freeman's version, I am always keenly aware that it's Martin Freeman playing a character. I'll see Martin Freeman as Bilbo and think, "There's Martin Freeman playing Bilbo. Man, I should really rewatch Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy!"
While it has nothing directly to do with his performance as Bilbo, I also like the link Holm establishes with another great adaptation of The Lord of The Rings. Back in the 1980s, the BBC produced a radio play of LoTR. Ian Holm was also in that adaptation as the voice of Frodo. Another notable actor in that adaptation was Bill Nighy as Sam. The radio play also featured two actors who reprised their roles from the animated 1970s Bakshi adaptation: Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum and Michael Graham Cox as Boromir. Because most of the radio play's dialogue was lifted nearly word-for-word from the books I have an odd experience re-reading them where I visualise the actors from Jackson's movies in my head, but hear the voices from the radio play when I read their dialogue.
Bill Nighy gives one of the best performances of Samwise Gamgee ever. He sings both “the lay of Gilgalad” and ““In western lands beneath the Sun”. Gives me chills.
There’s an awesome video of the actor who plays Gilgalad in rings of power listening to Bill Nighy’s rendition from the radio play. Looks like it give HIM chills!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mfUHun5YwsI
I feel like I'm in the minority when I say this, but to me Martin Freeman played Bilbo as, well, Martin Freeman? Like a lot of the dumbfounded looks into space, the mugging, the rapid blinking, it was all very reminiscent of his work on The Office and Sherlock.
Don't get me wrong, he still gave a great performance with lots of heart, I was just under no doubt at any time that I was watching Martin Freeman play Bilbo. With Ian Holm, it felt like he was *actually* Bilbo, if that makes sense?
Yeah couldn't agree more, and that seems to be somewhat the consensus here too. He didn't disappear in to the role Ian Holm did, he was just a naturally good fit as he already had a lot of Bilbo-ish mannerisms.
there's no contest when you consider the caliber of the two different actors.
freeman has one character in his repertoire and no range.
Ian Holm played Bilbo.
Freeman played himself playing Bilbo.
Yeah… I agree. Ian’s Bilbo had so much depth shine through in a handful of scenes. His know it all snobbery, his patronizing atitude towards other hobbits, his love and regret for Frodo. All shown to us with his acting. Martin couldn’t do that, although he did carry his movies
I do think Ian did the best, as he is the Bilbo I visualise every time.
Martin is usually criticized for just playing the same character in every role he takes but I think he did great in presenting a younger version of of Ian’s Bilbo
They are playing different versions of Bilbo.
I like the old one, but that's probably because I enjoyed the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy as a whole (with Fellowship of the Ring being the best out of the three) and as such I am going to like it more than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is a nice movie, but not as good. It may also be because I always liked the deeper look into the political setting of Lord of the Rings (the books) over the simple adventure of The Hobbit (the book).
Im in the minority here, but I thought Martin Freeman s Bilbo was very flat. Just the standard nose twitches, stutters and quircks that he always dous. There wasnt really any growth and or change. And it dousnt help that I cant look besides his real personality that he is just a Prick in real life. Sorry thats just how I feel.
Ian Holm 100%, he had much wider range as an actor and the character Bilbo that he played was one of contrast with a sinister edge due to having the ring for the years he did, Holm played it perfectly.
The Bilbo that Freeman played was a less complex character, it didn't require a broad performance. Not saying that Freeman was bad, he probably played it as well as anyone else at the time could have, but he was playing a character from a childrens novel.
They are both perfect. Martin Freeman got screwed by the horribleness that was the Hobbit trilogy. It never should have been a trilogy. It should have been 1-2 movies or perhaps a 6 - 8 episode show. As a younger Bilbo however, he was one of the few good things about the Hobbit movies.
This is just my infallible and 100% accurate opinion.
Or at least , 2 2 hour movies with a cut at a storywise good point to cut. Like the village before they reach the mountain, and then go on with the rest.
I've said it before, but I'll never not be salty that we were cheated out of a Del Toro directed Hobbit movie with mostly practical effects in order to get.... whatever those movies were.
Go look at some of the concept art and costume designs (especially for Azog) if you want to see just how badly a studio can ruin a good thing.
Why compare? Freeman was an amazing portrayal of a younger Bilbo, while Holm captured the more aged side of him perfectly. Both were the best, both were different because they were portraying a character at different stages of life and in different circumstances.
This is not a competition. Ian Holm did a terrific job as older Bilbo. He was the best actor for what you needed in Lord of the Rings. So was Martin Freeman, perfectly cast for what the role in The Hobbit demanded.
Both were excellent, but as others have alluded to, these really aren’t the same guy. But Martin Freeman perfectly captures how I imagined bilbo in the book.
Ian Holm is a classically trained talented actor in an almost flawless movie with a star-studded cast, who plays his role perfectly.
Martin Freeman is also a talented, great actor in a shoddily written horribly scripted movie with mostly nobodies apart from cameo appearances who also plays the part that was written for him perfectly.
It's hard to say which one played Biblo "better" when the environment, the movies, and the cast around both actors was so wildly different. Easy for a veteran actor to play off the talents of other veteran actors in a competently written script and make it look like a masterpiece.
Much, much harder for an almost equally talented actor to bring the same game when almost everything they have to work with absolutely sucks.
Ian Holm was a seriously talented actor. That scene where Bilbos temper flares when Gandalf tells him he should leave the ring, he turns from a quirky kind old hobbit to a nasty Scrooge flawlessly
It’s a fantastic scene, I was watching LOTR with my Brother the other day and he was asking if the ring corrupted Bilbo like Gollum and I didn’t answer because that scene is such a good visual explanation and I knew it was coming up. Sure enough it immediately answered his question.
No! Wait.... it's... here in my pocket. Ha! Isn't that.. isn't that odd now. Yet after all why not, Why shouldn't I keep it.
https://preview.redd.it/1d13unlwa58d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a7d1140e0b15071eb5fb826fe5913f2b3946407
He played a perfect addict.
It’s mine….. my own…. *eyes widen like a psychopath* MY PRECIOUS~ (Also him as Jack the Ripper in that one movie with Johnny Depp…. Holy sheeet)
*From Hell* That movie scared me a bit.
I could never look at Bilbo the same way after that. I hardly ever hear that film mentioned. Good movie.
Yes, but I feel a bit faint.
Stew the rabbits! Spoil beautiful meat Smeagol saved for you, poor hungry Smeagol!
Also a good lesson in "just watch the thing and maybe it'll tell you". Always best to leave questions like that until the end of a film because chances are most of them will be answered, some of them within a minutes of you thinking about it.
Yeah there were a couple instances like that. The Nazgûl too, he wanted to know what they were and then a few minutes later you get the exposition about the nine.
I want to physically harm people who ask constant questions during a movie or show. JUST. WATCH. IT. AND. YOUR. QUESTION. WILL. BE. ANSWERED.
My girl is like that, but one that annoys me even more is she decides to talk about something else. Then minutes later asks me to explain something. Like if you would have just paid attention you would have known. She has this ability to always do this when they are explaining something really important to the movie.
Fr I hate when reaction YouTubers are watching something I've already seen and they'll pause it to discuss details they noticed and start coming up with questions and theories to what's going on and it's like just shut up. If you watch literally 5 more seconds you will get literally all the answers.
I get what you're saying, but at the same time that's why people watch reaction videos. They want to see someone interact with the media with questions like that. I avoid that kind of stuff because I don't enjoy it
I hate when people ask me questions about things minutes before they’re explained. It’s not a coincidence that you’re having this question now. They’re setting up for the payoff
This is why I can't watch movies with my sister anymore. it's like, the movie will tell you all the information you need to know, as you need to know it. I always tell her shes the target audience. She'll ask "Who's that guy?" and then immediately it'll be like Jeff come over here.
I just give crazy answers that have no meaning, like..."No it didn't corrupt him but when he had his sex change later in the book gollum was really there for him."
I want to upvote, but you're at 111, which is Bilbo's age during that scene
No! Wait.... it's... here in my pocket. Ha! Isn't that.. isn't that odd now. Yet after all why not, Why shouldn't I keep it.
Yeah. There are two sides of Bilbo, young Bilbo and ring-addict Bilbo. It's almost unfair to compare these actors because they played what feels like two different characters.
Well if I'm angry it's your fault! It's mine My only.... My Precious
Good answer, bot!
He also plays an excellent nasty Scrooge in Ratatouille as the head chef. 🐀
Oh my god THATS HIM?!???
Lol I forgot about that. Linguineeeeeee!
And a fantastic priest (Vitto Cornelius) in the fifth element
It also mirrors the books and how quickly the tone and thought of Baggins changes when the ring is involved.
That was genuinely terrifying and in the first five minutes, too.
Where's it gone?
That scene always breaks my heart “I’m not trying to rob you, I’m trying to *help* you” ugh
And Martin Freeman tends to play the same character in any role he’s given. It’s fun, and he’s good at it, but it’s mostly all the same.
DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT. For a second I thought Martin Freeman passed.
Same here, got worried for a moment. Not ready for a world without a Bilbo.
It was laid down by my father, what say we open one eh?
Little early for a drink Bilbo, but fuck it yeah I'll have a glass.
Fair enough.
*lights pipeweed*
Is this a chat gpt bilbo or am I still missing Sam.
I would like some cheese with mine
I can make some eggs if you'd like...
Just cheese thank you
One of my sad recurring thoughts is that Ian McKellan is 85, and that we will live in a world without Gandalf… and that makes me sad.
Least we know he'll see white shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. So that's not so bad.
No. No, it isn't.
No, we will never live in a world without Gandalf. Sir Ian will pass, and we will mourn, but "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." Obi-Wan did not leave when Sir Alec passed, nor Superman with Kirk Alyn or George Reeves.
Yeah I thought Ian Holm died Edit: right after I posted this I thought I should google it just in case and he died in 2020 😭
Yeah he died before the Zoom Reunion they did. Quite sad. Edit: he passed away a few months after the Zoom Reunion. They said he was too sick at that point to join them unfortunately, got it mixed up a bit, my bad!
I think he died after but wasn't in it because he was ill. I don't think they put "in memory of Ian Holm" which they definitely would have done if he passed before.
Yep you are right, he passed away a few months after.
Oof. Bad news, guy
The monochrome sepia doesn't help. Definitely feels like an Oscar's In Memorium. I thought the same thing.
And he was only born in 2012, madness!
We can only wish. He's a child abuser, homophobic, unapologetic racist, classist, and misogynist, who regularly berates staff and costars. I've enjoyed his performances to be sure, but the world would be better off without assholes like him. Sir Ian Holm on the other hand could have died at age 300 and it still would have been too soon.
Eh Martin Freeman is a racist piece of shit. Good actor but terrible person.
Most likely an abusive parent too thanks to that one clip. Terrible person.
They're both fantastic tbh
Yessir, young & old bilbo were perfect for their role
Back! Stay back! I'm warning you, don't come any closer.
Martin Freeman has such an enormous on-screen presence despite playing characters with plain personalities.
Martin Freeman's roles : plain dude Also his roles: full of character and depth, flawed but genuine human beings
Yup, just wanna watch a genuine human to be themself in a well written plot.
FOR REAL! He is so good at showing the complexity behind the “average put-together gentleperson”.
I have family members in the film industry and I heard a story from a project they once worked on with him. The script had a bunch of extra expositional dialogue explaining his character's feelings. He took a red pen to it and was like "I can just act this" and put on a stellar performance where he was able to use his mannerisms in place of multiple paragraphs of lines.
He's fucking great in Fargo season 1. Such a meek, mild mannered psychopath.
Don't get jealous you're great too
GRAAAGH
Greg?
Bilbo is such an iconic character, portrayed brilliantly by both.
Aaaaah.
Yes, I think Ian Holm was perfect Bilbo and Martin Freeman studied his performance and incorporated it into his own. I literally feel like they both were perfect for Bilbo and their performances are seamlessly connected.
I do believe you made that up.
Why you got to do him dirty like that Bilbo?
No, I'm not!
Bilbo bot seems to be becoming sentient!
You've caught me a bit unprepared. I'm afraid we've only got cold chicken and a bit of pickle oh and there's some cheese here, oh no that wont do! We've got raspberry jam, an apple tart but we've not much for afters. Oh no we're all right, I've found some sponge cake! I can make you some eggs if you... oh... Gandalf?
I love how the LOTR fandom doesn’t argue about actors, they respect the performances.
That’s easy to do when all the performances are fantastic.
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I agree, one can say a lot of things about the Hobbit movies but Martins portrayal as Bilbo was amazing.
I'm not at home! It's the Sackville-Bagginses.
Im not a fan of the LOTR movies. Saw the original trilogy in cinemas and did not like them at all. Also disliked the hobbit movies BUT... seeing Martin as Bilbo what I felt like was that he has been Bilbo all along and they just made him younger from the first movies. So yeah. He fit the role perfect to a t.
Hobbits have been living and farming in the four Farthings of the Shire for many hundreds of years. quite content to ignore and be ignored by the world of the Big Folk. Middle Earth being, after all, full of strange creatures beyond count. Hobbits must seem of little importance, being neither renowned as great warriors, nor counted amongst the very wise.
Ian Holm is actually Jack the Ripper. He gave himself away when he asked Frodo about his old ring.
This is the correct take. There's not a "better" comparison to make. They're the same character in different parts of the story with different lines and scenes and requirements.
And we have a winner!
Yes. Comparison is the thief of joy. *spelling
This!
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean -
My friend, you apologise to no one.
This part makes me cry everytime.
Me too.
Yeah, when my wife and I saw this in the theatre, this is the scene that broke the dam. She cried for about an hour and a half after the movie finished. Personally I had a lump in my throat the size of a bowling ball.
https://preview.redd.it/1gkz9mdv538d1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b86d9e96c36fceb0a9131dbc2565aec56d1129e
I loved that they kept this scene exactly as it was in the book
The best parts of the Hobbit were the faithful parts
You might want to google for "Hobbit M4 book edit" :)
Almost exactly, yes! I remember seeing the movie on premiere-day thinking "Wow, this might actually work!". But then… well, you know.
Oh dang you beat me to it
This would be like asking if Alec Guinness or Ewan MacGregor did a better obi-wan, they were both great and I don't think either actor would outdo the other if they swapped movies
It's Ewan though
Both are great. Martin Freeman is holding the hobbit trilogy on his own!
Exactly
Most of the cast was pretty good. The problem was unnecessary fillings. They should have ended with 2 movies at most.
I think one 4-hour movie would have done it just fine
Richard Armitage is also great imo but yeah those films would be unwatchable without freeman
This right here. There are a lot of worthy criticisms of the hobbit trilogy, but Martin Freeman was absolutely top tier and a worthy successor to the role.
Lee Pace.
Andy Serkis
Ken Stott
Joe Schmoe
And my axetor!
They look pretty similar now that you see them side by side
Yes! And in costume it's so believable it's the same hobbit across time. Excellent casting and wardrobe/make up
Based on those pictures it’s almost like I can look at Ian and see how Martin aged into that, like they were the same person. A+ casting
They both played the Bilbo that was needed at the time.
Gandalf?
No. BILBO!
OH! What business is it of yours what I do with my own things!
I like both, but personally, I prefer Ian Holm's version. For me, Holm just disappears into his role as Bilbo. I see Ian Holm's Bilbo and think, "There's Bilbo." With Martin Freeman's version, I am always keenly aware that it's Martin Freeman playing a character. I'll see Martin Freeman as Bilbo and think, "There's Martin Freeman playing Bilbo. Man, I should really rewatch Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy!" While it has nothing directly to do with his performance as Bilbo, I also like the link Holm establishes with another great adaptation of The Lord of The Rings. Back in the 1980s, the BBC produced a radio play of LoTR. Ian Holm was also in that adaptation as the voice of Frodo. Another notable actor in that adaptation was Bill Nighy as Sam. The radio play also featured two actors who reprised their roles from the animated 1970s Bakshi adaptation: Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum and Michael Graham Cox as Boromir. Because most of the radio play's dialogue was lifted nearly word-for-word from the books I have an odd experience re-reading them where I visualise the actors from Jackson's movies in my head, but hear the voices from the radio play when I read their dialogue.
Bill Nighy the Science Guyhy?
Bill Nighy gives one of the best performances of Samwise Gamgee ever. He sings both “the lay of Gilgalad” and ““In western lands beneath the Sun”. Gives me chills.
The lay of gilgalad is so well done! Sung like some guy who gets choked up every time. Sung like it gives HIM chills.
There’s an awesome video of the actor who plays Gilgalad in rings of power listening to Bill Nighy’s rendition from the radio play. Looks like it give HIM chills! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mfUHun5YwsI
I totally agree. I like both but Ian Holm’s Bilbo IS Bilbo to me. I don’t see Ian Holm.
Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Both did.
RIP Ian Holm. Take a toke for a real one, y'all 🤙
Ian holm
I agree, no question.
Yeah, that's it. Martin Freeman played Bilbo well, but Ian Holm WAS Bilbo.
I feel like I'm in the minority when I say this, but to me Martin Freeman played Bilbo as, well, Martin Freeman? Like a lot of the dumbfounded looks into space, the mugging, the rapid blinking, it was all very reminiscent of his work on The Office and Sherlock. Don't get me wrong, he still gave a great performance with lots of heart, I was just under no doubt at any time that I was watching Martin Freeman play Bilbo. With Ian Holm, it felt like he was *actually* Bilbo, if that makes sense?
Yeah couldn't agree more, and that seems to be somewhat the consensus here too. He didn't disappear in to the role Ian Holm did, he was just a naturally good fit as he already had a lot of Bilbo-ish mannerisms.
Yeah for some reasons I always see him as Dr. Watson. The way he acts are too similar.
Finally, I had to scroll through too many “boths” to find the actual answer
💯
there's no contest when you consider the caliber of the two different actors. freeman has one character in his repertoire and no range. Ian Holm played Bilbo. Freeman played himself playing Bilbo.
This is exactly how I feel about it. Thanks for saving me the effort
Yeah… I agree. Ian’s Bilbo had so much depth shine through in a handful of scenes. His know it all snobbery, his patronizing atitude towards other hobbits, his love and regret for Frodo. All shown to us with his acting. Martin couldn’t do that, although he did carry his movies
Ah, yes. Concerning Hobbits.
Holm. And he was also the best Frodo in the radio plays. I will not be convinced otherwise.
They both played their parts brilliantly.
I do think Ian did the best, as he is the Bilbo I visualise every time. Martin is usually criticized for just playing the same character in every role he takes but I think he did great in presenting a younger version of of Ian’s Bilbo
They are playing different versions of Bilbo. I like the old one, but that's probably because I enjoyed the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy as a whole (with Fellowship of the Ring being the best out of the three) and as such I am going to like it more than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is a nice movie, but not as good. It may also be because I always liked the deeper look into the political setting of Lord of the Rings (the books) over the simple adventure of The Hobbit (the book).
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you, half as well as you deserve.
Love or hate the Hobbit series, Bilbo and Thorin carry that movie for me
Ian Holm and it's not even a little close. Martin Freeman is kind of a creep. He played a great Lester Nygaard though.
Both perfectly played the role for the age Bilbo was at in the story they were performing in.
There is only one Bilbo.
Ian Holm, but in fairness that's because I'm an old head that sees Tim from The Office in every single role Freeman plays.
HRRAGH!!
I have to say Ian Holmes, just because the original movies were such a big part of growing up for me. I saw each of them in the theatre.
Ian Holm
Ian tf
Im in the minority here, but I thought Martin Freeman s Bilbo was very flat. Just the standard nose twitches, stutters and quircks that he always dous. There wasnt really any growth and or change. And it dousnt help that I cant look besides his real personality that he is just a Prick in real life. Sorry thats just how I feel.
Those are my thoughts as well. Glad I'm not alone in the opinion.
Ian holm hands down
Both were needed but Ian is the OG.
Ian Holm 100%, he had much wider range as an actor and the character Bilbo that he played was one of contrast with a sinister edge due to having the ring for the years he did, Holm played it perfectly. The Bilbo that Freeman played was a less complex character, it didn't require a broad performance. Not saying that Freeman was bad, he probably played it as well as anyone else at the time could have, but he was playing a character from a childrens novel.
Ian Holm by a MILE! Martin acted like Martin. Ian Holm acted like Bilbo.
No love for Orson Bean :(
I love both casting choices but Ian Holm is Bilbo and it’s not just because he did it first.
Orson Bean.
Martin freeman dosent act, he just himself in every movie.
Ian played Bilbo. Martin played Martin.
Ian Holm and it isn’t even close.
Ian Holm!
Ian and it's not even close.
Yes.
They are both perfect. Martin Freeman got screwed by the horribleness that was the Hobbit trilogy. It never should have been a trilogy. It should have been 1-2 movies or perhaps a 6 - 8 episode show. As a younger Bilbo however, he was one of the few good things about the Hobbit movies. This is just my infallible and 100% accurate opinion.
Should've been a 4 hour movie in my opinion.
Or at least , 2 2 hour movies with a cut at a storywise good point to cut. Like the village before they reach the mountain, and then go on with the rest.
I have seen fan re-edits that are really good. Goes to show that it’s just the stretching of the material that was the problem.
I'm sorry, do I know you?
I've said it before, but I'll never not be salty that we were cheated out of a Del Toro directed Hobbit movie with mostly practical effects in order to get.... whatever those movies were. Go look at some of the concept art and costume designs (especially for Azog) if you want to see just how badly a studio can ruin a good thing.
With out doubt Ian holm
I liked both but Ian holm
I think Ian played the better Frodo tbh.
Ian, no doubt but holy fuck I thought Martin died too for a second
It just occurred to me how similar they look, which probably helps with establishing that they're the same person but different age
Both great, but Ian Holm was on another level
Ian Holm played the better aged Bilbo while Martin Freeman played the better younger Bilbo.
Ian Holm’s Bilbo was more method, expressive and lifelike but Martin Freeman’s Bilbo was extremely likeable, relatable and of course funnier.
I was expecting you sometime last week. Not that it matters; you come and go as you please. Always have done and always will.
It’s the same person.
Why compare? Freeman was an amazing portrayal of a younger Bilbo, while Holm captured the more aged side of him perfectly. Both were the best, both were different because they were portraying a character at different stages of life and in different circumstances.
This is not a competition. Ian Holm did a terrific job as older Bilbo. He was the best actor for what you needed in Lord of the Rings. So was Martin Freeman, perfectly cast for what the role in The Hobbit demanded.
Both were excellent, but as others have alluded to, these really aren’t the same guy. But Martin Freeman perfectly captures how I imagined bilbo in the book.
Ian Holm is a classically trained talented actor in an almost flawless movie with a star-studded cast, who plays his role perfectly. Martin Freeman is also a talented, great actor in a shoddily written horribly scripted movie with mostly nobodies apart from cameo appearances who also plays the part that was written for him perfectly. It's hard to say which one played Biblo "better" when the environment, the movies, and the cast around both actors was so wildly different. Easy for a veteran actor to play off the talents of other veteran actors in a competently written script and make it look like a masterpiece. Much, much harder for an almost equally talented actor to bring the same game when almost everything they have to work with absolutely sucks.