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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Apr 22 2014, 12:44am
Post #1 of 18
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What was your original impression of Bard?
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As we know, Peter Jackson decided to make Bard a widowed, single father and a bit of a rogue. I have to admit that, although I don't mind this interpretation, this is far from how I envisioned the character. I had seen Bard as a member of Lake-town's Watch and already a captain of men. I imagined that he remained single until well after the Battle of the Five Armies, marrying and siring children after the rebuilding of Dale. The following passage from The Darkening of Mirkwood, a 30-year campaign for The One Ring role-playing game, is pretty close to how I've always imagined Bard's kingship:
Year 2949 Events Early this year, King Bard marries Una of Dorwinion. The bond reinforces the status of the kingdom of Dale as a rising power in the North, as Una comes with a rich dowry of gold and diplomatic relations. In December, Una gives birth to a male son, Prince Bain, making Bard a father at the age of 38.
Before you saw the movies, what were you expecting?
'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Apr 22 2014, 12:52am)
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Name
Rohan
Apr 22 2014, 12:59am
Post #2 of 18
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I kind of expected him to be more of a rogue than in the books. I think it is good the way he was portrayed, because it gives him more depth, having to rise up from the lower class of society that he and his son live in.
How many Tolkien fans does it take to change a light bulb?
"Change? Oh my god, what do you mean change?! Never, never, never......"
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Apr 22 2014, 1:03am
Post #3 of 18
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It was not my orginal idea of him
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But he was awesome! Way better and more interesting character than the book.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Apr 22 2014, 1:06am
Post #4 of 18
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Bard did need a better (and earlier) introduction than Tolkien gave him. I just followed the easiest route and imagined that he would be the Captain who escorted the company to the Master when they arrived at Lake-town.
'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring
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MirielCelebel
Rivendell
Apr 22 2014, 2:00am
Post #5 of 18
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I too imagined Bard as a captain and I knew he married long after the story of The Hobbit. But what Peter Jackson and Luke Evans did for the character of Bard was more than I could have ever asked for in the films. I think Bard as a widower and a rogue makes the character much more believable. Put that together with the weight of history as his ancestor failed to kill the dragon and now you have a hero in waiting. My favorite character in the book was Beorn but my favorite character in the movies so far, is Bard the Bowman.
"The Road goes ever on..."
Writing Bliss
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Glorfindela
Valinor
Apr 22 2014, 8:54am
Post #6 of 18
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This is because the character is well acted and in the spirit of Tolkien. The expansion of the character also worked and fitted with the storyline very well. I hope we see more character development when it comes to Bard.
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Bernhardina
Rohan
Apr 22 2014, 10:26am
Post #7 of 18
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I thought how they made Bard a father in the movie was a good choice, and Luke Evans is a good actor. I do think they made the character of Bard a lot more predictable than I thought of the character when I first read the book. I thought in the book Bard was quite mysterious, and in DoS I thought he was mysterious outside of Laketown but not after that. So at the moment, I think he is a bit boring and not so complex. Hopefully TABA will fix this problem for me 
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Noria
Gondor
Apr 22 2014, 11:56am
Post #8 of 18
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My impression was that Bard was a character about whom we knew little except that he was called grim and was a great (or lucky) archer.
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Also, he was quite prepared to go to war over the dragon's hoard when even the elven king was reluctant.
Really, there was so little development of the character in the book that we were all free to imagine whatever we chose. So PJ’s imaginings are as good as any, IMO.
I think that Bard is one of the best characters in DoS, very well developed and acted. He’s a loving father and not about some mildly criminal activity to provide for his kids. He seems well liked and the “protector of the common folk” obviously has enough unofficial standing in Laketown that the Master has to wait until he falls out of favour with the people before he can take Bard down. Despite his quarrel with Thorin and his legitimate fears, Bard takes in the abandoned dwarves and does his best to help Kili. He is already “kingly”.
And as always in PJ’s ME films, there is the added bonus that he’s very attractive.
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Avandel
Half-elven
Apr 22 2014, 2:15pm
Post #9 of 18
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I don't remember thinking that much of him in the book, but my memory is too foggy - think he got on my nerves (e.g. I was on the dwarf side in the book, too).
Re the movie - my initial reaction was puzzled, because of early articles saying "we wouldn't know if Bard was good or bad" - I was expecting a more ambiguous figure, someone darker, more cynical and sly, that really couldn't be made a judgement about until TABA. I remember thinking he doesn't seem so bad at watching DOS the first time.
I haven't formed a final opinion yet, tho I get no end of amusement from my favorite Thorin "I have the only right" and at the same time REALLY like Bard for taking in the sick Kili, which I thought said a lot about him, all things considered.
"Richard Armitage’s performance has been one of the best things about the new trilogy, making you believe that a hairy dwarf, so often the comedy element of the LOTR films, can be a heroic, tortured, and dangerous badass." - Den of Geek, The Hobbit: There & Back Again, 7 Apr 2014 - 07:07
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Eruvandi
Tol Eressea
Apr 22 2014, 2:41pm
Post #10 of 18
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I didn't know what to expect. Bard isn't described in all that much detail in the book, other than being grim and having long-ish dark hair, so as far as that goes the movie met my limited expectations. However, when I saw Bard on the big screen for the first time it didn't take long for me to like him. In fact, I don't think I've ever come to like a character that fast before. I love the way Luke Evans portrays him: the mannerisms, the personality, the look. It all works just fine for me.
"But there’s empty cross, there’s an empty tomb
Fire and wind now sweeping in this tiny upper room
There’s a hungry world, there’s a risen King
Unlock the doors, what reason more could we ever need?
So sing with me, I dare you to
Because there’s an empty cross; there’s an empty tomb"
~Empty (Disciples)-sung by Dan Haseltine and Matt Hammitt
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Apr 22 2014, 3:34pm
Post #11 of 18
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Reply to Avandel: was thinking of Bard from the book.
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However, movie-firsters are free to answer with their own impressions. I'm sure that we have some posters whose first encounter with Bard was in the Rankin/Bass animated film!
'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Apr 22 2014, 3:39pm)
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IdrilofGondolin
Rohan
Apr 22 2014, 3:37pm
Post #12 of 18
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Bard is a wonderful character. I like it that he already has dealings with Thranduil. It will be interesting to see what that means inTABA. His being a widower with children means he has much more of a stake in what happens. So that was a good addition. Actually considering what PJ could have done the choices he made for Bard are uniformly excellent. that includes casting. Luke Evans is pitch perfect.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Apr 22 2014, 3:47pm
Post #13 of 18
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Also, he was quite prepared to go to war over the dragon's hoard when even the elven king was reluctant. Really, there was so little development of the character in the book that we were all free to imagine whatever we chose. So PJ’s imaginings are as good as any, IMO. I think that Bard is one of the best characters in DoS, very well developed and acted. He’s a loving father and not about some mildly criminal activity to provide for his kids. He seems well liked and the “protector of the common folk” obviously has enough unofficial standing in Laketown that the Master has to wait until he falls out of favour with the people before he can take Bard down. Despite his quarrel with Thorin and his legitimate fears, Bard takes in the abandoned dwarves and does his best to help Kili. He is already “kingly”. And as always in PJ’s ME films, there is the added bonus that he’s very attractive.
Yes, it will be interesting to see how the parley with Thorin plays out on film. Even Tolkien shows Bard to be more passionate and hot-headed than Thranduil; he is obviously upset to see Thorin so casually dismiss his demands, especially considering how eager the Dwarves were in Lake-town to receive the aid of the Lake-folk. Save us all from the stiff necks of Dwarves.
'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring
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NecromancerRising
Gondor
Apr 22 2014, 4:23pm
Post #14 of 18
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of the Middle Earth movies so far and much better than the poor and inadequate depiction/characterisation of him by Tolkien.
"Obsession and narrow-mindness is the trend of the 2000's and synonyms to many Tolkien fanatics"
(This post was edited by NecromancerRising on Apr 22 2014, 4:24pm)
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Avandel
Half-elven
Apr 22 2014, 9:50pm
Post #15 of 18
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That much I do remember - being on the dwarf's side, remember thinking he was something of a bully and/or being irritated that everyone seemed to want to grab what they could from the dwarves. I remember thinking or picturing Bard as dark, grim - sort of lumberjack looking for some reason.
"Richard Armitage’s performance has been one of the best things about the new trilogy, making you believe that a hairy dwarf, so often the comedy element of the LOTR films, can be a heroic, tortured, and dangerous badass." - Den of Geek, The Hobbit: There & Back Again, 7 Apr 2014 - 07:07
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Salmacis81
Tol Eressea
Apr 23 2014, 10:47pm
Post #16 of 18
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I didn't mind what they did with Bard so much...
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I felt that some expansion of the character was sorely needed for a film adaptation, and that they did a fairly decent job of it. I would have preferred PJ had stuck closer to the Bard of the books (as in being a respected member of the guards and not a rogue), but if any character deserved expansion it was Bard.
Now, if we could have only gotten an expanded Beorn instead of the Tauriel/Kili fluff...
(This post was edited by Salmacis81 on Apr 23 2014, 10:52pm)
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Salmacis81
Tol Eressea
Apr 23 2014, 10:49pm
Post #17 of 18
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...was supposed to be from Bilbo's point of view. And it was a children's book, not a dark epic. And it was not originally written as being part of the wider legendarium. So don't be too hard on Tolkien.
(This post was edited by Salmacis81 on Apr 23 2014, 10:51pm)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Apr 24 2014, 2:44pm
Post #18 of 18
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Now, if we could have only gotten an expanded Beorn instead of the Tauriel/Kili fluff...
With the 3-film structure that Jackson has adopted, there should be pleny of room for all the characters to breathe, old and new. Unfortunately, Jackson has chosen to wait until the DoS extended edition to give us more of Beorn (and Bombur's dunking in the Enchanted Stream).
'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring
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