The Seven Lords

[Pattertwigs Pal]

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread to discuss the personalities, portrayals, etc. of the seven lords.

I couldn't find much information on who played the lords. This is what I did find.
VDT (Walden): Lord Bern - Terry Norris, Lord Rhoop - Bruce Spence
VDT (BBC): Lord Rhoop - Christopher Godwin, Lord Bern - Pavel Douglas
Here is a list of the lords:
Lord Argoz - Ramandu's Island
Lord Bern - The Lone Islands
Lord Mavramorn - Ramandu's Island
Lord Octesian - Dragon Island
Lord Revilian - Ramandu's Island
Lord Restimar - Deathwater
Lord Rhoop - Dark Island

Neither Lewis nor the movies give us much insight into the personalities of the Lords, thus we must come to our own conclusions based on what we do know. Here are a few questions to get the discussion started (Feel free to pick and choose and/or right your own thoughts):
What was your impression of the Lords from reading the books? How does that compare to the movie (and/or the BBC's VDT)?

What did you think of the portrayal of the Lords in the movie (and/or the BBC's VDT)? What did you like? What didn't you like?

[Louloudi the Centaur]

Lord Bern: Terry Norris did a great job acting on this part. However, his character is completely out of context from the book sadly. He is very weak, and seems almost delirious. In the book, Bern is stronger, and a fighter( I'm not talking in the physical sense).

Lord Rhoop: Bruce Spense also did fantastic. Unlike Bern's character in the film, his character stays very true to the book. Very delirious, distressed, and any other synonyms for these words. However, I didn't like that the crew almost treated him like the Sword was more important than he was. And he never got to get the rest he deserved.

I can't really say what I thought about the other Lords, because three were asleep, one was gold, and one was a skeleton(who Caspian somehow recognized).

[Evelyn]

Lord Rhoop was perfect! He kind of creeped me out, but at the same time you felt sorry for him. I think that was sort of what they were aiming at.

Lord Bern was, yeah, a let down. I wished he could of been noble and rich like he was in the book. I like that part, when Caspian is with Bern. But in the movie was a little old man and all he did was explain for us what the GM was and then gave them the sword. Seeing him look like that made me think instantly of Lord Rhoop, so then when you do see Rhoop, you don't feel as bad for him. It made it seem like all the Lords were in that kind of condition.

[GlimGlum]

I must agree with the previous two posters about the two Lords we get to see in VDT. Lord Bern was very different from the book in appearance and circumstances. Terry Norris did well but the Lord Bern I got from reading the book was younger and more forceful personality wise.

Bruce Spence, however, captured Lord Rhoop almost perfectly. That was a bright spot for this version of VDT: Getting at least one of the minor characters from the book right. We shall not mention Rhince and Rynelf.

As far as the remaining 5 Lords go, at least they found them in the correct order and essentially (though not exactly) the correct islands. We don't know much about them from the book other than that they were loyal to and friends of Caspian's father.

The book does mention that each of the 3 Sleeping Lords says something when they are briefly awakened by the attempts of the Dawn Treader's crew. I wish the movie had included that.

Guess we'll have to wait for another version.

[Pattertwigs Pal]

I suppose I ought to state my opinion on the matter since I started the thread.

I've spent considerable time thinking about the Lords. I agree that Lord Rhoop was portrayed very well in the movie and that Lord Bern wasn't anything like what he was in the book. Lord Bern is the lord we know the most about and have the biggest insight into his character. We know: 1. He is against slavery 2. That he tried to do something about it. 3. He is smart and cautious. 4. He's a little insecure (he doesn't want Caspian to leave) 5. He is married and has children. 6. He has some regrets that he didn't go with the other Lords. In the movie, well, he had regrets that he didn't go with the other lords.

I have a hard time seeing the Lords as noble men. I know they were loyal to Caspian's father and that is why they were sent away, but I can't see them heading of after a green mist. The never struck me as being that noble in the book. We know Octesian didn't make it past the first island, whether because he was a dragon or he was killed by the dragon. The other lords seemed to have abandoned him or to have left without trying to avenge him. Reepicheep was willing to avenge Eustace even though he was not liked at all. They also made it clear that they would never leave him.

The movie did capture the mystery around Octesian well. We see his skeleton but we have no clue how he died. It almost makes it more of a mystery since we see his skeleton. In the book, there are pretty much two options 1. The dragon ate him. 2. He turned into a dragon. In the movie, about all I can figure out is that it had something to do with the gold. Any ideas?

In the book, Lord Restimar had decided to take a swim and turned into gold. In the movie, it is much more likely that he found out what the water did and fell in by mistake. This shows a bit of difference between the character in the book he was careless in the movie he was greedy.

In the book, Rhoop is on the Dark Island because he wanted his day dreams to come true. In the movie, or so I assume, he is in there to try to defeat the darkness. At the very least, he did not go there in search of pleasure.

The three lords at RI apparently quarreled in the movie as well as in the books, although we don't know what the quarrel was about in the movie. It is clear though that at least one of the lords in each case was at the point of physical violence.

I hope that made sense.

[Lilygloves]

Lord Bern reminded me of Aladdin, when he is in prison and Jafar in disguise shows up.
Lord Rhoop was really great. I watched his eyes and they never blinked! It's probably not something most people would notice, but it was a bonus for me that they had that little detail. It really added to the effect.

[FB92]

Bruce Spence has always been a talented actor and an amazing one too. He was my favorite Lord in the movie. He just did the best performance in my mind.