Looking inside the Sauron Project - Page 10
© Michael Martinez
"No. I am your father. I cloned you with my secret decoder ring. And if you give it back to me, I'll clone a twin sister for you!"
Sauron can be portrayed in several ways. He could have a speaking part (with or without James Earl Jones' help) and involve himself in various whining scenes where he rants and rails about the hobbits that no one can bring to him. He would probably strike most viewers as being rather impotent if shown this way. Evil guys who do nothing but complain about the ineffectiveness of their servants just don't seem to be very smart and manipulative.
Or Sauron could be shown standing over a map, looking out windows, fading in and out of various scenes as an overlay image, doing absolutely nothing but wasting screen time. Some movies have used this effect to great detriment. I'd name a few but they were forgettable.
Or Sauron could be played by Jack Palance, doing one-armed pushups as he waits for the Ringwraiths to bring him the Ring (which they'll never do). I think Palance did a great job in "Batman" where he says to Jack Nicholson, "Maybe we can cut a deal!" and Nicholson then blows him away. Unfortunately, Palance will probably never be able to live down his performance as Voltan in "Hawk the Slayer", so he's probably not in the running for Sauron.
Finally, Sauron could be portrayed as a cunning, conniving, manipulative schemer who has a LOT of stuff going on. He's too busy issuing orders to his various lieutenants, or scanning the landscape trying to find Frodo, to take reports about failed missions. This kind of Sauron would not be impotently flinging underlings around the castle trying to pass himself off as a powerful being. Powerful beings, as trademark, don't have to show their power. They use it. Big difference there.
The nature of Sauron may become one of the great questions as the first movie release date (December 14, 2001) comes along. Fans will want to know if the Bad Guy is really Bad or just a bad villain. It's hard to find a good villain in the movies these days, and good villains don't take reports of failed missions, fling their ineffectual minions against the wall, or scream in anguished frustration as the good guys elude their clever schemes and metal monsters once again.
Palpatine never flinches, no matter what goes wrong with his obviously hare-brained scheme to secure the position of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He nods, alters his plans, and moves on. Sauron has to be at least as deadly cold and calculating. Palpatine loses his fantastic apprentice, Darth Maul. Does he writhe in agony? Does he suddenly admit defeat and have to be talked into trying again by someone else? Nope. He never departs from The Plan.
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