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Original poster

Countdown to Rings of Power

143 replies

QuebecBagnet · 01/09/2022 12:19

Anyone else excited.

oddly the daily Mail have totally changed their review of it overnight. Last night the article said it was a total turkey and would likely bankrupt Amazon studios. Poor acting, dire story lines, etc. couldn’t have been worse.

today it’s much more factual about what the show is about rather than really giving an opinion. I think Amazon have paid the DM off! 😂

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Rhaenys · 03/09/2022 17:43

JonSnowedUnder · 03/09/2022 17:38

I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. Visually it looked amazing - I had been worried as I found Wheel of Time looked off (I think it was the camera).

I wasn't a fan of Gladriel, we are supposed to be on board with her hunting the evil that killed her brother but the show didn't spend any time developing him or their relationship and I felt she came across selfish for willing to sacrifice her fellow elves in her pursuit. Also having the elven king and Elrond ship her off when she was trying to argue she had found signs of Sauron feels like a lazy storyline designed to put us on her side rather than explaining why he/they wanted to ignore evidence. I'm guessing they will look at the later but it still felt lazy to me.

It also felt a bit lazy to have the son of the lady who happens to be involved with an elf, not only be the first home to be hit by what was in the tunnel but he also happens to have uncovered a tool of Sauron.

If i'm totally honest I wish Amazon had just developed their own original fantasy series rather than attempt to breathe more life into LOTR which I don't think they can get close to the same standard.

I think it’s a mighty shame they didn’t get the rights to The Silmarillion. I think this storyline is just based off footnotes and songs?

I’ve seen a lot of people say that it should never have been made. Do you think it would have made a difference if Peter Jackson had been involved?

JonSnowedUnder · 03/09/2022 18:12

@Rhaenys I don't think PJ would have don't much better. Although I do think it would have made a difference to have a proper fan of the work involved. I still can't believe how much Amazon paid for rights when it's not even a full book, as you say I believe its mainly notes.

I do hope it'll get better, it's always going to be hard to establish characters and a new world.

Original poster
QuebecBagnet · 03/09/2022 18:45

Have only watched episode 1 so far, did find it a bit slow but guess it’s introducing characters. Going to watch episode 2 shortly.

I think they did have some die hard LOTR fans as advisors.

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Rhaenys · 03/09/2022 20:24

JonSnowedUnder · 03/09/2022 18:12

@Rhaenys I don't think PJ would have don't much better. Although I do think it would have made a difference to have a proper fan of the work involved. I still can't believe how much Amazon paid for rights when it's not even a full book, as you say I believe its mainly notes.

I do hope it'll get better, it's always going to be hard to establish characters and a new world.

I wasn’t enthralled by it although it was visually stunning, much like House of the Dragon. I’m not prepared to write them off after only 2 episodes though.

I think people have been far too harsh with the criticism.

ginnybag · 03/09/2022 22:18

I liked it, and I'll keep watching, but I agree, I wish they'd made something original. If only because I think they've made a big mistake not purchasing more of the material. There's already a lot of patch and fill on character back stories and timelines to avoid the volumes of stuff they can't use and its leaving key characters far more 2d than they really should be.

It's also a weird mix of visually stunning and almost sloppy. There's so many places where you can really see the makeup, and there are costumes that don't really quite fit or need steaming

LondonWolf · 03/09/2022 22:51

I was thinking how they seem to have spent an absolute fortune on costumes and sets but so far the special effects are nothing special, eg from the elves. Remember how Legolas used to move so magically? I'd love to see some of that from the elves in this.

ArabeI · 04/09/2022 10:54

anonacfr · 02/09/2022 16:04

I want to watch it but am worried it might be more generic fantasy than Tolkien.
I wish they could do a sequel to LOTR and show what happened to the Fellowship after Aragorn becomes king.

The film trilogy stops with the Grey Havens doesn't it. The only problem with showing what happened afterwards is that it's a similar tale to Beren and Luthien for Aragorn and Arwen.

ArabeI · 04/09/2022 11:09

I've only seen the first episode so far. I wondered what they would base it on. I thought Morgoth would feature, but in a 'based on the Silmarillion' way, but it appears to just be based on appendices.

hattymattie · 04/09/2022 19:06

I don't think they've the rights to The Silmarillion - just the snippets that appear in the LOR appendices. So we have a weird mix of Silmarillion plus new stuff which isn't how it went. There are some wonderful stories in The Silmarillion once you get through the creation.

I'm quite enjoying it but have to disassociate from Tolkien. Not keen on boys band Elrond either.

colouringindoors · 04/09/2022 21:29

I enjoyed it. It's not amazing, but it's visually beautiful and I find the lands and different people's interesting given what we know of LOTR. It's fantasy and escapism and that's good.

Rhaenys · 04/09/2022 22:13

I believe they were refused the rights to The Silmarillion but I’m not 100% sure.

Cryingbutstilltrying · 05/09/2022 11:09

Visually beautiful, and easy enough to enjoy.
Ive not read The Silmarrilion so can’t compare to that, but the elves were a bit disappointing. There was one bit with a snow troll in ep1 which could have been so much slicker, I thought they were meant to be these incredible magical beings. This could be my error.
Add in that I kept hearing the word ‘halfwit’ instead of whatever it was the hobbits were saying as they were mashing about with Irish accents and mumbling, I’m thinking the whole thing might be a bit lost on me.
I loved the casting though, no ‘big names’ and very easy on the eye…

Rhaenys · 05/09/2022 17:51

@Cryingbutstilltrying Harfoots are a type of hobbit. The hobbits in LotR (Frodo etc) weren’t Harfoots. There’s 3 main types, Harfoots, Frodo’s kind and some that dwell by water although their names escape me. They all have slightly different physical characteristics as well, like height. I think the Harfoots are the tallest of the hobbits

Iamnotthe1 · 05/09/2022 18:01

Rhaenys · 05/09/2022 17:51

@Cryingbutstilltrying Harfoots are a type of hobbit. The hobbits in LotR (Frodo etc) weren’t Harfoots. There’s 3 main types, Harfoots, Frodo’s kind and some that dwell by water although their names escape me. They all have slightly different physical characteristics as well, like height. I think the Harfoots are the tallest of the hobbits

Harfoots, Fallowhides (Frodo belongs to this family line, as does Pippin) and Stoors (Smeagol and Merry are Stoors).

CaveMum · 05/09/2022 18:12

We’ve only watched the first episode so far, trying to fit in all in once the kids are in bed! I’m not a LoTR aficionado, I love the films but have always struggled to read the books 😳. Read The Hobbit with DD (8) recently so may give it yet another try, but also looking forward to introducing her to the full story.

I enjoyed Ep1, though I agree about “Boyband Elrond” and the modern hair/make up styles.

CampervanKween · 05/09/2022 19:36

Finding it boring sadly. And badly acted. Also no humour, or characters who I really like. Shame. I understand Amazon are refusing to allow people to review it atm. And spinning the bad reviews as racism. Which I don't think it is. It's just that LOTR fans are very passionate about the canon and mightily disappointed with what Amazon have done with it.

ChillysWaterBottle · 05/09/2022 21:32

Just watched the first episode and don't think I'll watch any more. It was kind of boring and cheesy and the acting was really bad. I think the casting was way off and the writing generic. I am super disappointed.

ArabeI · 05/09/2022 23:55

CampervanKween · 05/09/2022 19:36

Finding it boring sadly. And badly acted. Also no humour, or characters who I really like. Shame. I understand Amazon are refusing to allow people to review it atm. And spinning the bad reviews as racism. Which I don't think it is. It's just that LOTR fans are very passionate about the canon and mightily disappointed with what Amazon have done with it.

I wondered how it was that there were no reviews on Amazon!

SoupDragon · 06/09/2022 07:23

If the reviews aren't there to read I guess it's difficult to say whether they were racist or genuine.

Amazon claimed it was due to "review bombing".

Original poster
QuebecBagnet · 06/09/2022 07:56

There was nothing racist in the original daily Mail review

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SoupDragon · 06/09/2022 09:00

I wasn't talking about the DM one.

Original poster
QuebecBagnet · 06/09/2022 09:13

No I get that. What I mean is they can’t use racism as an excuse for having that one altered. Which makes me not believe their reasons for removing others. They’ve demonstrated they’re happy to get reviews they don’t agree with removed.

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ShesNotTheMessiah · 06/09/2022 09:36

I have to say, I watched the first two episodes and was disappointed. Visually beautiful, but script and delivery seemed dull as dishwater.

HOWEVER, I was up through the night for my job - but just checking in, not really having to do constant work. To pass the time while I stayed awake I watched them again and they improved for the 2nd viewing.

The first time round I struggling to really get the story grounded in my brain, making the individual scenes duller because I lacked the context. Watching again helped the overall story bed in a bit more.

I'm not syaing I loved them on 2nd viewing - but they definitely benefited from it.

maeveiscurious · 06/09/2022 09:49

I like it l, I think it's going to be a very big series

CaptainThe95thRifles · 06/09/2022 13:53

I have seen a lot of appallingly racist nonsense from people in other parts of the internet regarding ROP casting, so I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon had good reason to restrict posting of reviews on that basis. I'm not sold on The Rings of Power, personally, but I find some of the racist ideologies that people are retrospectively projecting onto Tolkien really quite repellent and unfair.