The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

[BusSport]

Title announcement:

 

[BusSport]

Teaser trailer, released for the Super Bowl:

Fans are enraged and quote-bombing it with "'Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made.' -J.R.R Tolkien" in multiple languages.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Teaser trailer, released for the Super Bowl:

Fans are enraged and quote-bombing it with "'Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made.' -J.R.R Tolkien" in multiple languages.

LOL...still, I got a little geeked by the trailer and will most likely watch when it comes out.

 

[BusSport]

SDCC trailer:

 

[Edonidd]

I was somewhat excited for this. I heard Bezos was "still looking for his Game of Thrones" and threw the most money ever at this series. Thought it would have the money to let them do pretty much anything they wanted in order to make the best series.

Reading a bunch of stuff the prevailing theme I seem to see from all of the cast and crew members ass well as the directors and producers; they respected Peter Jackson and his LoTR adaption but said they considered it from a different time and wanted to update Tolkien's world and how it was viewed. They cared more about having minorities and a spectrum of different skin colors and diverse cultures and heritages as the leading actors.

I hated that they changed WoT so much and exclusively focused on having a diverse cast. This sounds like it was taken even further along that same route and to a much more classic source material.

 

[QuestionSocratic]

When thinking about how much this will cost Amazon to produce, you can compare the cost to one of Amazon's most successful series of all time "Bosch." "Bosch" was a dirt cheap production. No computer graphics. Heck, they never even did a car chase. There were a maybe a half dozen sets and all the outdoor shots were in downtown LA and Hollywood, as Harry was assigned to the Hollywood Division.

 

[DarthVedder]

So... basically nobody cares to comment?

I tried to watch it yesterday but fell asleep, so I'll try again today. I was really tired, so this doesn't mean that what I saw was boring.

It's getting poor reviews from fans, which has resulted in accusations of "review bombing", toxic fandom, misogyny, racism, blah blah blah. Just like She-Hulk. This makes me think that the show is not that good to begin with, because House of the Dragon, a show that's also about female empowerment (just like GOT) and also with a diverse cast, has received mostly positive reviews.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

So... basically nobody cares to comment?

I tried to watch it yesterday but fell asleep, so I'll try again today. I was really tired, so this doesn't mean that what I saw was boring.

It's getting poor reviews from fans, which has resulted in accusations of "review bombing", toxic fandom, misogyny, racism, blah blah blah. Just like She-Hulk. This makes me think that the show is not that good to begin with, because House of the Dragon, a show that's also about female empowerment (just like GOT) and also with a diverse cast, has received mostly positive reviews.

I watched both episodes last night, I thought they did a pretty good job. Don't really care for how much they've changed Galadriel's character, but there isn't a lot of written material about this time period, so whatever they chose to do is fine.

Loved the shout out to the Ents

 

[DarthVedder]

I watched both episodes last night, I thought they did a pretty good job. Don't really care for how much they've changed Galadriel's character, but there isn't a lot of written material about this time period, so whatever they chose to do is fine.

Loved the shout out to the Ents

I guess they are getting attacked from two fronts: Tolkien purists and the people who see wokeness everywhere. Those people were criticizing House of the Dragon before it premiered, but have mostly shut-up now.

I don't really care if they change Galadriel and the rest of the characters, as long as the story works.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I guess they are getting attacked from two fronts: Tolkien purists and the people who see wokeness everywhere. Those people were criticizing House of the Dragon before it premiered, but have mostly shut-up now.

I don't really care if they change Galadriel and the rest of the characters, as long as the story works.

I think they're setting it up well. I guess I'm a purist but I get that they're going to do crazy things with the characters based on the modern audience. It didn't strike me as overly woke like the Wheel of Time did

 

[cheerupcharlie]

Watched both episodes today. Enjoyed both. I think it's going to be very good!

 

[Edonidd]

I think they're setting it up well. I guess I'm a purist but I get that they're going to do crazy things with the characters based on the modern audience. It didn't strike me as overly woke like the Wheel of Time did

I was worried when leading up to it airing the only positive things I heard was how "woke" or inclusive it was, or bringing Tolkien to modern audiences. Neither one of these things i care about at all. Meanwhile the negatives were that they were changing source material and changing the narratives oroverarching message from Tolkiens intent. Both things that I do care about.

So far it hasn't been too bad. Certainly nowhere near as obvious about it as Wheel of Time. The black elf guy seems like it could be feasible, especially if you ignore the army of elves in the Hobbit movies that were all like clones with blond hair. Actually if they wanted to have a main ish character elf be black they should have included MORE black elves in background roles. The black dwarf queen lady was a little weirder. Again they've shown hundreds or even thousands of dwarves and their descendants in the future. They all European looking. Except this one dwarf wife who is very, very black. It just feels forced and that's what people get annoyed about.

But the rest of the show just feels kind of... blah. None of the actors have any gravity or magnetism or whatever it is that makes you care. That's one thing that HBO has always done well on their shows, their casting is phenomenal. I've watched several shows on Amazon, and they cast people who fill the roles, but never anyone who has the presence to make it their own. And the narrative seems completely unfocused, it could be an intentional slow burn, but it's just all over currently.

 

[DarthVedder]

I don't think this is a "disaster" as some people are saying. Lots of people are going to tune in, at least for a few episodes, and it's unfair to judge the show based on just two episodes. I'm glad that they've toned down the "woke". I have no problem with a diverse cast if the characters don't feel forced and are believable in their setting.

 

[calsnowskier]

I am not a huge “Middle Earth” nut, so I don’t feel the need to rush in and watch this riht at drop. I figure I will wait at least a few weeks to get a bit of an inventory on hand first, and gauge the fan response first. It is very possible I will end up skipping this entirely if fan sentiment is really bad.

 

[wilwhite]

Watched both episodes tonight, and I thought it was very good for a slow burn beginning. Two things jumped out - Galadriel doesn't (yet) have that mischievous spark, but the actress pulls off the strangely alien intensity beautifully. Maybe she gets some of that inner humor later.

The other thing is the mixed-race casting, which was more jarring in some cases than others. The harfoot and the dwarf wife seemed wrong, but the elf worked for me. Maybe because the elves come from a more expansive and alien land, while the harfoots and dwarves are small, closed communities, so mixed races dents credibility. Maybe because the actor who plays the elf totally pulls off the bearing and nobility of the elves, which not all the actors did (elf king just felt like a modern-day middle-aged guy in long hair and a robe).

My expectations were lowered by poor reviews, which is probably for the best. I like it so far.

 

[Gman]

Huge Tolkien fan here. I'm the type of nerd who has read The Silmarillion multiple times.

Haven't seen the show yet. Gonna wait for several episodes to pile up... part of it is that I'm super busy with the start of the school year.

I'm skeptical that a bunch of 21st century writers with a license to 'riff' can pull off authentic Tolkien... but I'm willing to give it a chance.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Haven't seen it but intend to. Seem like the majority of the headlining cast is European. I don't see the beef as a result. Yout can't expect to have an enormous cast with zero diversity. You gotta figure out how to make it fly.

 

[wilwhite]

Huge Tolkien fan here. I'm the type of nerd who has read The Silmarillion multiple times.

Haven't seen the show yet. Gonna wait for several episodes to pile up... part of it is that I'm super busy with the start of the school year.

I'm skeptical that a bunch of 21st century writers with a license to 'riff' can pull off authentic Tolkien... but I'm willing to give it a chance.

How did you feel about Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings?

 

[Gman]

How did you feel about Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings?

I thought the LOTR trilogy was very good...

... I thought the Hobbit "trilogy" was a bloated monstrosity.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I am not a huge “Middle Earth” nut, so I don’t feel the need to rush in and watch this riht at drop. I figure I will wait at least a few weeks to get a bit of an inventory on hand first, and gauge the fan response first. It is very possible I will end up skipping this entirely if fan sentiment is really bad.

I have zero interest. Ditto for GOT prequels.