Television The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Never struggled to watch something as much as this. Ive turned the first episode of season 2 on twice and managed 10 minute blocks, but i want to watch it "..cause Lord of the Rings". The acting is awful, im assuming it's because the script is so bad, or the director? God knows. Ill try and finish the last half of episode 1 later still :lol:
 
the main issue to me is that it's very light, almost Disney weak. last autumn I rewatched the original trilogy for the first time in about 10 years and this doesn't even come close to offering similar experience while lasting much, much longer and costing much, much more. actors in those movies don't need to tell me something big is going on, you can see it on their faces. here it's completely different story, wooden acting is dragging everything else down. in general, "wow" effect in this show is on surprisingly low level. if you aren't going to make an epic and memorable show, then why would you even bother with this world in particular? why Tolkien, why Middle-earth, why orcs? why fantasy in the first place?
 
Coxy said:
I disagree the landscapes are worth watching.

Considering their budget - the use of green screen is appealing. Looks so fake.
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I actually think the CGI looks pretty impressive most of the time but in a way they should have chosen to go with Peter Jackson s more muted color tones in the LotR trilogy (or GoT) than what is more akin to the Hobbit movies on the show. That probably would have helped make things look a bit more realistic. Scenes like city scape shots of Numenor would have looked far more imposing that way I think. It's a stylistic choice ultimately I think and largely designed more for home watching on the best TVs. It looks phenomenal on my OLED but like any other show these days designed to make max use of things like HDR boosting - it's at the expense of realistic color palettes.
 
Coxy said:
I disagree the landscapes are worth watching.

Considering their budget - the use of green screen is appealing. Looks so fake.
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It looks like an amateur production of bad actors cosplaying a PG LOTR.
 
Came across this earlier

Bovingdon Airfield Studios said it was estimated the second series cost $700m (£533m), with three film units working independently around the country.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1l57n0y1lmo

£500m for the second season alone is absolute insanity. I'm assuming the bulk of that is for the big battle but you have to wonder where the priorities are.
 
Think it is quite good, don't understand the hate beyond a few cringe moments. I've enjoyed the second season much more and things are coming together. LOTR trilogy has a special place in my heart but it also had a few cringe moments, especially ROTK.
 
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To me it looks competent but unexceptional, like any other streaming fantasy show around. The sets look expensive, but they look like sets. Hobbiton in Fellowship looked bigger than Lindon does, and busier than Numenor. I think sometimes having infinite money can be a limiting factor. Particularly when the show doesn't really want its own identity, it wants the recognisability of the PJ stuff, even down to bits of dialogue.
 
space said:
Think it is quite good, don't understand the hate beyond a few cringe moments. I've enjoyed the second season much more and things are coming together. LOTR trilogy has a special place in my heart but it also had a phew cringe moments, especially ROTK.
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Unfortunately everyone wants to bitch these days. I get some of the criticism for sure, but like with so many things these days a lot of it feels over the top. Don't like it? Don't watch it or hope it gets better. None of us have control over any of it. Any perceived butchering of this show's source material pales in comparison to some of the horrors of many (*many*) other shows.
 
Redplane said:
Unfortunately everyone wants to bitch these days. I get some of the criticism for sure, but like with so many things these days a lot of it feels over the top. Don't like it? Don't watch it or hope it gets better. None of us have control over any of it. Any perceived butchering of this show's source material pales in comparison to some of the horrors of many (*many*) other shows.
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Yeah but I don't give a shit about all the other shows that were butchered. I care about Tolkien.
 
Redplane said:
Unfortunately everyone wants to bitch these days. I get some of the criticism for sure, but like with so many things these days a lot of it feels over the top. Don't like it? Don't watch it or hope it gets better. None of us have control over any of it. Any perceived butchering of this show's source material pales in comparison to some of the horrors of many (*many*) other shows.
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Im personally just nitpicking. I prefer it there vs nothing, but at the same time its easy to see how they missed an opportunity to make a better show. Even though much of is fan fiction all they had to do was keep more in line with the lore. Like Galadriel being more like Galadriel, Sauron being more like Sauron. The men of Numenor appearing as the most superior line of men in Middle Earth rather than being a bunch of Brexiters etc. There is a lot of fan fiction you can make that doesn't deviate from the spirit of the source material.
 
Gehrman said:
Im personally just nitpicking. I prefer it there vs nothing, but at the same time its easy to see how they missed an opportunity to make a better show. Even though much of is fan fiction all they had to do was keep more in line with the lore. Like Galadriel being more like Galadriel, Sauron being more like Sauron. The men of Numenor looking appearing as the most superior line of men in Middle Earth rather than being a bunch of Brexiters etc. There is a lot of fan fiction you can make that doesn't deviate from the spirit of the source material.
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The funny thing is I’ve legit read 2nd age fan fiction written by a random guy on fanfic.net that’s better than the current plot
 
AfonsoAlves said:
The funny thing is I’ve legit read 2nd age fan fiction written by a random guy on fanfic.net that’s better than the current plot
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I've seen 10 year olds being able to tell better stories than this, so that's not surprising at all. The bar really isn't high to write something better than "The Rings of Power"
 
Redplane said:
Unfortunately everyone wants to bitch these days. I get some of the criticism for sure, but like with so many things these days a lot of it feels over the top. Don't like it? Don't watch it or hope it gets better. None of us have control over any of it. Any perceived butchering of this show's source material pales in comparison to some of the horrors of many (*many*) other shows.
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Weird thing about discussion forums is people tend to want to discuss stuff :lol:

I know what you mean, there are a lot of things I think are crap so just avoid and let the people that watch get on with it, but I also don't think that people who are fans of the source material should be expected to do that - it's not a show that wants to be taken on its own merits, even down to its weirdly repetitive title. I do hope it gets better, but genuinely can't see that happening with these particular showrunners. I think it's poor as a TV show even outside of the Tolkien aspect.
 
As a 55 year old child who only recently began watching (watched 3 eps) I have to say its awful, damn awful. Shame really.
 
I had major issues with the LOTR trilogy when it came out as I was at the height of my Tolkien fandom and it took major liberties, but I've massively mellowed on it and for all I care Amazon can do what they want with the lore, the issue is the sub-par writing, which begets sub-par performances.
 
Salt Bailly said:
I had major issues with the LOTR trilogy when it came out as I was at the height of my Tolkien fandom and it took major liberties, but I've massively mellowed on it and for all I care Amazon can do what they want with the lore, the issue is the sub-par writing, which begets sub-par performances.
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You don't think Gandalf screaming "I AM GOOOOOD!" Is good writing?
 
Gehrman said:
You don't think Gandalf screaming "I AM GOOOOOD!" Is good writing?
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I personally quite enjoy this show. It's not great, and I understand why people have issues with it but I enjoy spending time in Middle Earth. It's also pretty to look at.
 
CoopersDream said:
I personally quite enjoy this show. It's not great, and I understand why people have issues with it but I enjoy spending time in Middle Earth. It's also pretty to look at.
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It is most definitely that, the type of show that when you walk into the likes of Currys is on every TV, just looking pretty with all the colours popping. No volume though so you don't have to cringe every couple of mins. Imagine that when I am working out at home over the winter I will have it playing on another screen just to distract me with its visuals, on mute though.
 
Nerds? In a Lord of the Rings thread? That seems unlikely.
 
Second season has been alright so far, it actually feels like it's heading somewhere now. The first season was a disgrace, it was lucky to even get a second.
 
Just had the misfortune of reading the Amazon character summaries

The elven politician Elrond begins Season 2 determined to uncover the secrets he believes his friend Galadriel has kept from him and his fellow elves. But when he finds himself an outsider in his own kingdom, Elrond will have to face the reality that in this new age of Middle-earth, the distinction between good and evil is sometimes not as clear as he once believed…
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1) Elrond is Peredhel, not Elven.
2) Politician, to describe Elrond. He is described as "the greatest healer of all ages."
3) Elrond not believing the distinction between good and evil. :lol: His mum was literally driven to suicide by two of the biggest genocidal maniacs in the First Age. His family and friends were all butchered by them. Then, he gets adopted by Maedhros and Maglor, the same genocidal maniacs, whom he grows up to call "fathers." Yeah I think this guy knew theres different shades between good and evil.
 
Watched the first 4 episodes of Rings of Power recently and I think it's better than season 1 so far. There are little things that are cheesy and some storylines simply aren't done as well as they could have been, but I'm enjoying the visuals and it's generally going alright. I don't try to compare it to lore too much and I think that helps.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Just had the misfortune of reading the Amazon character summaries


1) Elrond is Peredhel, not Elven.
2) Politician, to describe Elrond. He is described as "the greatest healer of all ages."
3) Elrond not believing the distinction between good and evil. :lol: His mum was literally driven to suicide by two of the biggest genocidal maniacs in the First Age. His family and friends were all butchered by them. Then, he gets adopted by Maedhros and Maglor, the same genocidal maniacs, whom he grows up to call "fathers." Yeah I think this guy knew theres different shades between good and evil.
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Why don't you just stop watching?
 
That was a pretty good episode! Coincidentally one in which there were no Southlands or hobbits, and no Galadriel for most of it. I actually felt some stakes in Numenor.
 
Just finished episode 4. It really is a bit shit.

Why are Elrond and co delivering a message with just 5 elves - and no horses… why is Isildur absolutely useless…. Not a fan of Pelagir being so small and desolate… etc
 
I thought that episode was also shit, Saurons style of deceit is a bit like watching Hollyoaks.
 
I thought it was really average. It feels like nothing happens.
 
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