Another Prime series - LOTR - The Rings of Power

[BWT]

Watched it and enjoyed it.

They’re going at a slower pace, but it’s a show not a movie.

We finished the first season. I mean it’s TV and it’s good.

As for the Hobbit - I knew we were in trouble when they made a trilogy out of one book and breezed through 80% of that book in the first movie.

Later in an interview someone indicated “Believe it or not they improvised most of the movie and we’re discussing scenes before shooting them” - I was like “Yeah, you can totally tell”.

I think the LOTR had way more material than they could fit in the movies. The Hobbit had way more movie than there was in the books. A book to a movie can be done well and still not cover a lot. A trilogy from a book can be done but, you have to flesh it out.

For example Dune. That is going well and it’s only part way through the first book.

[jetfire]

I've made it about four episodes in and it has been entertaining. It's not fast paced, but that's fine with me.


I also haven't seen anything that is grisly violent or sadistic, which is just fine in my book. I don't have much tolerance for that stuff anymore.

It's nice to watch a high fantasy show that I'd be comfortable having my toddler in the room for.

[Phaedrus]

I really liked it! It got off to a slow start but the acting is pretty good, the sets/FX are amazing, the soundtrack is great. To be honest I've never read Tolkien despite being a big fantasy & scifi nerd, just gravitated to less popular stuff, so I can't comment much on if the show is following canon. To me that's for the fedora-and-neckbeard crowd to argue about. My only gripe is hardly universal to this show, but it's too short. When I was a kid seasons were 26 (or more episodes). At some point that dropped to 13 for streaming shows, then to ten, then to eight. My brother says a lot of BBC stuff is four episodes. It sucks that a show just starts to find its voice and hit its stride and BAM! done for the year.

[Tuefelhunden]

I agree on the length of series these days. The worst is the half season break. Put out 6 or 7 episodes and then take a several month break just when things are getting interesting. WTF is that?

[TOTS]

I really liked it! It got off to a slow start but the acting is pretty good, the sets/FX are amazing, the soundtrack is great. To be honest I've never read Tolkien despite being a big fantasy & scifi nerd, just gravitated to less popular stuff, so I can't comment much on if the show is following canon. To me that's for the fedora-and-neckbeard crowd to argue about. My only gripe is hardly universal to this show, but it's too short. When I was a kid seasons were 26 (or more episodes). At some point that dropped to 13 for streaming shows, then to ten, then to eight. My brother says a lot of BBC stuff is four episodes. It sucks that a show just starts to find its voice and hit its stride and BAM! done for the year.

That’s the problem with the show; it’s supposed to be connected with the other LOTR movies (but a prequel) but it doesn’t follow the lore that creates the story of the following movies. I think everything is great with the exception of the writing which is absolutely shit. You don’t have to be a neckbeard to observe the inconsistencies. Eg, the pouting Galadriel of the series who spends most of the time in tantrums since no one gives her her way is no where near the same character as the movie Galadriel.

[Lon]

Finished watching it the other night. I must say I was a bit surprised by the twists in the last episode. Which sent me down the rabbit hole Of spending the weekend listening to the Nerd of the Rings podcast catching up the history of a bunch of the characters.

[MistWolf]

That’s the problem with the show; it’s supposed to be connected with the other LOTR movies (but a prequel) but it doesn’t follow the lore that creates the story of the following movies. I think everything is great with the exception of the writing which is absolutely shit. You don’t have to be a neckbeard to observe the inconsistencies. Eg, the pouting Galadriel of the series who spends most of the time in tantrums since no one gives her her way is no where near the same character as the movie Galadriel.

She’s not the Galadriel of the end of the Third Age, but as this one is still in the Second Age, she has time to mature.

I like the series, story, subtle foreshadowing, characters, acting, costuming and cinematography. I love how their Men, Elves and Dwarves look and act. The Orcs are great as well. I feel like I’m in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

How they hid Sauron (and Gandalf) from us was well played.

[MVS]

If you have no investment in the Tolkien universe of the books, the show is probably ok. I can't see it that way. I can only see it through the eyes of someone who first read the Trilogy in 78 and have reread that multiple times along with everything else. All I can see when I watch it is how wrong everything is. The whole thing is like a safety clicking off on a Glock or dozens of rounds fired without a reload.

[TOTS]

If you have no investment in the Tolkien universe of the books, the show is probably ok. I can't see it that way. I can only see it through the eyes of someone who first read the Trilogy in 78 and have reread that multiple times along with everything else. All I can see when I watch it is how wrong everything is. The whole thing is like a safety clicking off on a Glock or dozens of rounds fired without a reload.

She’s not the Galadriel of the end of the Third Age, but as this one is still in the Second Age, she has time to mature.

I like the series, story, subtle foreshadowing, characters, acting, costuming and cinematography. I love how their Men, Elves and Dwarves look and act. The Orcs are great as well. I feel like I’m in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

How they hid Sauron (and Gandalf) from us was well played.

God, I’m going to really start sounding like the neckbeard I was trying to stay away from. @MVS gave a great response. I enjoyed it and can’t wait to see the following seasons. But it’s just not the same story. As long as you keep that in mind, you can enjoy it. The more of the story you know, the harder it is to accept. For example, at the risk of being argumentative, since we’re looking at Galadriel, at the time we’re watching, she’s literally thousands of years old. She’s had time to mature. That’s the whole point of the elves; to stoically contrast with the men. Timeless and immortal vs emotional and temporary. And she’s literally one of the first and oldest of the ruling family of elves. (same generation as the king and thousands of years older than Elrond) Instead, all the male elves sort of treat her like an impetuous teen. Contrast that with the movie where she’s an elegant and powerful queen of almost unequalled power. I’m just saying she’s a whole different character. Similarly, those twists they attempted weren’t surprising to the previous fans and fall flat, causing eye-rolls instead of interest. Everything is just wrong. It’s just a different story. I can believe I’m in Middle Earth…just not Tolkeins Middle Earth. I’m ok with that; it just makes me sad how much potential was wasted. And I’m not sure that’s actually Gandalf. Now that would be a twist!

[psalms144.1]

The story and acting makes my teeth hurt, as a guy who's read all of the Tolkien books so many times I can't even count.

Having said that, it's a good looking show, and, for the first time, my wife has an interest in "the real story..."