Rings of Power Amazon buys up Middle-earth, it searches the One Ring! (Rings of Power news thread)

[Pellaeon 573]

10 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

Unless.....

 

 

Ahah, yes, it’s straight up in here!

 

“And he tripped unaware on his slanting stair,
        and like a meteor,
A star in flight, ere Yule one night
        flickering down he fell”

[Incanus 5564]

2 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

 

Ahah, yes, it’s straight up in here!

 

“And he tripped unaware on his slanting stair,
        and like a meteor,
A star in flight, ere Yule one night
        flickering down he fell”

Well that is just as awful as the Gandalf speculation on the origin of the Stranger. Man in the Moon!  

[blondheim 1020]

I’m sure they feel they have done something very clever in making Gandalf the origin of the Man in the Moon rhyme.

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

I'm hoping it's Butterbur.

[JNHFan2000 1336]

Not sure if it means much anymore in this thread.

 

https://www.looper.com/977871/early-reactions-to-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-are-here/

 

https://meaww.com/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-off-power-early-reactions-critics-praise-amazon-series-prime-video

 

But there has been a screening of the first 2 episodes, where there was also a Q&A with the showrunners.

 

The early reactions are positive, with people praising the scope and the visual similarities to the film series.

Cast is mentioned as strong as well as McCreary's music.

[Bilbo 3609]

Has there ever been a screening of this nature where the reaction wasn’t positive? 

[Richard Penna 2486]

It's possible that it's actually really good - I just don't get that impression at all from the trailers.

 

I have a more vested interest in watching now that we're getting full episode scores, although the first two episodes will be an observation as to whether 'entirety of the score for each episode' actually means that, or whether some PR person has just been told there will be an album per episode and misunderstood it as usual.

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

Most of the positive comments I've read are about the spectacle of the whole thing. Which you'd expect when you see it at a premiere, on the large screen, and you and everyone around you are psyched just to be there. No one wants to be part of something special and exclusive, then come out and say "it sucked, I wasted my time."  As a rule of thumb, personally I've found my opinion on things like this end up generally being one notch lower than whatever people who saw the early previews are saying in insta-reactions.  So great becomes merely good, and the merely good becomes average or worse.

 

In any event, reactions to this show in particular will have a big caveat, as there will be two ways to judge it...as TV fantasy and as a Tolkien adaptation. The latter of which it's almost certain doomed to fail on b/c of the nature of what they're doing. From that perspective, it can only be a disappointment. As for it succeeding on its own merits as generic TV fantasy...we'll see. I think if it were not associated with Tolkien, but rather an original work (imagine that) with this kind of budget, this would all be a completely different discussion, and probably a more positive one.

 

 

 

[Servant of Morgoth 14]

1 hour ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Most of the positive comments I've read are about the spectacle of the whole thing. Which you'd expect when you see it at a premiere, on the large screen, and you and everyone around you are psyched just to be there. No one wants to be part of something special and exclusive, then come out and say "it sucked, I wasted my time."  As a rule of thumb, I've found my reaction to things like this are generally one notch lower than whatever people who saw the early previews are saying.  So great becomes merely good, and the merely good becomes average or worse.

 

In any event, reactions to this show in particular will have a big caveat, as there will be two ways to judge it...as TV fantasy and as a Tolkien adaptation. The latter of which it's almost certain doomed to fail on b/c of the nature of what they're doing. From that perspective, it can only be a disappointment. As for it succeeding on its own merits as generic TV fantasy...we'll see. I think if it were not associated with Tolkien, but rather an original work (imagine that) with this kind of budget, this would all be a completely different discussion, and probably a more positive one.

 

 

 

I agree and I'm tired of all fantasy adaptation of books that I've read and I've loved being poorly adapted

[Chen G. 2931]

Oh dear...

 

[Servant of Morgoth 14]

2 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Oh dear...

 

Afterall it's not really Middle Earth without (proto) hobbits

[Jay 30902]

Are these guys supposed to be different from a regular Hobbit in some way? (sorry for not knowing my lore)

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

9 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

 

Dear God.

[Chen G. 2931]

8 minutes ago, Jay said:

Are these guys supposed to be different from a regular Hobbit in some way?

 

Not really, no. Calling them "Harfoots" is just a kind of technicality/semantic thing, like how George Lucas pitched the aliens in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to Spielberg as "interdimensional beings."

 

4 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Dear God.

 

You know what this is like? Its like if in Gladiator, intercut with all the grim revenge story of Maximus and Lucilla being menaced by the increasingly-unhinged Commodus, we would cut to a subplot about a character named Bob (about as anachronistic as "Elanor Brandyfoot") who goes on an adventure to Rome for some reason tangentially connected to the plot.

 

Some stories don't need an "everyman on a cross-country adventure" storyline. Its cloying.

[Disco Stu 15466]

What's so bad about that clip?  It seemed... normal to me.

 

It seems weird for a notable defender of the Hobbit films to complain about anything being cloying.

[Chen G. 2931]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

It seems weird for a notable defender of the Hobbit films to complain about anything being cloying.

 

The overall atmosphere of those movies is nevertheless very gloomy, and they end with the hero dying as a result of his own folly.

 

And again, the very fact that the "everyman on a quest" thing had been done so thoroughly in two very expansive trilogies, is all the more reason for this show to rather lean into the more Machiavelian aspects of its premise.

[Disco Stu 15466]

Including proto-hobbits is probably the decision I'm most ok with from all this honestly.  A connection to traditional folksy country life is a big part of the appeal of Tolkien for me.  It's good to balance all the pomposity of elves and Numenoreans etc.

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

The problem is, as far as I can see Amazon set out to create a fantasy show. 

 

If I were running it, the first thing I'd say to every member of the cast, creatives & crew is...we're not making a fantasy show, we're making a history show. Proceed accordingly. And I'd make every decision with that in mind. Only once I was convinced it was starting to look and feel like history would I allow some fantasy elements into it.  This approach is why PJ's films, and Game of Thrones (the earlier seasons in particular) felt so grounded and authentic.

 

But in this case it appears this show is going to look & feel more like fantasy and less like Tolkien. 

[Chen G. 2931]

8 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

If I were running it, the first thing I'd say to every member of the cast, creatives & crew is...we're not making a fantasy show, we're making a history show. Proceed accordingly. And I'd make every decision with that in mind. Only once I was convinced it was starting to look and feel like history would I allow some fantasy elements into it.

 

I agree. Its why I picked the Gladiator example. This show could and should have been all politiking like the scenes with Lucila and Gaius plotting against Commodus, or like the Scottish Council, or like scenes with Allenby in Lawrence of Arabia, for that matter. Those kinds of dynamics, except with characters like Miriel, Pharazon, Celebrimbor, Annatar, etecetra.

 

Its not just that the tone of the Harfoot scenes is sugary, its that the interjections of an adventure story into the context of a Machiavelian drama is...I mean, who makes soup and say "I know what this is missing, lets chuck a chocolate cake into it!"?

[Holko 7999]

2 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

I mean, who makes soup and say "I know what this is missing, lets chuck a chocolate cake into it!"

The showrunner who goes HEY YOU DUMBASS WATCHING MY SHOW! REMEMBER DAT TING YOU LIKE? HERE IT IS AGAIN!

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

1 minute ago, Chen G. said:

I mean, who makes soup and say "I know what this is missing, lets chuck a chocolate cake into it!"

 

Stupid, fat Amazon! It ruins it!

[Chen G. 2931]

3 minutes ago, Holko said:

The showrunner who goes HEY YOU DUMBASS WATCHING MY SHOW! REMEMBER DAT TING YOU LIKE? HERE IT IS AGAIN!

 

Its like the jagged reef against which their claims of "we didn't want to make a prequel" crash like the waves. I do hope we're not dealing here with filmmakers who traffic in half-truths like a Lucas.

[Gollum Cat 22]

6 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

I mean, who makes soup and say "I know what this is missing, lets chuck a chocolate cake into it!"?

 

I laughed way too hard at this. Praise Shore I work remotely.

[Bilbo 3609]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

Oh dear...

 

They’re breaking the fourth wall by acknowledging they’re going to run the next few seasons! 

[TolkienSS 184]

I have seen in some trailers Galadriel swimming away from what seems to be a sea monster.

Then, the woman, the powerful high elf, the high being who in the Hobbit made Sauron flee into Mordor just by commanding him defends herself by - drawing a dagger?

[Servant of Morgoth 14]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

Its like the jagged reef against which their claims of "we didn't want to make a prequel" crash like the waves. I do hope we're not dealing here with filmmakers who traffic in half-truths like a Lucas.

I don't trust these showrunners anymore. It's like there is an huge breach between what they said about their approach and their intentions and what we've known and we've seen so far. They said they're not doing a prequel, that the Third Age is off limits and then we've seen several hints to Durin's Bane(lore breaking at its finest)

Also I don't give a damn about what people said about the premiere they attended too such as the two first episodes are soo good, etc. even if it comes from people I follow and admire like Nerd of The Rings youtuber

 

 

[Pellaeon 573]

17 minutes ago, TolkienSS said:

I have seen in some trailers Galadriel swimming away from what seems to be a sea monster.

 

[TolkienSS 184]

There are horny turtles in this?

[Chen G. 2931]

I actually like the idea of the sea monsters. Bringing something of the flavour of the Odyssey into Tolkien!

 

And at least they didn't give into the temptation of having it be another Watcher in the Water!!

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

1 hour ago, Pellaeon said:

 

 

Well now we know where Terry Pratchett got the idea for Discworld from.

[TolkienSS 184]

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Oh dear...

 

 

Why do these Harfoots have those stupid deer antlers on their heads? It looks like something you'd put on when you're stupid drunk.

[Chen G. 2931]

The antler guys are hunters that the Harfoots are evading.

 

And yeah, those things are stupid too! Like Nick said, I think these people got too carried away in "we're making a fantasy show!"

[Incanus 5564]

15 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

 

And the Adventures of Tom Bombadil theory grows stronger. Maybe the showrunners bought rights to that! What can we expect next? Tom Bombadil himself? Mewlips? Princess Mee? Perry-the-Winkle?  

 

[Holko 7999]

Meteor Man is Niggle

 

 

or Mr. Bliss

[TolkienSS 184]

15 hours ago, Chen G. said:

The antler guys are hunters that the Harfoots are evading.

 

And yeah, those things are stupid too! Like Nick said, I think these people got too carried away in "we're making a fantasy show!"

 

I'm not anti-antler, but they look terribly cheap. Do you know those old porcellaine dolls with overly red cheeks, and overly ornamented dry hair?

That's them.

[Bilbo 3609]

[Chen G. 2931]

Showrunners: We take our Dwarves very seriously.

 

Also showrunners:

 

[Holko 7999]

Also showrunners: give Durin a hobbit dance theme.

[Jay 30902]

I guess review embargos juts got lifted?

 

[Chen G. 2931]

Yes. Mostly good reviews with a few dissenting voices like RogerEbert.com and Polygon.

[Barnald 363]

Hang on - they actually refer to Galadriel as 'the Warrior of the Wastelands'?

 

What is this, Mad Max?

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

I'm frankly skeptical of these early reviews from fans, especially given they mostly focus on how "epic" it looks.

[Barnald 363]

Reviews may sway some, but I think most have already made up their minds either way - they're either going to watch this show (at least until they give up on it), or they're not.

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

The EW review is pretty brutal.

 

To be fair, a lot of them are positive. I tend to look at why a critic liked or disliked a show or film, rather than whether their overall view is positive or negative.  I've gotten to a point where I can get an idea, based on the critic's sensibilities, whether I'm going to connect with something. 

[Bilbo 3609]

“where even sunlight fears to tread.”

FanTasY diAlOgUe

[Jay 30902]

Anybody else could not care less about what any critic has to say, and are just gonna sit down and watch this thing with an open mind and decide for themselves if they like it or not?

[crumbs 12572]

Who cares what the reviews say? Why not watch the show and judge for yourself?

 

Surprised by the amount of negativity here. Was hoping to share some hype but almost every post is nitpicking the smallest details. I'm no Tolkien scholar and the trailers aren't earth-shattering but it seems most of you have written this show off before seeing a single episode.

[Barnald 363]

On 31/08/2022 at 11:56 AM, Jay said:

Anybody else could not care less about what any critic has to say, and are just gonna sit down and watch this thing with an open mind and decide for themselves if they like it or not?

 

I agree with you on the first bit entirely, but as for the second part, my mind was made up some time ago. It's not for me I'm afraid, but I hope you and others who watch enjoy it.

[Nick1Ø66 3372]

6 minutes ago, Jay said:

Anybody else could not care less about what any critic has to say, and am just gonna sit down and watch this thing with an open mind and make up my own mind?

 

3 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Who cares what the reviews say? Why not watch the show and judge for yourself?

 

I'm pretty sure that's what everyone here will do, we've got no shortage of independent thinkers here. I don't see anyone saying they're going to not watch, or watch, because of a review. But since the show's not out yet, none of us have seen it, the reviews are the only thing we have to go on at the moment.

 

I'm incredibly skeptical of this show, but of course I'll still watch and make up my own mind, as I imagine most of us will. That said, those of us who love these books might be looking at the show through a different lense than others.

 

 

[Romão 2065]

It is precisely because I love the books and admire Tolkien's life work that I refuse to watch this