"the lord of the rings: the rings of power" is out on amazon

[[DHT]Osiris]

That's kinda what I thought. But then you had the elven fleet sailing east at the beginning.

If it was a physical space, the elves wouldn't have been traveling there during the war of the ring; they would have known that Sauron could still reach them. Only elves and those escorted by them can still go there.

The elfin “afterlife” is the Halls of Mandos.

I though that was the in-between purgatory where they can get 'resurrected' to the real world, afterlife being included in that.

I think it was more about the Characters, always hated the hair foot hobbits and the aloof elves. I totally realize that is Tolkien.

Fair enough, if it's not your bag it just isn't. I could handle 50 seasons of it.

 

[IronWing]

In a nutshell the Elven lands of Valinor used to be a physical part of the world. When Morgoth was defeated at the end of the First Age the world was changed: Beleriand sank into the sea and Valinor was separated from the rest of the world. It essentially went from a two-way street to a one way-street.

Valinor didn't get severed until the Valor yielded dominion of Middle Earth back to Eru so he could smack the Numenorians upside the head. Eru moved Valinor out of reach of mortals at that time

 

[eelw]

Long episode today. Building up for last half of the show.

 

[brianmanahan]

decent episode 4, but i wanted to see more hobbitses harfeet!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Another great episode. I smell a balrog.

 

[brianmanahan]

Another great episode. I smell a balrog.

oh yeah definitely

they're digging too greedily and too deep

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'm surprised ATOT's resident halfling hasn't commented on the show.

 

[Ken g6]

Another great episode. I smell a balrog.

I think I saw one of those in a preview somewhere. So, yes, I expect one of those.

Episode 3 felt like it was stuck in a slave pit with a badly broken arm.* I liked episode 4 a good deal more.

*Yes, I know those didn't happen to the same characters

 

[brianmanahan]

I'm surprised ATOT's resident halfling hasn't commented on the show.

i think he has fallen into shadow

 

[Newbian]

Another great episode. I smell a balrog.

I don't think that happens in this age as that mountain was the only place with mithril and they only just discovered it.

 

[eelw]

Building up for hopefully epic last 3 episodes

 

[Pohemi]

Ep 5 was mostly filler imo. Not much progression forward from the prior episode.

 

[Artorias]

Honestly the show is a 5/10 at this point. Fantastic visuals and a musical score that's epic but doesn't actually match what's happening on screen.

The writing and some of the acting is just not good enough. Main character actor(Galadriel) is portrayed really stiff and one dimensional.

The whole scale of the show also feels wrong, you are telling me Numenor had 5 boats, then only 3 at the end to send? One kid got onto a boat and somehow blew up two of them? I am getting 20 good men vibes from GOT which is not a good sign.

Sauron should have already been revealed showing his manipulation at work not happening in the background off screen, if were going to get 5 episodes of setup this should have been front and center as its the whole point of the show, I suspect there just aren't enough good writers to do a good job of that.

They are really trying to cram in 1000 years of lore into 5 seasons(probably something like 100-150 years in the show) which is not good.

Edit: I also understand they don't have the rights to all of the Silmarillion, however there are to many changes to the lore and timeline that this is basically fan fiction. It shouldn't be called LOTR, it's a generic fantasy show at this point.

 

[sactoking]

I agree with Artorias that the pacing of Season 1 has been bad, it's perhaps the weakest part of the show. 5 episodes in and it feels like 3 episodes worth of content, tops. 2 episodes would probably be a bit too rushed so maybe saying 2.5 episodes worth of content is correct. I think the showrunners and writers are too wrapped up in trying to present mysteries and Easter eggs and maybe the Stranger is Gandalf and maybe Halbrand is Sauron and maybe Einhorn is Finkle that they forgot they needed scripts that engaged people. Mysteries and plot twists are great if they're woven into a strong story that can support them but eschewing story and making the script a vehicle to cram in the mysteries and twists is not a recipe for success.

 

[linkgoron]

Honestly the show is a 5/10 at this point. Fantastic visuals and a musical score that's epic but doesn't actually match what's happening on screen.

The writing and some of the acting is just not good enough. Main character actor(Galadriel) is portrayed really stiff and one dimensional.

Sauron should have already been revealed showing his manipulation at work not happening in the background off screen, if were going to get 5 episodes of setup this should have been front and center as its the whole point of the show, I suspect there just aren't enough good writers to do a good job of that.

They are really trying to cram in 1000 years of lore into 5 seasons(probably something like 100-150 years in the show) which is not good.

Edit: I also understand they don't have the rights to all of the Silmarillion, however there are to many changes to the lore and timeline that this is basically fan fiction. It shouldn't be called LOTR, it's a generic fantasy show at this point.

I'm not saying the show is great, but they've had to change things because they really can't use stuff from The Silmarillion. I think that they had a team that went over the plot and made sure that they don't use anything from there. Once they couldn't use The Silmarillion it was bound to be "fan-fiction" (which is fine by me).

I agree that Galadriel is mediocre at best (and in some shots she also clearly has dark hair roots!!! I'm not a purist, but that's just insulting), and too many scenes are just over the top with her. In general, she has too many lines that exist purely for trailers (which is also true in general for the show).

However, the main issue is IMO what I thought from the beginning - there are too many plot lines. There's the Harfoot stuff, Numanor stuff, Mordor stuff (which was also split between ~two plot lines) and Elrond/Durin stuff. They could've had a full season just with just Mordor and maybe the Galadriel and Aragorn Halbrand plots. The Mithril plot is just dumb, and the Harfoot plot is just a waste of time.

The whole scale of the show also feels wrong, you are telling me Numenor had 5 boats, then only 3 at the end to send? One kid got onto a boat and somehow blew up two of them? I am getting 20 good men vibes from GOT which is not a good sign.

Yep, too many shows have such a small scale - which makes no sense. This show is supposed to have a real budget...

 

[brianmanahan]

the Harfoot plot is just a waste of time

the harfoot plot is my favorite one

 

[MrSquished]

I haven't watched the 5th episode yet but so far I'm enjoying it. It definitely has some dings and kinks to it but to me it's setting a pretty impressive universe together. I'm definitely in to see what they do with it. I expect Galadriel's character to change and have a maturing story arc. But it's pretty simple to see why she feels it's her against the world and that affecting her behavior right now. I mean she's been on a lifelong mission to extinguish Sauron and evil, her own kind don't believe her, and yet she is completely correct. But she will soften her edges soon I expect.

I am aware on what this is based on and am also aware there are a lot of complications due to the IP rights for all different moving parts belonging to different owners. So I'm enjoying the story for what it is since I am more unaware of what are the probably insane intricacies going on here to avoid legal action vs just doing things for artistic license. But I think Tolkien himself said he expected and embraced his works being interpreted artistically.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

the harfoot plot is my favorite one

Seriously, the harfoot plot is the 'fellowship' plotline callback. Too many people want to jump straight to two towers/rotk. Make love to the story people, don't fuck it.

 

[eelw]

But show will definitely get multiple seasons? If yes, then that explains why no Sauron yet.

 

[MrSquished]

But show will definitely get multiple seasons? If yes, then that explains why no Sauron yet.

Amazon is committed to five seasons. It's part of their deal with the Tolkien family from what I know.

Edit: https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/0...o-five-seasons-of-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series

 

[Newbian]

the harfoot plot is my favorite one

That's only because of your foot fetish isn't it?

 

[purbeast0]

5 episodes in and I'm still not "sucked in" at all. At this point I'm just going to finish this season at least cause there are only 3 episodes left. I agree pretty much spot on with the posters above about how they feel about the show.

I also must be in the minority because I am not at all impressed with the visuals. The entire show looks like it's a play and on a set. It's super clear which scenes are green screens, which are a lot, and then the actual sets look like sets on a play and just cheap. That one scene in I think episode 5 where it started the scene looking like Venice with a boat rowing through a little canal in the city, just looked completely fake. The quality of the scenes and most of the character costumes also remind me of stuff like Spartacus which just looked super cheap and I think that is when I was watching Rome was on HBO and everything just looked so authentic.

So yeah, overall just not very impressed with the show as a whole but will continue to watch at least the rest of this season. Only 3 eps left. I was talking with my wife last night in the middle of E5 and was like "I don't even know anyone's name except the main chick" and neither did she, and that's because they are all just one dimensional and stiff and I just don't care about any of em. The dwarf is the most exciting one. But then you have the elf he's with that is one of the most boring characters on TV.

 

[Artorias]

5 episodes in and I'm still not "sucked in" at all. At this point I'm just going to finish this season at least cause there are only 3 episodes left. I agree pretty much spot on with the posters above about how they feel about the show.

I also must be in the minority because I am not at all impressed with the visuals. The entire show looks like it's a play and on a set. It's super clear which scenes are green screens, which are a lot, and then the actual sets look like sets on a play and just cheap. That one scene in I think episode 5 where it started the scene looking like Venice with a boat rowing through a little canal in the city, just looked completely fake. The quality of the scenes and most of the character costumes also remind me of stuff like Spartacus which just looked super cheap and I think that is when I was watching Rome was on HBO and everything just looked so authentic.

So yeah, overall just not very impressed with the show as a whole but will continue to watch at least the rest of this season. Only 3 eps left. I was talking with my wife last night in the middle of E5 and was like "I don't even know anyone's name except the main chick" and neither did she, and that's because they are all just one dimensional and stiff and I just don't care about any of em. The dwarf is the most exciting one. But then you have the elf he's with that is one of the most boring characters on TV.

I think its absurd they spent so much money yet cant even use the Silmarillion, but what's worse is they got unproven writers and directors in charge of this billion dollar program.

Maybe the estate wasn't going to give up rights to the Silmarillion because of the direction Amazon was going to take with the show.

Over $50 million an episode and yet the scale of the show feels rather small.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/rings-of-power-expensive-1.6571965

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, a noted Tolkien fan, had his company acquire the rights to Lord of the Rings' appendices for a reported $250 million US. The appendices are additional information Tolkien included at the end of his books, and because of that Amazon does not even have the ability to include information from the books' main story or its prequels like The Hobbit.

And with the first season of a five-season run costing an estimated $465 million US (subsequent seasons, though still wildly expensive, could require slightly reduced budgets as producers will be able to use existing construction and costumes), Rings of Power may conservatively cost the studio in excess of $1 billion US.

 

[purbeast0]

WTF is the Silmarillion?

 

[IronWing]

WTF is the Silmarillion?

Tolkien's main story line for Middle Earth. The LotR was a coda to the Silmarillion.