The Rings of Power TV Series (LoTR Universe)

[Metal Hammer]

I love the books of The Hobbit and TLoR but I'm afraid they got to taking hulking great liberties BIG time with The Hobbit. at least with LotR I don't think they "invented" characters. they left some out and lumped their characters into others but for an epic although not completely faithful to the original it was a decent a crack I suppose.

LOTR was more subtle, like cutting the character Glorfindel and giving his action scenes to Arwen, which I could just about put up with. It's a bit like when Cameron made Titanic with the major aim of getting women back to the cinema.

[Mullhull]

LOTR was more subtle, like cutting the character Glorfindel and giving his action scenes to Arwen, which I could just about put up with. It's a bit like when Cameron made Titanic with the major aim of getting women back to the cinema.

Absolute epic character as well.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

as I mentioned, as there are SO many characters in loads of stories I can see why they decide (in general) to cut them out and lump their bits into others. Tom Bombadil into Treebeard (the willows) and Glorfindel into Arwen.

but as for changing things and inventing things that are not in the original story, nah, that's not for me.

I can see, if you have no inkling in the original storylines, where it doesn't matter a bit, and that's in general what the producers are counting on.

Sticking Legolas and Frodo in The Hobbit ? Galadriel ? Saruman too ? having a female elf who falls in love with a dwarf ? nope.

[Mullhull]

as I mentioned, as there are SO many characters in loads of stories I can see why they decide (in general) to cut them out and lump their bits into others. Tom Bombadil into Treebeard (the willows) and Glorfindel into Arwen.

but as for changing things and inventing things that are not in the original story, nah, that's not for me.

I can see, if you have no inkling in the original storylines, where it doesn't matter a bit, and that's in general what the producers are counting on.

Sticking Legolas and Frodo in The Hobbit ? Galadriel ? Saruman too ? having a female elf who falls in love with a dwarf ? nope.

So many cool characters missed in the films, Elladan and Elrohir aka the sons of Elrond, the Dunedain most notably the Grey Company, which is a shame as the film makes out that Aragorn is the only one of his kind left.

But I agree, Legolas in the Hobbit what?! and the Elf loving the Dwarf thing... nope.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

yeah and at 3 full films at about 3 hours each, they "could" have included major characters that they left out.. I "can" understand somewhat..........but again, making stuff actually up ? if there was a valid reason i.e. if there was too much back story etc. again making a effectively half a LotR book, size wise, into another 3 3hr plus series of films, and inventing some of it, it's absolutely unforgiveable.

getting a little off topic but it does come back to TRoP inventing stuff.........

[Mullhull]

yeah and at 3 full films at about 3 hours each, they "could" have included major characters that they left out.. I "can" understand somewhat..........but again, making stuff actually up ? if there was a valid reason i.e. if there was too much back story etc. again making a effectively half a LotR book, size wise, into another 3 3hr plus series of films, and inventing some of it, it's absolutely unforgiveable.

getting a little off topic but it does come back to TRoP inventing stuff.........

I bet they regret not making more films from the Lord of the Rings books, could have done more on the War of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves actually show how Sauron was weakened enough for Isildur to beat him, which basically was after he fought and killed both Elendil and Gil-Galad. Show how the dead marshes become the dead marshes.

When Gandalf sent Aragorn to capture Gollum etc.

The Hobbit was a cash grab I can't imagine Christopher Tolkien was too happy about it.

Amazon have the rights to all 3 Lord of the Rings books, so I'm hoping they actually lead us up to the Third Age and actually show the war of the last alliance.

[WCpete]

The One Ring, one of the most influential fan groups since 1999 are unamused with the last trailer.

[wolf359]

Can’t we just enjoy something for what it is without pulling it apart for once?

It is fantasy, elves, orcs, wizards and a big bad. I’m in. Once it starts if the plot is terrible, the acting bad etc. then critique.

[WCpete]

I think what this man said at the end of the video is fair enough. Judge it on its merits as an independent work from Tolkien, and judge it as a Tolkien related work. It can be good one way and awful the other. Or both good, or both bad. Imo, an author's life work really shouldn't be coopted to make whatever story you like. We shall see.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

drops tonight I think..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... uster.html

Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power will launch on digital streaming service Amazon Prime from September 1

[WCpete]

How are they going to determine whether this is a success? Number of eyes watching? Or, new subscriptions? I would imagine only the latter would be of any import. Who doesn't already have an Amazon account though?

[Cuenca 'ammer]

never know how they come up with these numbers at all mate..

HBO came up with 10M for the first episode of The House of Dragons and 10.2 M for the 2nd.

how the hell do they know, and so quickly too ?

[WCpete]

never know how they come up with these numbers at all mate..

HBO came up with 10M for the first episode of The House of Dragons and 10.2 M for the 2nd.

how the hell do they know, and so quickly too ?

Tracking prime video viewers would be very easy, I would think, as would tracking subscription rates around the launch of the series. I just don't get how they financially profit from this given the production costs. Maybe Bezos is so wealthy he just doesn't care, or more likely, maybe I'm too dim-witted and limited in vision to understand the bigger picture. Whatever the case, I look forward with interest to watch this first episode.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

no clue at all mate..

DVD sales later ? the Blue Ray stuff ?

no clue at all how this all works, does everyone have Amazon Prime available around the world ? maybe extra revenue there ?

seeing as we can't get Amazon regular to deliver here, it's all a bit moot from my viewpoint..



varied reviews from the first 2 episodes from what I gather from the critics given access.

something like the first 50 episodes (can't believe that) laying the groundwork for the characters..
that doesn't make too much sense, so maybe I misread it..

[WCpete]

50 episodes?? :shock:

They can kiss my nether regions.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/reviews/e2 ... r-AA11k0TH


There are ways to do a prequel, and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” does them all wrong. It takes six or seven things everyone remembers from the famous movie trilogy, adds a water tank, makes nobody fun, teases mysteries that aren’t mysteries, and sends the best character on a pointless detour. The latter is uber-elf Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) who spends the premiere telling people to worry about Sauron. In response, people tell her not to worry about Sauron. That’s one hour down, seven to go this season. Sound like a billion dollars yet?

Viewers hungry for Middle-Earth Anything could be satisfied, and I guess you could argue “Rings of Power” is no worse than all the other expensively empty genre adventures (“Altered Carbon,” anyone?) that have proliferated through the streaming era. But this series is a special catastrophe of ruined potential, sacrificing a glorious universe’s limitless possibilities at the altar of tried-and-true blockbuster desperation.

Through two episodes made available for critics, “The Rings of Power” works far better than the three-year publicity build-up led me to fear. The first episode is dedicated primarily to world-building, exposition and proving that storytelling on this scale can be executed for television and generally succeeds, even if some of that exposition lags. Then in the second episode, the story starts to actually move along and there are characters and scenes that I found utterly charming in the way a show like this requires for long-term survival, even if some of the effects and epic scale diminish a tiny bit. It’s technically impressive, reasonably ambitious, packed with Easter eggs that I’m certain I’m not versed enough to get and, with my interest in different plotlines already varying wildly, it could fall off a precarious cliff at any moment.

It’s just a shame that the visual poetry and willingness to take risks in moments such as these aren’t more prevalent in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s” first two episodes. For the most part, Payne and McKay follow the Tolkien playbook to the letter, fashioning the story primarily from tried and true Middle-earth tropes such as solemn council sessions, moody dungeon crawling, and folksy pastoral hijinks. Admittedly, these are all ingredients the show was bound to include, if for no other reason than that fans are expecting to see them. But they’re so conceptually safe rather than daring, and executionally pedestrian rather than poetic, that it’s hard for us to get too excited.

maybe my take on it, but a lot of the reviews say that the cast carry it instead of the story...

I'll take a look and see......

[WCpete]

fwiw

[WCpete]

I watched the 1st 2 episodes. I won't say much about the contents. There is serious revisionism and artistic license taken by the producers, and without a doubt the central story line and the central protagonists are going to be quite different than what Tolkien created. Episode 1 was an extended introduction of the main characters, or at last the initial main characters. It is beautiful but for me not engaging. If I'm honest, it was dull and disappointing. Episode 2. Hmmm. Maybe I'm on board? I mean, that was pretty good. Four story threads have concurrently started, and they were all pretty compelling. If the series keeps on this path this should be quite fun.
Interestingly I think Amazon royally screwed up with the trailers, or at least where this second episode is concerned. The trailers were designed to only highlight the whizz bangery of the production rather than entice with the promise of a good story. With 50 hours of show to come, there had better be a good story, especially if we already know how it's going to end. The trailers made me not want to watch this series. The show, or at least the second episode, is better than it was advertised. So far. There's a long way to go. I remain skeptical, but optimistic.

[Ironing Board]

LOTR was more subtle, like cutting the character Glorfindel and giving his action scenes to Arwen, which I could just about put up with. It's a bit like when Cameron made Titanic with the major aim of getting women back to the cinema.

Funnily enough, it becomes much more annoying when you do a bit of research and discover Glorfindel is one of the greatest of all elf heroes. That character actually has a really interesting back story. The whole "reluctant hero" of Aragorn was a really stupid change too, in my opinion.

[Ironing Board]

50 episodes?? :shock:

They can kiss my nether regions.

You could read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion in that time!