The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | Amazon Prime Video - September 2, 2022

[Asta]

This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth.

How can you be certain?!

It's colder.

"This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth. This way."

"How can you be certain."

"It's colder than the rest."

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Put up your sword, Galadriel.

But what am I without it...

What you have always been; my friend.

**Potential Spoilers**

Spoiler

I've renamed her....

"Elf Burnham, Lieutenant Commander and Middle Earth First Officer of the USS Mary Sue"

Let's tally it up, shall we?

1) Cries all the time, often uncontrollably - Check

2) Defies all orders, defies all commands, defies all authority, just does what she wants anyway but is never punished and always rewarded - Check

3) Always right, under all circumstances. Just knows the "right answer" merely by showing up - Check

4) Is the only one who can solve "The Problem", everyone else is helpless otherwise - Check

5) There's always a Beta male somewhere nagging her and nay saying her, just to reinforce to the audience that on screen #LeMiddleEarthPersonalJesus is always right - Check

6) Pointy ears - Check

7) Self righteous to the point where you think you are a fly on the wall for the average marriage counseling session - Check

8) Will soon by isolated and treated as an outsider, to promote the impending "Savior Complex" - Check

Yes, my collector friend, this is clearly our very own.... Elf Burnham


( On an aside, the elf ranger, Arondir is actually pretty interesting. I would have been happy if they built the show around him instead. Show looks good visually. Score is good. The best part of the pilot was the straight up burning giant eagle going into a nosedive fireball. Wish they spent more time with her brother, so we could have gotten some extended battle scenes. The key rule is "Show/Not Tell", so show us how Sauron in a war is so deadly and why he should be feared so much)

 

[user 67922]

To solve all these problems with people's divisiveness on casting, maybe one day they'll make a series with a select-a-character option. Choose what actor you want playing the roles.

As long as they include an Alec Guinness playing every character option. He has some experience...

 

[Asta]

It's slow going and some of the Hobbits are creepy, but in the right mood there's some nice Tolkienesque visuals.

I made a quick search about the timeline in the series, and the report was that the chronology had been condensed in order that certain characters could appear together even though they weren't alive at the time. In effect it's fan fiction, which Peter Jackson's films were at times. That's going to rile some of the viewers who remember the original books, if other things don't rile them first.

Maybe they should've covered themselves and given the series one of those long Victorian book titles:

The Rings of Power - A Sword and Sorcery Fantasy Inspired by The Lord of the Rings and Other Works by J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

[Victοr]

"This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth. This way."

"How can you be certain."

"It's colder than the rest."

Gah, my attempt to discredit the Rings Of Power by providing half-complete quotes without context in an effort to make the writing sound far worse than it actually is, has been foilled! Curse you Asta!

But seriously, the problem is the clunky dialogue. "This place is so baddy-baddy it is vewy cold!". Seriously? Fine, I get the theme with "evil" having cold heat and whatever. The worst is the bit where the other elf goes "how do u know da wae" and she responds with "it's colder". Moron, we've already established the colder the place is, the eviler the lair. Why the Hell do you think GaladriSlaaaaayyyyy is heading there? It's dumb exposition that belongs in a CW show. Everything these days is like that. Random phrases shouted by NPCs to move the basic plot through the next vignette. Nothing feels real and organic.

There's more to be said about this mediocrity of a show, but it's so milquetoast in its failure that it's not even worth it.

**Potential Spoilers**




I've renamed her....

"Elf Burnham, Lieutenant Commander and Middle Earth First Officer of the USS Mary Sue"

Let's tally it up, shall we?

1) Cries all the time, often uncontrollably - Check

2) Defies all orders, defies all commands, defies all authority, just does what she wants anyway but is never punished and always rewarded - Check

3) Always right, under all circumstances. Just knows the "right answer" merely by showing up - Check

4) Is the only one who can solve "The Problem", everyone else is helpless otherwise - Check

5) There's always a Beta male somewhere nagging her and nay saying her, just to reinforce to the audience that on screen #LeMiddleEarthPersonalJesus is always right - Check

6) Pointy ears - Check

7) Self righteous to the point where you think you are a fly on the wall for the average marriage counseling session - Check

8) Will soon by isolated and treated as an outsider, to promote the impending "Savior Complex" - Check

Yes, my collector friend, this is clearly our very own.... Elf Burnham


( On an aside, the POC elf ranger, Arondir is actually pretty interesting. I would have been happy if they built the show around him instead. Show looks good visually. Score is good. The best part of the pilot was the straight up burning giant eagle going into a nosedive fireball. Wish they spent more time with her brother, so we could have gotten some extended battle scenes. The key rule is "Show/Not Tell", so show us how Sauron in a war is so deadly and why he should be feared so much)

I just call it [Current Year] Box Tick-Off Protagonist.

As long as they include an Alec Guinness playing every character option. He has some experience...

View attachment 597519 View attachment 597520

More like Ben Kingsley. He's played Brits, Indians, Persians, Arabs, even Jews and Nazis. Just slap some makeup on him and he goes from inside the Concentration Camp to running it.

 

[darthviper107]

I am reminded why I stopped even looking at this section of the forum

 

[Sassafras]

I woke up at 4AM and couldn't fall back asleep.

I saw that the first two episodes of this dumpster fire were on the torrent sites.

I almost clicked on the links, thinking it would be something "to do" while struggling with my insomnia.

Then I realized.....wait. I don't want to watch this. It looks like utter trash There's no reason to subject myself to this. There are millions of better things I could do at 4AM than watch even 30 seconds of this excrement.

So, I did not download the torrent. I did not watch any of it, not even 30 seconds. And I will continue to do so until my time on this mortal plane has ended.

And I never saw Power Rings of Power, and I went on with my life ignoring it as if it didn't exist, and I also ignored all the arguing over how terrible it is, and I was perfectly fine with that.

The End.

Weeelll - I usually treat streaming shows as long movies, waiting to binge. Hasta be something like Mando where I just gotta know and not be spoiled before I do the insta watch, every week. And I don't care if I'm spoiled re ROP; collectively everything I've read is pretty much what I expected e.g. a very expensive generic fantasy with good and bad points, and a faux Shakespeare script.

They probably could have called it the Elven Queen Road Trip or something. I'll watch it eventually when all the episodes are out. For me it's impossible to take this in any way seriously. Like many have said, I could've told Bezos there are any number of fantasy series that Amazon sells, that he could have optioned, that would have been cheaper and would have blown people away - been something new, too.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

so this sucks?

 

[loki2371]

It must be bad if even Grace Randolph is shitting on it......

“She makes Galadriel both an Elven Mary Sue and an Elven Karen who would like to speak to the manager. I can’t believe it! I can’t believe she’s both of those horrible things!”

 

[MeatHookGekko]

so this sucks?

The elf ranger/soldier Arondir and his arc is actually pretty compelling. His story just looks far more interesting ( Looks less trapped by the Elrond/Galadriel homage/fan service)

His side of the story as the main narrative might have been the better choice ( We, the audience, never get to see the perspective of a rank and file soldier) As well as the elves/dwarves angle. That's a complex dynamic that didn't get explored from the deeper social/cultural aspect in the world building in the Jackson films.

IMHO, this is a situation where you give the entire first season a chance to see what develops. It looks like it will be better than Wheel of Time

Considering the budget, the battle/fight sequences alone will likely be good/over the top. That alone would make the show worth it for that ( if you end up not liking the story and just fast forwarding through)

I agree with a few comments above that licensing a different series that cost far less and carried less pressure would have been a better start. Bezos is rich enough to set money on fire, but he's created a "Too Big To Fail" situation here.

The Galadriel situation looks troublesome though. If you have a character that faces no consequences and is always overpowered, then there is zero character growth, which means no practical character arc. If you know she can't die, where is the peril in the trials ahead? If you have a main character without an arc, it's bad fundamental storytelling. From a basic nuts and bolts perspective, this is something that needs to change to support the story overall.

 

[abake]

Just finished the first episode.
It's not as terrible as I thought it would be. Yes, some of the dialogue is clunky and yes, some of the delivery is wooden (actually, strike that, most of it is wooden) and yes, the way they just have to go out of their way to make the heroines "bad-ass" is cringe worthy, but the show is entertaining.
The casting is a bit unfortunate so far. Maybe the actors will grow a bit into their roles, but I doubt it.

Anyway, how much of this is actually from Tolkien's writings? Did Galadriel actually refuse to go to the undying lands? Did she have a brother? My only knowledge of Tolkien Lore is the Lord of the Rings, so whatever they tell me in this series is new to me...

 

[greygoose]

How long are the episodes?

 

[Asta]

How long are the episodes?

Just over an hour each so far.

 

[greygoose]

Just over an hour each so far.

OK cool. Decent length then, unless the opening titles and credits are like 20 mins long.

 

[Asta]

OK cool. Decent length then, unless the opening titles and credits are like 20 mins long.

The actual episodes are about an hour plus credits.

The first one had a big finish, but it's been so long since I've read or watched any LOTR that I no longer remember what's going on.

 

[loki2371]

The actual episodes are about an hour plus credits.

The first one had a big finish, but it's been so long since I've read or watched any LOTR that I no longer remember what's going on.

Well, that shouldn't really matter as this story takes place loooong before The Hobbit or Lord Of The Rings.

 

[Asta]

Well, that shouldn't really matter as this story takes place loooong before The Hobbit or Lord Of The Rings.

I've forgotten most of what I read from the early ages, from The Silmarillion, etc. One of those easter egg type Youtube videos helped to explain some things, but even the 'experts' think this series is making things up. The broken sword, for example, should refer to something, but it can't because they don't have the rights to The Children of Hurin.

 

[Khev]

Peter Jackson realizing that Rings of Power is causing fans to instantly re-evaluate and appreciate his Hobbit trilogy...

 

[Rotfish]

Peter Jackson realizing that Rings of Power is causing fans to instantly re-evaluate and appreciate his Hobbit trilogy...

I mean even he didn't want to make those movies.

 

[Asta]

Halfway through episode two and it's growing on me.

The Worm passing under the wreck, the depiction of Khazad-dûm, the interaction between Elrond and Durin.

After a shaky start things feel like they're pulling together.