Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power [Amazon] *Spoilers*

I wonder would the original movies had they been released today have done as well? If you were a kid/teenager in ~60's-80s the books were popular, D&D etc. so the movies had a ready base/nostalgia base and the effects for the time were spectacle level. In broad brush LOTR is less important for under 40's? so even a competent show would be liked but viewership would still skew to a show with dragons and bewbs?

Everyone's view on something as unimportant as a television show is worthwhile and it'll eventually come down to whether someone enjoys it or not and there'll be many reasons for doing either.

As far as 'Game of Thrones' is concerned, I never read any of the books and the first I heard of the story was when HBO announced the TV series, which I enjoyed throughout its entire run, even if S08 was a wee bit "rushed" in its execution. I kinda dismissed the series as Tolkien with tits at the beginning, but was very much enjoying it once I'd settled in. Couldn't care less about its deviation from a source material that I never experienced and that, no doubt, helped me to like the series over all more than people who had invested their time in JRR Martin's novels.

As for 'Rings of Power', I'm getting very little out of it so far. But not because I'm some Tolkien fanatic or anything. I haven't read 'Lord of the Rings' since the 80's and have read 'The Hobbit' only twice since then too. The last time being about 5 years ago and, frankly, it was a bit of a struggle because it was so damned childish. It was written specifically for kids after all. Jackson's LotR movies were enjoyable enough, but I still never felt like they captured Tolkien's world that well at the end of the day. So I have no real investiture in this series at all from either a literary or cinematic POV. However, it still isn't resonating with me in any real way for reasons that are outside such states of mind, as it were. It just, so far, hasn't been terribly good.

It would have to be the worst thing ever for me not to watch this as it is so visually stunning. The level of detail is fantastic and the colours. Story is only ok but episode 3 set a few things in motion that could elevate the show. Level of vitriol levelled at is both predictable and ridiculous. Will happily watch it and hopefully the story improves.

What annoys me most is actually...so ya Tolkien invented the stereotypical fantasy elf...

Like, seriously, this show has all the ugliest elves I have seen in any show/film 😂

Haha..

Looking at pictures of Will Poulter it seems like he would have looked more like Hugo weaving's version of Elrond, it appears they just gave up and went for the first big name for the recasting.

The latest thing bugging me is episode 2, when the elves arrived at Moria, they casually stroll over to the door(which is supposed to be invisible?) with no horses, no gear, no bags, no swords, no bows, nothing. Its again a stark lack of attention to detail in my opinion. The distance is half the world right? Like twice the distance the hobbits covered in the fellowship?

Not the same door used in LOTR (yet to be build), just because we don't see horses, doesn't mean they weren't used.

We don't see characters eating much or using the facilities, we just assume they do.

Yeah warping around to different destinations, its bad writing. It's what they started doing towards the end of GOT's also, where in the earlier seasons it would take them a season or two to get to their destination. I'm well aware not all journeys need to be shown and a jump in time is necessary, but in my mind, the entire story needs to make that jump in time, otherwise it just comes off as sloppy.

GOT done it in the beginning, and done it well, planning out your story or staying true to the detailed source material helped. ROP being this sloppy from the get go is worrying, it shows very little effort went into the planning of the story :(

The locations are relatively close to each other?

This Lord of the Rings Middle-earth map can help you navigate The Rings of Power

Tolkien loved a map and you should too

How come the Easterlings and other Men turned to the evil side are ignored for the most part in both this series and in the movies

On this series wasn't mad about episodes 1 and 2 but episode 3 really shot the series in the arm

Would love a series about them and showing the interactions with the orcs etc

Well, they long had issues with Gondor and even before he set up shop in Mordor it was very easy for Sauron to exploit that. A lot of the details of that part of Middle Earth describe almost constant raids and regular battles.

goes through the case for that here

Latest episode definitely has me interested and the pace has finally picked up (except the boring Harfeet)

Seeing Numenor was cool and the beginning of Mordor.

Some of the production is terrible though like the amateurish overuse of slow motion.

all joking and criticism or the show aside

I love how the debate around the show, has sparked a chat on Tolkien lore - discussions of Maia, the fact that Sauron and Gandalf are TECHNICALLY The same species

Episode 4 - Poor IMHO - 4/10 - but average for the series

The Good:

• Adar - interesting character, and one of the few plot threads that has me interested
• Mordor - Yea the orcs seizing the land - interested in this
• The sword - which is now OH SO CLEARLY a morgul blade
• there are no Harfoots - so this gives the episode a bonus point

The Bad

• Time jumps - if we assume that all plots are concurrent then i have to believe the Elves have master DE-materialization Transporter technology. Aside from the fact that the construction of Celebrimbors 'thing' looks well under way - Elrond once again BEAMS to Moria
• the pacing is literal madness for this episode - once again what is interesting (Adar, the sword, etc) is short - and what is long, (everything else) is uninteresting
• I genuinely hate Galadriel - her literal madness as she climbs a tower - is insane - and she is a VERY annoying character
• Isildur and the sailors thread is wrecking my head -
• we dont see much of Halbrand - except for some reason he is released at the end
• The dialogue is pathetic
• Numenor, is Rome - I know Tolkien modeled it on Atlantis, etc - but the Themes, the design, etc - is more Roman than proto-Gondorian

anyway - interested to see what people think

Halfway point and that episode was kind of tedious.

Is this season, just world building for future season's? Will we get to even see Sauron (or reveal of a character we have already met)?

Watching it later but..ha ha!

I think her character is beyond saving the be honest. It would not matter who’s playing her.

Do I remember correctly that the final form was just a rubber suit?