The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - what are your opinions?

[Sarafan]

I haven't found a similar topic and I have some thoughts about the show, so I decided to raise the subject. A note of warning though. Yesterday I finished episode 5, so no spoilers please.

The opinions over the internet are divided. Some like it, some don't. The disproportions in ratings are huge. The lowest ones comes usually from fans of the books. Personally I read the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillion as well and I like the show so far.

First of all, it's beautiful. The Lord of the Rings films were made in the beginning of 21st century and while the FX still defend themselves, you can feel that they don't look as good as those from modern movies. The show presents beautiful environments and you can feel the big budget in every scene. Even the costumes look very good. Sometimes when I watch fantasy movies the costumes are like taken straight from a LARP meeting. This is not the case in The Rings of Power. When the costumes should be dirty and obscure, they are. When they should be glorious, they are as well.

Next thing, the story. Like I already mentioned, I had the pleasure to read Silmarillion. The show presents its own history that's only loosely based on Tolkien's mythology from this book and I think that it's better than what Tolkien has written. Silmarillion is a collections of myths and stories that would be very hard to adopt to the screen. A lot of the fans criticize the show for not being faithful. The problem is that being faithful to the book in this case would probably mean being inaccessible to non-fans. That said, I think that it was a very good move not to make a faithful adaptation. In general I'm not a fan of faithful adaptations because you lose an element of surprise if you read the books before.

Actors. I must admit that at first I was very skeptical about the cast. We all have images of the actors from the original trilogy in our minds and it's hard to see Galadriela in Morfydd Clark. But it took me two episodes to actually get used to her and other cast. There's of course plenty of new characters and it's very hard to accuse them of bad acting.

In general the show is a solid 7,5/10. I doubt it'll get worse in the last episodes. It keeps the same solid level and I don't know what the fuss is all about. Does black elves and hobbits are really a problem for someone? Does surprising story for readers of Silmarillion is something bad? Or is the main problem that the producer is Amazon itself? I really don't understand the low ratings.

 

[Colif]

It went so well, Amazon fired the Showrunners.
Maybe the next billion will be better invested

I don't watch TV so I wasn't ever likely to watch it anyway. I didn't even see the movies. I did read books though... I find my imagination better at scaring me that movies are.

 

[SleepingDog]

I am with Sarafan on this topic. It is an excellent TV series both in terms of acting and picture quality. Seeing the mines of Moria in their splendour and the eleven cities - amazing. I could go on and on but I wouldn't. Probably push it into the 8 to 9 area.

I have seen the entire series, own/ read the books, own/watched the films including that animated one from pre-2000.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

My LOTR history: I've read The Hobbit many times as a kid, and I'll read it to my daughter when shes old enough. I've read LOTR once after the first film was released, I read Children of Hurin though I dont recall anything, and I've read nothing of The Silmarillion. The films I've seen all multiple times and like a lot. So pretty familiar with the universe but definitely no super fan.

I liked the series, and watched it all. Production value obviously very high, but I dont think the quality of the storytelling overall matches the Jackson films, not including The Hobbit movies obviously, which really were ... thin, like butter over too much bread (sorry).

I hope they finish the story off, I liked it quite a bit. Similar quality to The Wheel of Time and Witcher shows IMO, if it wasnt for the first 5 or 6 seasons of Game of Thrones these would be competing to be my favourite all time fantasy shows. In a post GOT world though, theyre only pretty good by comparison.

 

[Frindis]

I think the show is enjoyable. Not on my top 10 list or even 20, but it got something going on. The series looks good and some of the visual effects are well-made. I like Poppy Proudfellow and Nori Brandyfoot. The rest of the Hobbits are a bit hit-and-miss. The Stranger and Durin IV are some of my favorite characters as they not only look like they belong in the world but also act as they do. Galadriel is one of the worst characters in the series, unfortunately. I just don't understand the way she is portrayed. It sounds and looks like she is constipated every time she speaks and it is slightly annoying.

 

[mainer]

Does surprising story for readers of Silmarillion is something bad? Or is the main problem that the producer is Amazon itself?

I've read The Hobbit and the 3 LOTR books back when I was younger, and I've reread them several times over the years, though I've never read the Silmarillion. I've watched the LOTR movies several times, and I thought they were a great visual interpretation of the books and stayed (mostly) true to the books which is important to me, as I'm an avid epic fantasy reader and take offense when movies don't stay true to the novels (which is why I"ll never watch Amazon's Wheel of Time movies). I've also watched the 3 Hobbit movies, and I have to agree with @Kaamos_Llama here, that those movies were a spread a bit too thin (and unneeded really) for telling the story of The Hobbit (though I enjoyed those movies, especially the first one).

As far as Amazon as a producer, they do annoy me with their constant influx of "Amazon Original Movie! or Amazon Original Series!" popping up like cockroaches multiplying.
But, having not read the Silmarillion, and from @Sarafan 's description, I might give these movies a shot. I don't own a TV, but as a Prime member I can stream a lot of movies, even the TV variety (they're all movies to me).

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I think the show is enjoyable. Not on my top 10 list or even 20, but it got something going on. The series looks good and some of the visual effects are well-made. I like Poppy Proudfellow and Nori Brandyfoot. The rest of the Hobbits are a bit hit-and-miss. The Stranger and Durin IV are some of my favorite characters as they not only look like they belong in the world but also act as they do. Galadriel is one of the worst characters in the series, unfortunately. I just don't understand the way she is portrayed. It sounds and looks like she is constipated every time she speaks and it is slightly annoying.

Yea, when I say my favourite all time fantasy shows it isn't exactly a high bar, besides Game of Thrones you'd be going back to stuff like Xena and Hercules which to be honest I didnt rate at all. I might have a narrower version of what I mean when I say fantasy though.

 

[Zloth]

The problem is that being faithful to the book in this case would probably mean being inaccessible to non-fans.

The Simirilian was itself very inaccessible to fans of the earlier books! The depth Tolkien gave to his world was amazing but trying to read that book was REALY rough.

I haven't watched Rings of Power yet, but I'm sure I'll get around to it when I drift back to Amazon Prime from Disney Plus.

 

[Sarafan]

It went so well, Amazon fired the Showrunners.
Maybe the next billion will be better invested

A lot of criticism from fans of the original books doesn't mean automatically that the show is bad. I know there's more people who prefer faithful adaptations, but being the opposite is more fun for me. And to clear things out, I liked LotR books. Silmarillion is also nice if you know what to expect, but story-wise Rings of Power are better. Silmarillion in its raw form isn't a good source material for TV show adaptation. It's fragmented and has a form of mythology rather than book that relies on a story. The faithful adaptation would be either inconsistent or there would be a risk of running short of the source material.

I am with Sarafan on this topic. It is an excellent TV series both in terms of acting and picture quality. Seeing the mines of Moria in their splendour and the eleven cities - amazing. I could go on and on but I wouldn't. Probably push it into the 8 to 9 area.

I'd say that visually it's near the top, if we're talking about TV series and movies alike. You can feel the big budget in most of the scenes.

I liked the series, and watched it all. Production value obviously very high, but I dont think the quality of the storytelling overall matches the Jackson films, not including The Hobbit movies obviously, which really were ... thin, like butter over too much bread (sorry).

I agree that the series isn't as good as the Jackson trilogy. But the fact is that I never expected it to be. It's hard to surpass the best fantasy movies in history. Hobbit is an interesting case, because I think that Jackson's films are better than the original book (pretty much in the same way as Amazon series and Silmarillion). But it's quite understandable given the fact that The Hobbit book was a precursor of modern fantasy genre. It's still a nice story and very accessible to younger audience, but Jackson was able to push it beyond its limits. It was really hard to get even more from the book. He done what he could.

Galadriel is one of the worst characters in the series, unfortunately. I just don't understand the way she is portrayed. It sounds and looks like she is constipated every time she speaks and it is slightly annoying.

Perhaps you still have Kate Blanchett before your eyes when you see this character. I had a similar problem in the beginning. We also have to remember that the story takes place a few thousands of years before LotR trilogy, so it's not strange that Galadriel behaves in a different way.

As far as Amazon as a producer, they do annoy me with their constant influx of "Amazon Original Movie! or Amazon Original Series!" popping up like cockroaches multiplying.

But these only appear in the beginning of each episode (at least in my country ). I don't view this as a problem. It's understandable that they want distinguish their original productions. Or maybe I haven't understood here something and you're talking about a general style of Amazon productions.

But, having not read the Silmarillion, and from @Sarafan 's description, I might give these movies a shot.

You should give them a shot. Although keep in mind that it's advised to have some lore knowledge. The show isn't faithful to Silmarillion story, but it uses the lore presented there. That said, if you read the LotR books several times, you should be prepared in terms of lore knowledge.

The Simirilian was itself very inaccessible to fans of the earlier books! The depth Tolkien gave to his world was amazing but trying to read that book was REALY rough.

That's true. The world construction is marvelous, but the book is very hard to read. It's almost like you want to read Greek or Rome mythology in original form.

 

[mainer]

But these only appear in the beginning of each episode (at least in my country ). I don't view this as a problem. It's understandable that they want distinguish their original productions. Or maybe I haven't understood here something and you're talking about a general style of Amazon productions.

Sometimes I don't explain what I'm thinking very well. What I was trying to say was that Amazon just seems to crank out movie after movie, and series after series on a rapid fire basis, thinking more about volume than quality, and every time I do a movie genre search I get inundated with their titles. But that's just my personal annoyance or pet peeve, and the "volume over quality" many not even be true, it just feels like it to me. I need to learn to restrain myself a bit when discussing anything Amazon related (I've certainly spent enough money there over the years).

 

[SleepingDog]

The Kindle edition of "The Silmarillion" is available for 99p in the UK today.

 

[FreezerBurn]

So, I consider myself a Tolkien-ite or Hobbit nerd. If I were to view the show by itself with no comparison to the books, I would say I was pretty good. If I were to compare it to the books I would have to say not so much, but I think there are somethings that prevented it from being great. First of all I get the feeling they didn't have access to the whole Silmarillion, they went out of their way to avoid certain lore and cannon. Skipping out on characters like Ungoliant was I missed opportunity. It really felt like they only gave Amazon rights to part of the chapters Akallabeth and the Of the rings of power and the third age. Honestly why change Sauron name when he was in a different form?

Edit: Also, Balrogs had wings... Fight me.

Edit Edit: It is worth noting that leadership in the Tolkien Estate change a while back, The current people are more open to expanding the LoTR license to companies which is good and bad.

 

[Sarafan]

First of all I get the feeling they didn't have access to the whole Silmarillion, they went out of their way to avoid certain lore and cannon.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've heard, they didn't have the rights to Silmarillion. Only a license to use the lore. That's why it's so different, but... Amazon already announced that the second sezon will be more faithful to the books.

 

[FreezerBurn]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've heard, they didn't have the rights to Silmarillion. Only a license to use the lore. That's why it's so different, but... Amazon already announced that the second sezon will be more faithful to the books.

Ugh, that makes sense now. I found this quote from amazon on what they have rights to.

"We have the rights solely to 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' 'The Two Towers,' 'The Return of the King,' the appendices, and 'The Hobbit.' And that is it. We do not have the rights to 'The Silmarillion,' 'Unfinished Tales,' 'The History of Middle-earth,' or any of those other books."

 

[FreezerBurn]

I did have to chuckle to myself about Celebrimbor, because if they stick to lore he is gonna have a bad day...