The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Amazon Prime)

[Covert Rain]

They broke canon right from the start with the way the elves went to middle earth and that wasn't the only thing. That complaint is not destroyed. I'm not going to argue it with you guys though since your minds are made up that there's nothing wrong and everyone that's complain is toxic fandom. If you're not going to stick to the source material then make a new property instead of trying to leech onto the existing fandom. We're going to complain when you do.

Adaptations are NEVER exact. When you say “broke canon” it’s a gross overexaggeration. Every single Marvel film that has hit it out the park has had things the were different from the comic books. Some of the greatest Hollywood movies that were adaptations had differences. Harry Potter, James Bond films….I could make a laundry list. Nobody considers that “breaking canon”. Breaking canon is when something is completely unrecognizable from the source material or breaks the storyline in a way that cannot be reconciled with the source material.

Again, you are moving the goal post and exaggerating an adaption of this world because the two biggest complaints have been debunked and now you need to move the goal post because you made up your mind already.

I find it ironic that you are accusing us of having our minds made up when in fact it’s the opposite. You and others decided based on 10 second snippets you were not going to like this show. So much, that you had not seen it and made up your mind. I STILL have not made up my mind yet. It's only two episodes in. The 2nd episode was better than the pilot but so far I have liked what I have seen.

I welcome you to revist the start of this thread where most of us DID NOT MAKE UP MINDS (that was you) and we said we had no idea if the show was going to be good. We said wait to judge it. YOU did the opposite. Not us. I can’t force you to have an open mind but please don’t accuse us of what you guys did. It’s cool if you want to have a different opinion of the show but some made it obvious from JUMP your mind was made up before it aired.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Watched the first episode and it was pretty good. Not GOT good, but good nonetheless.

 

[Stout]

All good. And to clarify on my post that you responded to, the "you" in it was the general "you" and not directed at you or Covert. I think the context gave that but that did hit me when I reread it as the quote in your post.

This might be a larger discussion to have, but part of why you might not be understanding it is due to your level of fandom for this and some of the other main franchises. There's a lot of built up frustration in fandom over what's happened to Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Wheel of Time, etc. over the last number of year. Largely at the hands of JJ Abrams and/or people that came from his tree. He's nicknamed The Destroyer of Franchises and the company is known as Bad Reboot for a reason. So there's been trepidation over Rings since it was announced partly due to that. The show runners are from his family tree.

So when all of the news, leaks, and info coming from the production started following along the same lines it threw up red flags and put everyone in defend Tolkien mode. We just want things to stay true to the source material that we've loved for decades if you're going to profit off of us. The feeling that the community has is that these productions want to use us to give them built-in audience but doesn't want to respect the franchises' history.



I was actually thinking about this exchange last night and had been thinking of clarifying what I meant too. Going into the show I was expecting to not like it over how it's handling the lore but that it was going to be a decent show. Basically that if it was "generic fantasy show" it would have been ok but fell due to trying to glom onto the LotR name.

After the first two episode I was disappointed with the writing and some of the acting. I found it to be CW quality instead of $60m/ep on Amazon's flagship show quality. That's the genesis of my comment. It was simply due to some of the elements that I thought were going to be good ending up being a disappointment.

On the source material, you must have loathed The Two Towers.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I enjoyed the first episodes so far. No complaints here.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I’m only seven minutes in and this is biggest ******* show I’ve ever seen. They definitely got the scale and feel right. So much for being cheap. Jesus!

 

[Dback Jon]

I’m only seven minutes in and this is biggest ******* show I’ve ever seen. They definitely got the scale and feel right. So much for being cheap. Jesus!

What is the *******

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

They actually are, that site and a couple other LotR sites sold out to amazon awhile ago. They started doing the different junkets that Amazon was offering, was was trip to England, and right after that they started towing the company line. It was telling when right after any even or release they were all posting the same marketing speak.

If we want to get into the review game I can start posting all of the negative ones but I'm guessing that's not going to be worth my time around here. It'll just be dismissed as toxic fandom or other gaslighting that the studios like to use to quell negative press.

My one line review for the first two episodes: Good visuals for a community theater telling of fan fiction. I can go through and rip it apart more but I really don't care to. If you guys enjoy then good for you. Go right ahead. I'll give it another episode or two to see if it improves but if it doesn't it'll be going into the same bin as Wheel of Time from Amazon.

Man comparing this to wheel of time is well . . . criminally inaccurate.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Okay… i just feel bad for the haters that they can’t even kinda enjoy this show. That’s nucking futs! Good set-up. Good hero to follow. Grandeur and scale off the charts. Felt like a LOTR show to me and then some.

Only thing that was missing was Shore’d OG LOTR Score. Wish there was a way they coulda just used that instead of having him recreate with the partner that’s taking over the show.

Glad I waited so I could watch on my TV at home and crank the volume. Totally shoulda gotten high to watch that though.

 

[Cheesebeef]

What is the *******

G-damn

 

[carrrnuttt]

I’m only seven minutes in and this is biggest ******* show I’ve ever seen. They definitely got the scale and feel right. So much for being cheap. Jesus!

This is what a show looks like when no expense is spared.

At least we know the execs weren't pocketing the budget, lol.

 

[Covert Rain]

This is what a show looks like when no expense is spared.

At least we know the execs weren't pocketing the budget, lol.

$250 million just for the rights. Over $700 million in production costs. 1st billion dollar TV season in history.

All the haters.....it's cheap. Wait...what??!?!?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Heck, it's not like The Simarillion is a filmable book. For the most part, that book is barely READABLE, let along filmable.

And as far as nerd cred goes, I'm still eagerly awaiting a live action Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

Simarillion was the most difficult read I’ve ever done. And I’m still 15 years into trying to finish Infinite Jest, and still it’s easier than Simarillion.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I’m only seven minutes in and this is biggest ******* show I’ve ever seen. They definitely got the scale and feel right. So much for being cheap. Jesus!

Yeah the "reports" of them going cheap are laughable.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Finished second episode. So far I think it’s been excellent. I think the CW description is completely out to lunch.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Guy, I'm bowing out of this thread for awhile. I'm basically putting it on ignore. I've been arguing too much on this show here and elsewhere that it's not worth the stress right now. I just found out that my best friend had a heart event (luckily he went in before having a heart attack) and has been in the hospital having tests run. So until my head is in a better spot I don't want to create artificial stress.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Guy, I'm bowing out of this thread for awhile. I'm basically putting it on ignore. I've been arguing too much on this show here and elsewhere that it's not worth the stress right now. I just found out that my best friend had a heart event (luckily he went in before having a heart attack) and has been in the hospital having tests run. So until my head is in a better spot I don't want to create artificial stress.

I am sorry to hear about your friend and I hope he gets better.

Slight advice: If you took yourself and your fandom less seriously and took this show for what it is, it'd be less a source of stress and more a source of relaxation and entertainment.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I am sorry to hear about your friend and I hope he gets better.

Slight advice: If you took yourself and your fandom less seriously and took this show for what it is, it'd be less a source of stress and more a source of relaxation and entertainment.

Thanks, it looks like he's going to be ok as long as he follows through with some big life style changes. So I'm hoping everything will be good going forward.

And on the fandom front, that's going to be really tough for me. Especially with LotR. It's honestly more akin to telling most of the people of this board to not stress or worry about the Cards, Kyler, Keim, etc. Some times something gets baked into your blood.

 

[Covert Rain]

Guy, I'm bowing out of this thread for awhile. I'm basically putting it on ignore. I've been arguing too much on this show here and elsewhere that it's not worth the stress right now. I just found out that my best friend had a heart event (luckily he went in before having a heart attack) and has been in the hospital having tests run. So until my head is in a better spot I don't want to create artificial stress.

Sorry to hear about it. Heart events are scary.

 

[Chaplin]

Third episode is fantastic. I’d put Numenor up against any city in GOT.

 

[Stout]

Man, this show is utterly fantastic. I love hearing the names and going, "Where do I know that from?" and then having the "aha" moment, like...

Spoiler

Elendil, Elendil, he's who again? Oh, Isuldur's father!

The only real quibble I have is a bit of bad writing, put in just because the writers "needed" someone to be somewhere. Still, with the show being this good, I can easily ignore it.

Spoiler

There's absolutely zero reason for Galadriel to sail all the way back and then moronically dive into the water. I actively rooted for her to die from sheer stupidity. Like, the plan is to swim all the way back to Middle Earth or--hey, what a lucky rescue! The only reason she even got on that ship and sailed all that way is because the writers needed her there. Bad writing.

 

[Cheesebeef]

3rd episode had some GNARLY moments.

I love the grandeur, tone and feel of this show. They just haven’t totally made me fall in love with any of the characters yet. I like some of them, but if I’m gonna be watching multiple fantasy shows at the same time, Dragons right now is going to win out simply because of Rhaenera and Aegon’s Brother.

But this is a really good show, regardless.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Yeah, just really impressed with this show. Keeps getting better with each episode.

 

[ajcardfan]

3rd episode had some GNARLY moments.

I love the grandeur, tone and feel of this show. They just haven’t totally made me fall in love with any of the characters yet. I like some of them, but if I’m gonna be watching multiple fantasy shows at the same time, Dragons right now is going to win out simply because of Rhaenera and Aegon’s Brother.

But this is a really good show, regardless.

I feel the same way about the characters. Kinda 2D. I hope I do start to care about and like them more.

But the spectacle and action is worth it!

 

[Cheesebeef]

I feel the same way about the characters. Kinda 2D. I hope I do start to care about and like them more.

But the spectacle and action is worth it!

i think they're suffering a little from the same thing the new GOT is... there's no Tyrion character. The rogue, sarcastic one who knows everything going on is kinda nonsense. Almost like the audience surrogate.

but also, there's no delicious bad guy to hate here. I think LOTR the movies could get away with it because they were just movies, but in a series you need someone you can sink your teeth into. Thrones had them coming out of the woodwork early and often. Cersei, Jaime, Joffrey, The Hound... awesome villains, some who turned good, some who just got more evil. But here... there is evil on the horizon and some bad orcs here and there, but no central figure.

 

[Cheesebeef]

This show is pretty good. I like the vibe and scope of it.