TV - Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power

[RUPERTKBD]

5 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Who’s Adar? I don’t have all the names straight yet, lol. 
 

Also, refresh my memory, what was the issue with the pyroclast? 
 

It’s been a few days. 

Adar is the evil Elf who's leading the Uruk....One of the theories is that Orcs were created out of elves captured by Morgoth and then tortured until the became the twisted creatures we now know as Orcs,

 

Pyroclastic flow (the cloud of ash and debris from volcanic eruption) is pretty much a guaranteed death. They move at hundreds of MPH and can reach temps of 1000 degrees...

[Sharpshooter]

7 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

Adar is the evil Elf who's leading the Uruk....One of the theories is that Orcs were created out of elves captured by Morgoth and then tortured until the became the twisted creatures we now know as Orcs,

 

Pyroclastic flow (the cloud of ash and debris from volcanic eruption) is pretty much a guaranteed death. They move at hundreds of MPH and can reach temps of 1000 degrees...

 

I knew the guy, didn’t recall the name. 
 

So people don’t have issues with all the other nonsensical stuff in a fantasy show, but superheated ash is the hill they want to die on?

 

Nerds give geeks a bad name. 
 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Sharpshooter

[Scottish⑦Canuck]

8 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

 

I knew the guy, didn’t recall the name. 
 

So people don’t have issues with all the other nonsensical stuff in a fantasy show, but superheated ash is the hill they want to die on?

 

Nerds give geeks a bad name. 
 

 

 

Bad writing is bad writing, whether it’s fantasy or not. There has to be some sense of realism or I don’t think it’s as enjoyable.

[Sharpshooter]

2 hours ago, Scottish⑦Canuck said:

Bad writing is bad writing, whether it’s fantasy or not. There has to be some sense of realism or I don’t think it’s as enjoyable.

In the opening minutes during ‘Fellowship’, when Sauron ‘dies’ there’s a huge concussive force that knocks down soldiers hundreds of yards away 

 

For a force to knock someone down flatly quite some distance away, the force would obliterate those next to it, yet Isildur seems quite unscathed after. 
 

When Sam and Frodo are inside Mount Doom as it erupts, they should have been burns to crisp being that close and surrounded by hot magma(say it in Austin Powers voice) or died due to poisonous gases and fumes inside and around any volcano. 
 

I could go on and on. 
 

If one nitpicks one thing then all things can be nitpicked as not being ‘real’, which again I find hilarious in a fantasy show. It’s escapism, not a reality show about volcanoes. 
 

I don’t agree with the bad writing aspect either. Much of the things that could be nitpicked were based on or taken from Tolkiens writings. 
 

Should we criticize Tolkien for his ‘bad writing’ because he clearly didn’t get flight physics or lift to weight ratio while writing about giant eagles. 
 

Again, I could go on and on, like Gandalf falling hundreds or even thousands of feet into water while fighting the Balrog. At that height it would be like hitting cement. 
 

I’ll stop now. 

[Jaimito]

5 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

In the opening minutes during ‘Fellowship’, when Sauron ‘dies’ there’s a huge concussive force that knocks down soldiers hundreds of yards away 

 

For a force to knock someone down flatly quite some distance away, the force would obliterate those next to it, yet Isildur seems quite unscathed after. 
 

When Sam and Frodo are inside Mount Doom as it erupts, they should have been burns to crisp being that close and surrounded by hot magma(say it in Austin Powers voice) or died due to poisonous gases and fumes inside and around any volcano. 
 

I could go on and on. 
 

If one nitpicks one thing then all things can be nitpicked as not being ‘real’, which again I find hilarious in a fantasy show. It’s escapism, not a reality show about volcanoes. 
 

I don’t agree with the bad writing aspect either. Much of the things that could be nitpicked were based on or taken from Tolkiens writings. 
 

Should we criticize Tolkien for his ‘bad writing’ because he clearly didn’t get flight physics or lift to weight ratio while writing about giant eagles. 
 

Again, I could go on and on, like Gandalf falling hundreds or even thousands of feet into water while fighting the Balrog. At that height it would be like hitting cement. 
 

I’ll stop now. 

Not to mention the eagles could have just taken Frodo to Mt doom and save all three movies. 

[g_bassi13]

I finally finished watching, and I just hated it. It was a case where my wife was forcing me to complete the series.

 

I literally had just finished watching the trilogy a week or so before this aired its first episode (partially in anticipation, partially because it streams on Prime in 4k and I had a new TV I was testing.) There's nothing I can think of that I liked about this show though, outside of a couple of plot elements towards the end.

 

Poor casting was one thing that took me out of the show at the beginning, but I wanted to quit altogether by the second episode. It was just plot contrivance on top of plot contrivance that kept sending the story down convenient paths. Like I know the Lord of the Rings is all about fate and ultimate destinies, but to me this was next level. The amount of coincidences in this giant world. And just the cheesiest stuff, from what people said, to what they did.

 

There's always an issue with a prequel where you're telling what's at least a partially known story with a completely known end point. It's a tough act to take on. But for me, something like Better Call Saul was about as good as it gets at handling these known inevitabilities. It's this heavy crushing weight that hangs over a prequel. You have to balance amd carry it so that the story you're telling doesn't feel pointless. The Rings of Power was as pointless as it gets for me.

[JM_]

1 hour ago, g_bassi13 said:

I finally finished watching, and I just hated it. It was a case where my wife was forcing me to complete the series.

 

I literally had just finished watching the trilogy a week or so before this aired its first episode (partially in anticipation, partially because it streams on Prime in 4k and I had a new TV I was testing.) There's nothing I can think of that I liked about this show though, outside of a couple of plot elements towards the end.

 

Poor casting was one thing that took me out of the show at the beginning, but I wanted to quit altogether by the second episode. It was just plot contrivance on top of plot contrivance that kept sending the story down convenient paths. Like I know the Lord of the Rings is all about fate and ultimate destinies, but to me this was next level. The amount of coincidences in this giant world. And just the cheesiest stuff, from what people said, to what they did.

 

There's always an issue with a prequel where you're telling what's at least a partially known story with a completely known end point. It's a tough act to take on. But for me, something like Better Call Saul was about as good as it gets at handling these known inevitabilities. It's this heavy crushing weight that hangs over a prequel. You have to balance amd carry it so that the story you're telling doesn't feel pointless. The Rings of Power was as pointless as it gets for me.

I couldn't get past the 2nd episode. I was thinking this might be the version I could like but it just bored me to tears, seems like this is the year for massive budget semi-flops. 

[RUPERTKBD]

On 11/5/2022 at 2:31 PM, JM_ said:

I couldn't get past the 2nd episode. I was thinking this might be the version I could like but it just bored me to tears, seems like this is the year for massive budget semi-flops. 

I get that it's not for everyone, but I don't think "semi-flop" is accurate:

 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-10-13/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-amazon-season-1-audience

 

Personally, I'm quite invested in Tolkien's work and I am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to next season....

[MystifyNCrucify]

2 hours ago, RUPERTKBD said:

I get that it's not for everyone, but I don't think "semi-flop" is accurate:

 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-10-13/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-amazon-season-1-audience

 

Personally, I'm quite invested in Tolkien's work and I am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to next season....

Oof. About the only thing the writers took from tolkiens work was a handful of names. 

 

They might as well have drawn a moustache on the mona lisa and claimed they “updated it for modern audiences”.

 

Lords of amazon sucks hard. 

[RUPERTKBD]

14 hours ago, MystifyNCrucify said:

Oof. About the only thing the writers took from tolkiens work was a handful of names. 

 

They might as well have drawn a moustache on the mona lisa and claimed they “updated it for modern audiences”.

 

Lords of amazon sucks hard. 

As it turns out, the showrunners are somewhat constrained in how much of the source material they're allowed to portray, so inferences and interpretations had to be made:

 

https://collider.com/rings-of-power-tv-series-rights-they-own-explained/

 

As I said earlier, it's not for everyone. If you hate it so much, the thing to do is not watch, rather than try to tell everyone else what they should think about it.

[Junkyard Dog]

Wasn’t a fan. House of the Dragon was better IMO. Better acting and more cohesion. 
 

I didn’t really have high expectations for either show tbh. 
 

Henry Cavill is not playing the Witcher anymore which makes me sad and the Halo series first season sucked. 
 

Not many good fantasy/sci-fi shows anymore IMO. Tend to stick to anime as it never seems to let me down. 

[JM_]

20 minutes ago, Junkyard Dog said:

Wasn’t a fan. House of the Dragon was better IMO. Better acting and more cohesion. 
 

I didn’t really have high expectations for either show tbh. 
 

Henry Cavill is not playing the Witcher anymore which makes me sad and the Halo series first season sucked. 
 

Not many good fantasy/sci-fi shows anymore IMO. Tend to stick to anime as it never seems to let me down. 

that does suck, he was great in that. Why are these companies determined to wreck something thats been working?

 

HoD was pretty meh. I wouldn't bother revisiting it. It really had no significant story, no humour, no character to hate or root for. 

[JM_]

17 hours ago, RUPERTKBD said:

I get that it's not for everyone, but I don't think "semi-flop" is accurate:

 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-10-13/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-amazon-season-1-audience

 

Personally, I'm quite invested in Tolkien's work and I am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to next season....

I guess for me it feels like a massive amount of detail, with very little actual story. Its really hard to get into as a causal fan. 

[Sharpshooter]

Perhaps viewers with little to no knowledge about the characters, lands, lore of Tolkien’s works may not be as invested in seeing them brought to life in the screen, and therefore don’t get that much of the entertainment factor out of the show?

 

Just throwing it out there. 
 

While pacing was an issue in the first season, and it was very ‘heroic woman’ centric(in some socially crafted pendulum swing from years of male heroism) the story itself was good. The latter part of the season was good. Seeing the forebearers who were only referenced in books and from LOTR movies was fantastic. 
 

Hopefully the second season addresses the pacing issues and develops characters and plots more carefully. 

[JM_]

26 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Perhaps viewers with little to no knowledge about the characters, lands, lore of Tolkien’s works may not be as invested in seeing them brought to life in the screen, and therefore don’t get that much of the entertainment factor out of the show?

 

Just throwing it out there. 
 

While pacing was an issue in the first season, and it was very ‘heroic woman’ centric(in some socially crafted pendulum swing from years of male heroism) the story itself was good. The latter part of the season was good. Seeing the forebearers who were only referenced in books and from LOTR movies was fantastic. 
 

Hopefully the second season addresses the pacing issues and develops characters and plots more carefully. 

this show isn't breaking any ground on strong female leads, but I would agree that you really do have to be invested in the LoR work to be able to get into it. And thats fine, its got enough of an audience to keep something this expensive going. Nothing wrong with giving the fans what they want. 

 

[Sharpshooter]

4 minutes ago, JM_ said:

this show isn't breaking any ground on strong female leads, but I would agree that you really do have to be invested in the LoR work to be able to get into it. And thats fine, its got enough of an audience to keep something this expensive going. Nothing wrong with giving the fans what they want. 

 

It’s not breaking new ground but the focus is clearly on female characters as the primary drivers of the story, in a broad(teehee)sense. Not that I have an issue with that. 
 

It may be too much for nearly every storyline though. 
 

I think the main issue is the pacing and perhaps the writing. 
 

All in all, I enjoyed it. Glad to see a lot of the big names and places from the other movies and books finally on the screen to see. 
 

 

 

[Junkyard Dog]

39 minutes ago, JM_ said:

that does suck, he was great in that. Why are these companies determined to wreck something thats been working?

 

HoD was pretty meh. I wouldn't bother revisiting it. It really had no significant story, no humour, no character to hate or root for. 

From what I heard, Cavill wanted it to be a more of a faithful adaptation of the books since he's a huge fan of the games/books. The writers decided to stray away from the source material.

 

Henry Cavill is a super nerd and he isn't afraid of talking about it, he almost missed his call for Superman because he was playing World of Warcraft. So I can imagine as a nerd if he doesn't think he can be faithful to the source material of something he's a nerd about then he might have issues. He'd look great as Arthas(Kind of a tragic character like Anakin/Vader) in a Warcraft 3 movie(the 1st Warcraft movie was the first game and the 3rd game has the best story/characters). 

 

Same thing happened with the Halo series straying away from source material and the show's 1st season wasn't good.

 

I guess in comparison with RoP I liked HoD better but IMO shows/movies as a whole have gone a little downhill the last few years. Hence why I stick with Anime since most of it comes from Japan and most of the time they stick with the source material of mangas(comics from Japan).

[JM_]

1 minute ago, Junkyard Dog said:

From what I heard, Cavill wanted it to be a more of a faithful adaptation of the books since he's a huge fan of the games/books. The writers decided to stray away from the source material.

 

Henry Cavill is a super nerd and he isn't afraid of talking about it, he almost missed his call for Superman because he was playing World of Warcraft. So I can imagine as a nerd if he doesn't think he can be faithful to the source material of something he's a nerd about then he might have issues. He'd look great as Arthas(Kind of a tragic character like Anakin/Vader) in a Warcraft 3 movie(the 1st Warcraft movie was the first game and the 3rd game has the best story/characters). 

 

Same thing happened with the Halo series straying away from source material and the show's 1st season wasn't good.

 

I guess in comparison with RoP I liked HoD better but IMO shows/movies as a whole have gone a little downhill the last few years. Hence why I stick with Anime since most of it comes from Japan and most of the time they stick with the source material of mangas(comics from Japan).

its just odd how they break away from good writing and character development, its not like they aren't spending the money on these shows, or there's a lack of source material. I wonder whats driving the watering down of these shows, are they trying to compete with basic cable?

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Just now, JM_ said:

its just odd how they break away from good writing and character development, its not like they aren't spending the money on these shows, or there's a lack of source material. I wonder whats driving the watering down of these shows, are they trying to compete with basic cable?

 

Depending the show or movie probably a mixture of various sort of reasons. Incompetence in writing teams(especially I find), Modernization(though not as bad as the right makes it out to be but still), rushing(leaks just came out with higher ups from Lucasfilm admitting they feel they rushed the sequels, take with grain of salt)(a lot of these shows are from live services like Amazon, Netflix, Disney+, etc and they are always competing with each other to put out product rather than taking the time to put out quality product).

 

A lot of those things can domino into each other too. 

 

At least that's how I feel personally. 

[RUPERTKBD]

To me, it's somewhat akin to several of the Sci-fi / Fantasy series I've read, Some of them are seriously long and in quite a few, I've found volume 1 to be a bit of a slog. Generally however, by the time I'm a couple of volumes in, I'm glad I stuck it out.

 

I felt there were some slow moving storylines in both RoP and HoD, especially early on....but there were also episodes I found quite entertaining.

 

I expect a lot of these plotlines to come together as we get into future seasons and I believe those that bailed on either series after only one season might be missing the boat. But, as I've said twice now, it clearly isn't for everyone....