Lord of the Rings TV Series Purchased by Amazon

[molliewoof]

A bit below average probably a strong 4/10

Action scenes were good

Mainly good CGI, a little ropey in places like when Eminem started picking fire up

The pre hobbits were awful and took up way too much time.

A lot of the acting was really bad, the only really likeable characters were the dwarfs and the evil orc master elf, maybe sauron

The costumes were pretty awful and it takes a lot for me to notice that but I lolled when I saw the numemorians on the boats for the first time.

If this wasn't a huge Amazon production which they will definitely advertise like fuck I probably wouldn't notice when the next season comes out

[downnola]

Unfortunately I felt many of the characters didn't feel explored enough, once again outside of the Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Durin (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) characters, everyone else either felt too flat or undeveloped. And they were the bets part of the show, the drama between Durin and his father the connection with his wife Disa and his long time friend, Elrond really got the most out of me.

Couldn't agree more. It seems like they were trying to do too much with the different arcs they created and ended up with less when it came to most of the characters.

The Galadriel character (played by Morfydd Clark) who was the main protagonist of our story, came across really unlikable and felt very different to the book interpretations of her that I know. A headstrong, bitter, cynical and selfish character that I found very tiresome to watch. She had moments towards the end where I felt her character was starting to warm with me and she showed signs of her character I knew, but overall, I just didn't feel the writing and directing did her justice. I do not feel its the fault of the actress, I think she did well with what she was given but I am not sure what direction she was given during her scenes, because most of the time he expression ranged from 'I want to cry' to 'I want to yell at you'. Juist this constant scowl.

I don't mind the direction they took with Galadriel. I find the character's bitterness to be understandable when the threat to Middle Earth, and the evil responsible for her brother's death, is handwaved away by so many people. Her drive to see the threat end costs her quite a bit over the course of the season. I think it's interesting to see character development when they're forced to self-reflect. Considering the large gap between where we see her now and where she ends up in Lord of the Rings, I think there's plenty of room to show her growth as a character. Showing that she wasn't always wise with excellent self-control is good storytelling if done right.

However, I think making her the vehicle that gets Sauron in front of the elven smiths when she's supposed to be the only one skeptical of his disguise was too strong. But you can also make the case that it says something about being so obsessed and focused on a task that it distracts you from things right under your nose. Either way, I think they could have done better with that detail.

I was also disappointed when the Stranger was all but confirmed to be Gandalf. His inclusion in the series is completely unnecessary and is a pretty serious retcon, imo. I don't mind bending the lore to tell a good story but it will be an egregious contradiction of the books if he ends up being present during the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the series. I don't mind the inclusion of the Harfoots and a wizard, but they didn't need Gandalf specifically to make that arc work. I'd be more interested in learning about other wizards sent to Middle Earth than forcing the one we already know into the story.

Ultimately, I landed kind of close to where you are on the show. Overall, I think it's been pretty mid or just ok. I'm interested in what happens with the story because I'll take any Tolkien I can get. However, they should have done better considering how much money was thrown at this project. "Just ok" shouldn't be an acceptable landing spot for a project of this magnitude. They still have a lot of story left to tell so hopefully they make some improvements.

[Orby]

My imdb review has been pending for two days lol.. I cannot imagine the influx of review that's how is now getting that its over :P

[Aydinx2]

What an absolute mess of a show. Great CGI and all that, but we got two idiots who I guess has little to know idea what they are doing as showrunners. I guess the teenage me at 14 would probably think this was alright of a show (I remember not liking LotR movies at that time). For me its pretty much confirmed, this show is most likely for children and teens, and thats alright, I just hoped and wished I would be the target audience like I was with Andor and House of the Dragon.

"I am... good" I mean, lmao. I will show this to my daughter when she becomes 8, maybe it will not be so depressing then.

The writing for the LotR movies is the same level, you're just biased.

[Khaza-R]

The writing for the LotR movies is the same level, you're just biased.

The movies have some pretty cheesy lines. But they are few and far between.

While the dialogue in the show is like bad to drab about 85% of the time. I feel bad for these actors because they really put their weight in having to carry such a lifeless script.

[Shadowferal]

The writing for the LotR movies is the same level, you're just biased.

Yea...and lotr used similar lines from...where?

[Orby]

I might actually find the soundtrack for this show, the one thing I will praise about it is its musical score.

[xChurch]

You know it's bad when you come away from the show liking the big bad more than the main hero. Halbrand, at least as far as we knew in the show, just wanted to chill on Numenor and craft things, Galadriel is the one who practically forced him back to middle earth (while trying to claim she was really doing it for him). Of course, I doubt anyone would trust Sauron to just hang out in Numenor and not get up to anything evil, but until the reveal, as far as we knew in the show, he was just a guy who wanted a normal life. It doesn't help that her being so instantly trusting of him and doing literally no research on his background doesn't exactly do her any favors either. In the end, the show kind of reminds me of the last Jedi, in that they had some interesting ideas but in the end, instead of trying to go in a different direction and mix things up, everything ends up pretty much exactly where you'd have expected things to be from the start. They should have owned it as a deviation from the books and crafted something truly unique while still being in line with Tolkien. Though we have 4 more seasons, so hopefully they take the constructive criticism seriously going forward.

[jonnysensible]

The movies have some pretty cheesy lines. But they are few and far between.

While the dialogue in the show is like bad to drab about 85% of the time. I feel bad for these actors because they really put their weight in having to carry such a lifeless script.

cmon lotr movies are cheesy as fuck. Gimli is literally a comic relief character. The little song aaragon sings when he becomes king lmao. They are lucky they had some solid lines written already although that they could lift from the books. some of the better ones ('It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace') etc are left out.

[s_bushido]

He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace

They gave this line to Faramir in the movie.

[Ophenia]

So we closed this season without any news about Isildur. Is he supposed to be dead in this serie or do they keep him for S02, with him waking up 10 days after in the middle of Mordor lol

All in all, if we rename all characters differently, it was an okay-ish fantasy serie, that took itself too seriously at times. And with awesome goofs / unexplained shit that happens all the time for plot convenience - it seems everyone and their mothers have teleportation abilities in middle earth.

[Kumorii]

So we closed this season without any news about Isildur. Is he supposed to be dead in this serie or do they keep him for S02, with him waking up 10 days after in the middle of Mordor lol

Willing to bet Season 2 starts with an opening of Berek finding him or Isildur waking up and finding Berek.

Maybe starts with a Galadriel doing an exposition before that.

[Orby]

cmon lotr movies are cheesy as fuck. Gimli is literally a comic relief character. The little song aaragon sings when he becomes king lmao. They are lucky they had some solid lines written already although that they could lift from the books. some of the better ones ('It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace') etc are left out.

One of the things I originally disliked about the trilogy (there are a few nit picks) is how they buffooned up Gimli. The 'central nervous system', 'natural born sprinters' line and the 'dwarf women'. Yea I rolled my eyes at those.

Other silly things were the Merry and Pippin 'you need us on this quest, mission thingy' line was random. But the movies had so much going for it that it was ignored. I feel if Rings of Power had a better story (which was going to be hard considering they had little to work with), then I do feel alot of those cheesy lines and bad dialogue in Rings of Power would be totally forgotten too.

I liked the song Aragorn sung as king though, songs were a very important part of Tolkien's works that I kind of admired.

The movies always had charm though, something the series doesn't, the show comes off bitter and spiteful most times, with not much levity, Tolkien always taught us that through despair and darkness there would be hope and that there would be light and a better tomorrow. In Rings of Power it was constant dread. There was none of that charm. Yes the movies could be silly at times but they had heart, the show is missing that, except for the Elrond and Durin scenes, they were pretty touching at times.

With that said I feel the movies were always pretty near perfect because of its charm and well crafted world and characters, and this is putting aside 'being faithful to the source material' arguments, cos I am not that concerned with 'being faithful' more that they just tell a good story, which Rings of Power tried to do but failed or at best felt a bit disjointed. I do feel it failed to capture that familiar feeling I wanted or expected and just came off as a standard fantasy epic. which isn't bad... could be worse I watched the first season of the The Shannara Chronicles show when that came out. People thinking RoP is a bad fantasy adaptation know nothing lol.

[Khaza-R]

cmon lotr movies are cheesy as fuck. Gimli is literally a comic relief character. The little song aaragon sings when he becomes king lmao. They are lucky they had some solid lines written already although that they could lift from the books. some of the better ones ('It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace') etc are left out.

I mean, no. The lines you're referencing are just a tiny potion of the total dialogue in the films. And the movies lines are mostly derived from the books. Obviously something RoP writers had hugely stacked against them is having a very limited source material.

This series however is mostly bad lines. Nothing great or memorable from what I've seen so far. At best there are a few mediocre - good lines sprinkled through each episode.

[Hypasonic]

Last episode of season 1 was good, the show does show signs of real life influence which is disappointing. It's supposed to be middle earth but can't help but include 2022 thought processes. "I'm good" LOL. ok I guess.

Please be better in season 2.

[Syegfryed]

You know how this was such a gigantic clusterfuck of awfulness when people try to attack the original trilogy to defend this.

I remember one guy here that was shitting on Tolkien, to save face of the serie, like "Tolkien was not even that good" holy fuck

- - - Updated - - -

I mean, no. The lines you're referencing are just a tiny potion of the total dialogue in the films. And the movies lines are mostly derived from the books. Obviously something RoP writers had hugely stacked against them is having a very limited source material.

This series however is mostly bad lines. Nothing great or memorable from what I've seen so far. At best there are a few mediocre - good lines sprinkled through each episode.

The show think their memroable lines are:

"there is a tempest inside me!"
"Our hearts bigger than our feet!"
"The ea is always right!"

All awful lines that in context are even worse, because by example, the Hobbits are little sociopaths that left people to die on purpose

[Orby]

You know how this was such a gigantic clusterfuck of awfulness when people try to attack the original trilogy to defend this.

I remember one guy here that was shitting on Tolkien, to save face of the serie, like "Tolkien was not even that good" holy fuck

No one is attacking the original trilogy. Only pointing out that it wasnt perfect and the hypocrisy of certain criticisms on Rings of Power, which is right for them to do so. But my point is because the movies were factually better its easy to forget the negatives because the movies were so good, where as Rings of Powers flaws are highlighted by the shows awful story and dialogue so other things stand out too.

the original trilogy is one of my favourite trilogies and movies of all time. so when I criticise it, I do it with love :P

[Syegfryed]

No one is attacking the original trilogy. Only pointing out that it wasnt perfect and the hypocrisy of certain criticisms on Rings of Power, which is right for them to do so. But my point is because the movies were factually better its easy to forget the negatives because the movies were so good, where as Rings of Powers flaws are highlighted by the shows awful story and dialogue so other things stand out too.

the original trilogy is one of my favourite trilogies and movies of all time. so when I criticise it, I do it with love :P

Pointing out that isn't perfect is completely pointless because we are not discussing the trilogy, we know isn't perfect, we know it have flaws, but its done and gone, And it don't see any hypocrisy here, the show have way more shit lines compared to the movies

Trying to say "the original trilogy have flaws" in an attempt to defend this is desperate,

[Orby]

Pointing out that isn't perfect is completely pointless because we are not discussing the trilogy, we know isn't perfect, we know it have flaws, but its done and gone, And it don't see any hypocrisy here, the show have way more shit lines compared to the movies

Trying to say "the original trilogy have flaws" in an attempt to defend this is desperate,

I agree, but don't blame me I am just arguing with people who are doing that :P

[downnola]

The show think their memroable lines are:

"there is a tempest inside me!"

It wasn't a serious line because she's immediately thrown in jail after her rant. The juxtaposition of scenes is an obvious attempt at humor.