Middle Earth Ranger Forum

The Rings of Power's first two episodes aired last night. What are your thoughts?

Storyline:

Characters:

Costume and props:

Only watched the first episode.

Caught myself writing an entire essay, but i don't want to be so long winded especially when it comes to being negative so i'll just say this:

I wouldn't recommend it.

Storyline is a clear cut departure from the source and the storytelling is hamfisted. Breaks the "show dont tell" rule often and what it does "show" seems to fly in the face of what they are trying to convey.
Characterization suffers as a result.
Costumes/props were just generic fantasy. Kind of low budget given what Amazon spent on this.
Some of the haircuts looked very modern but I'm not a barber and I havent even had a haircut since before the plague broke out so what do i know?

I don't think I'll watch episode 2, life is too short.
I don't like being negative but yeah... it's not for me.

I'll be brief as well

The Elves seem more like petty humans with pointed ears

Galadriel is not likable in the least and Elrond seems nothing like the character in the books

The dialogue is definitely not Tolkien grade, reminds me of sitcom grade stuff

I want to like it but it seems rushed and confused, hopefully it will improve.

As far as the first two episodes, I don't see myself rewatching them for entertainment.

It was terrible! Nothing like the books. That was not Galadriel. That was not Elrond. They could have made the Elves noble beings, like they're supposed to. But they're just humans. The Harfoots were not Hobbits. Wheres the comfort? They shouldnt even exist yet. Gandalf is a homeless man. Surprisingly, the most entertaining ones were the Dwarves, but no beard for Disa. You know what did have bearded female Dwarves? Interspecies Reviewers did. Don't read Interspecies Reviewers; it is really NSFW, but I digress. I loved Bear Mcreary's score for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. I still listen to that soundtrack and get pumped. This one is forgettable. I really dont like the aesthetics. I was good with Peter Jackson's take on weapons and armor. Every race had their own distinct style. This looks... Yeah. The arms and armor dont fit.

I wish it wasnt so hot out. I could have spent the time better on another patrol, but southern Gondor is sweltering. I always thought they picked a bad time for the setting. Its been about 20 years since I read the silmarillion, and the second age stuff didnt stick with me much. It was just outshined to me by all the epic first age stuff.

Sorry for the bad grammer. The Halflings were all attacking me at once. I feel like Boromir training the Hobbits.

Yeaahhhhh... I haven't watched it, since I have no desire to support the Dread Wyrm Jeff Bezos' ever-growing money-hoard, but what I've heard is not great. It seems to me that all these recent fantasy shows and movies have neglected something very important about how to achieve a unique fantasy story: making things look authentic does not mean just adding detail. I believe Kramer from Living Anachronism talked about this as well, but I'll add my two cents here.

Putting care and time into your stories is going to produce better results. Good stories are difficult to write, and characterization is difficult to keep consistent. Taking your time and thinking through the actual deeds of the characters will absolutely revitalize your storytelling and make everything so much better. More than that, asking "what does this character want, both right now and in the long run?" is critically important for consistent characterization. And it's difficult to do on a large scale with characters that aren't your own.

But other than that, I also have problems with the costuming, and a lot of the decisions seem disingenuous. Especially considering this series is coming from Amazon.

Togon wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 7:26 pm The Halflings were all attacking me at once. I feel like Boromir training the Hobbits.

I watch my sister's kids sometimes and can definitely relate lol
Giving them wooden swords didn't help.

The oldest daughter and I did that tonight with wooden swords. I've really learned to appreciate the importance of good hand protection!

I took Kramer's advice and just went back to the books - and ended up getting kind of surprised by all sorts of things I'd not paid attention to before in The Hobbit, and the questions they imply.

Just a few examples -
- "detachable party hoods" ... wait. detachable from what? Do dwarves have formal hoods that button (presumably they have buttons?) to capes or something?
- There are no Heroes to be had, because they're all the south fighting each other. (Who are these heroes? Where do they come from? What's going on in the south that they're all fighting each other?)
- The Tooks are less respectable than the Bagginses, but richer - because they go on adventures. Where do they go? What sorts of treasures are they bringing back? Does this mean there's a full on dungeons-and-dragons-like adventuring scene offscreen?
- inns (in the plural) fall away as the party moves east. And inns imply travel and trade. Which in turn implies Eriador is less empty than I usually picture it. And yet, there's hardly any settlements marked on the map, and we see all of them I think. So what's missing on the map?
- the Necromancer was a much bigger deal than I remembered, known and spoken of as far away as the Shire.

Anyhow, I sort of take everything in the Hobbit with a grain or two of salt, both because as I recall Tolkien himself was always a bit uneasy in how it fit into his world, and also because it's told - especially at the start - in such a fireside-tale manner that there's more than a bit of room to count all sorts of off-hand mentions as storyteller's embellishments.

But very fun things to ponder on, nonetheless!

Elleth wrote: ↑Tue Sep 06, 2022 12:19 pm
- "detachable party hoods" ... wait. detachable from what? Do dwarves have formal hoods that button (presumably they have buttons?) to capes or something?

I actually am attempting this with my latest cloak. There is a rather common 14th c. Short caped hood that is often worn under the cloak. I am doing on of these out of the same material as my newest cloak. Pics should arrive this winter.

neat!! Can't wait to see!

Rise from the grave! I just think its hilarious that nobody spoke of the series after the first few posts. I think that says more about the show than what was actually posted.

Lol Togon I was thinking the same thing the other day

I agree, besides there are more than enough video's by popular YouTubers on the topic

My view at this point is simply, I will continue watching to see what happens, but I have no interest in rewatching episodes. I rewatch everything, the trilogy, the Witcher, movies and tv shows beyond count I will rewatch because it still brings me joy, I have zero interest in rewatching any of the episodes because with the exception of Durins and Elronds banter, nothing really made me smile

I've found this anvil to be an accurate metaphor for the whole show.

Despite being very big, it really has no weight.
Poor representation of the source material.
Meant to be dramatic but actually funny.
Looks like a good place to take a nap.
Has holes where none should be.
Undeveloped character.
Flat and unpolished.