Rings of Power (Amazon's LOTR tv show)

[ray245]

Seen first 2 episodes and like it. I know about the lore and etc, but don't mind the changes done to it.

It felt grand and epic. A good start.

[Solauren]

Sometimes a book (or similiars) lore doesn't translate well to screen, so it needs to be tweaked (shrugs)

[Spice Runner]

Given that they don't have that much source material for what they want to present on streaming (50 hours), I think they are doing great.

Stunning visuals and epic story. Though I do wish Galadriel talked more about the Simarils, the oath of Feanor, and the war of the Simarils which les up to the war of wrath in the prologue, but she covered it well and plus it was very cool to see parts of the epic year of the trees (Valinor and the first age) on screen.

Galadriel's story is interesting. I also like seeing a younger Elrond, Durin and the dwarves in their prime and Cerebrimbor who we all knows what he does.

[Elfdart]

They should have called it "Snored Through the Rings". Aside from the scene with the orc, there were no thrills whatsoever. And the fight scene with the troll was so bad it was unintentionally funny. I almost expected to hear Xena's battle cry:



Come to think of it, maybe they should camp it up, play it for laughs and change the title to...

Galadriel: Warrior Princess!

[ray245]

They should have called it "Snored Through the Rings". Aside from the scene with the orc, there were no thrills whatsoever. And the fight scene with the troll was so bad it was unintentionally funny. I almost expected to hear Xena's battle cry:

Maybe the writers are too invested in telling the lore than the story. I think the big issue is there is no real "narrative" for the second age. No easily followable single narrative.

History at the end of the day, don't translate well into either tv or film.

[KraytKing]

More and more these days, I appreciate turning the great worlds of fiction into settings rather than narratives. They shouldn't try to build an epic save-the-world tale to try and match or top the Lord of the Rings books and films, they just need a compelling tale in that world. If that means the big bad is just some wizard, some wannabe warlord, or even just an orc with an attitude, then so be it: you're still deepening Tolkien's world, and you need not cheapen the obvious centerpiece. Let Sauron be the biggest bad we see, let Melkor be the biggest bad we absolutely NEVER see, and just tell the tale of some other happenings in between them. Let mysteries be mysterious, let superlatives be superior, and just tell your story.

[Lord Revan]

More and more these days, I appreciate turning the great worlds of fiction into settings rather than narratives. They shouldn't try to build an epic save-the-world tale to try and match or top the Lord of the Rings books and films, they just need a compelling tale in that world. If that means the big bad is just some wizard, some wannabe warlord, or even just an orc with an attitude, then so be it: you're still deepening Tolkien's world, and you need not cheapen the obvious centerpiece. Let Sauron be the biggest bad we see, let Melkor be the biggest bad we absolutely NEVER see, and just tell the tale of some other happenings in between them. Let mysteries be mysterious, let superlatives be superior, and just tell your story.

Yeah the problem with a lot of works (bare in mind I've not seen this series in question) is that everything has to be epic and massive, which leads to epic and massive becoming mundane. For something to truly feel epic you need contrast, actual mundane threats for example.

Have the most visible threat be an Orc Warlord having a rampage thru the land, having a weak mundane threat that's still a threat grounds the narrative and thus when narrative goes big it means something and it doesn't just feel a cheap 1-up for the sake looking cool and thus pull you out of the narrative.

[Elfdart]

I'll say this much: This show looks pretty. The establishing shot of not-Atlantis was beautiful. They also have the best depiction of ships at sea since Master & Commander. Jeff Bezos may be the kind of capitalist swine that makes you want to buy stock in guillotine blades, but you can see that he really did spend a hefty sum of the money he hoarded from making his employees piss in bottles instead of taking breaks on what you see on screen.

Oh, and the ferocious poodle warg was goofy as hell and I loved it!

[bilateralrope]

I'm wondering who filled the elf who escaped full of arrows. It can't have been the orks, due to their weakness to sunlight.

[wautd]

It's beautiful but it lacks a soul. I'm not invested nor care a lot about any of the characters (well, the chemistry between Elrond and the dwarves was pretty cool) so it lacks a lot of suspense for me.
When you start a show where your main characters are Elves, who are perfect and are the best at whatever they do, is that it becomes impossible to connect with them. It also doesn't help that you know that Galadriel or Elrond will never be in true danger because you already know they will live for many more centuries to be part of the later stories.
I'm looking forward to see a new House of the Dragon episode every week, but I've put the Rings of Power on the "whenever I feel like and have the time"-list

[Tribble]

It's beautiful but it lacks a soul. I'm not invested nor care a lot about any of the characters (well, the chemistry between Elrond and the dwarves was pretty cool) so it lacks a lot of suspense for me.
When you start a show where your main characters are Elves, who are perfect and are the best at whatever they do, is that it becomes impossible to connect with them. It also doesn't help that you know that Galadriel or Elrond will never be in true danger because you already know they will live for many more centuries to be part of the later stories.
I'm looking forward to see a new House of the Dragon episode every week, but I've put the Rings of Power on the "whenever I feel like and have the time"-list

Although there are plenty of flaws in the series, I never got the impression that "Elves are perfect' is one of them.

Galadriel starts off extremely arrogant and consumed by revenge. She only starts to snap out of it when she was literally about to kill an unarmed prisoner in cold blood and needed to be talked out of it last second.

Miscellaneous Elves in Galadriel's company decide to throw in the towel and head off to Valinor after finally learning that Sauron survived and had set up plans for his return. "Meh, not our problem anymore" is not exactly hero material.

Gil-galad knows Sauron is likely out there yet feels that it's better to do nothing about it, send Galadriel away and hope the evil goes away on its own. When that doesn't work (surprise!) he tries manipulating Elrond and the Dwarves rather than just telling the truth. He also likes being in charge and sees Galadriel and Elrond as rivals / upstarts that need to be put in their place.

Celebrimbor's motivations are just as much about his ego and wanting to upstage Feanor as it is helping stave off the Elves' decline.

Elrond isn't above manipulating his friendship with Durin to suit his own ends.

Arondir seems the nicest and most level-headed of the lot, but we all know he totally would've left already if he weren't so interested in banging Bronwyn.

Miscellaneous Elves in Arondir's company were like "haha Arondir, you can't bang her!" while failing to realize that they weren't main characters in the story and get promptly killed.

Then there's Adar, the Elf corrupted by Morgoth who's leading the band of Orcs and helps set up Mordor.

And of course, the Rings of Power will be made because of the Elves' hubris and desire to have their cake and eat it too. They knew they were in decline and should leave but would rather reign as lords in Middle Earth than be mere citizens in Valinor. Just because the Elves were capable of doing things others can't doesn't mean that they should, and it's going to cost them.

[bilateralrope]

Report: Only 37% Of Viewers Finished Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings TV Show, The Most Expensive In History

The show cost Amazon hundreds of millions of dollars, but hasn’t caught on with viewers
By
Zack Zwiezen
PublishedYesterday

Last year’s massively expensive Lord of the Rings show on Amazon, Rings of Power, had a lot of hype going into it. Yet after Amazon spent over $450 million on the lavish production, a report claims that fewer than half of the viewers who watched the first episode finished the entire series.

Amazon Prime, like basically every other streaming service out there in 2023, is trying desperately to convince millions of people to watch the expensive content it keeps releasing. As competition in the streaming market grows, more content floods services, costs go up and subscription prices follow, it’s becoming harder and harder to get people to sign up or watch anything. And a new report reveals that only 37 percent of viewers who watched one episode of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power—the most expensive series ever—stuck around to watch the rest of it. That’s bad. But even worse when you realize the minimum stat Amazon wants for a show of that size is closer to 50 percent.

A report out April 3 from The Hollywood Reporter makes it clear that Amazon Prime’s TV and movies studio is a giant, expensive mess. The report claims that Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke is quick to make big deals with big names in an effort to build up Amazon’s talent pool. But many of these shows fail to deliver, like the $140 million Daisy Jones & The Six series. While it charted well, insiders told HR that it failed to be the “breakout hit” they wanted and its high price tag compared poorly to cheaper shows from Amazon and others that did better. Meanwhile, the report claims Salke chases after trends and Amazon is hungry for more “safe hits” like Jack Reacher.

“They don’t learn from their mistakes,” said one source, a showrunner who has experience working with the company. “[Amazon Studios execs go], ‘We can’t do any more deals like that.’ You turn around and they’re right back to—the impolite term is ‘star-fucking.’”

Amazon relies too much on data, frustrating creators

Another nasty story from the report claims Amazon Studios relies too heavily on data and focus groups, leading to productions that focused on women or contained LGBTQ themes being put on the backburner. An example cited in the report is A League of Their Own, which struggled to get a season two and when it did, was only four episodes long.

“All this perpetuation of white guys with guns—it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said one Amazon Studios vet. Another added: “Relying on data is soul crushing … There’s never, ‘I know the testing wasn’t that great, but I believe in this.’”

But as Amazon productions underperform, shows like HBO’s The Last of Us have seen their audiences grow with each episode. And Netflix still dominates the streaming charts, with The Hollywood Reporter pointing out Nielsen data from 2022 showed that all of the top 10 shows were from Netflix. The Boys, an adult superhero show on Amazon Prime, came in at 11th place. And the most expensive show ever made, Amazon’s answer to Game of Thrones? Number 15.

The report further claims that people who have worked or currently work at Amazon Studios describe it as a confusing and frustrating place to work. A lot of this sounds eerily similar to what was reported by Bloomberg in 2021 about the mess that is Amazon Game Studios, with details like execs cutting big deals, spending tons of money on big names or big bets, ignoring the people who know better, and then cutting costs when shows flop or don’t blow up right away.

While Amazon has a few shows and games that have now done well, it does seem like the company is burning a lot of money to keep coming up short compared to industry leaders like Valve, Netflix, Disney, and Epic. But who knows, maybe another $30 billion will help!

I'm one of those people who stopped watching mid-season. Something made me miss an episode and I never got round to catching back up.

[Solauren]

Having watched it, I can see why people might not finish it.

While good, it's a slow as hell burn. Now, I get WHY it's that slow, but not everyone would want to go back to it week after week.

Now, as a 'I've got a day - binge it' it's the right pace.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I only just finished watching it, it doesn't help that each episode is as long as half an LOTR movie. When it came to the Harfoots, it wasn't long before I was uttering the Eight Deadly Words!