Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs
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I'll waste an hour tomorrow and watch it after catching up on "Five Days at Memorial."
Maybe.
@George-K said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
I'll waste an hour tomorrow and watch it after catching up on "Five Days at Memorial."
Maybe.
I recently went down the Witcher rabbithole. There are many annoying aspects to it—the tropey characters are probably the most annoying—but one thing it's got going for it is moral ambiguity. You don't get a whole lot of that in fantasy stories. Kinda refreshing that way.
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I'm not a follower of Tolkien, and I did enjoy the 3 Peter Jackson movies. I haven't seen the two "Hobbit" movies, however.
So, Amazon Studios has released a backstory, set before the LOTR stories...
One review is less than charitable.
Turkey is not the word. No turkey, however bloated and stupid, could ever be big enough to convey the mesmerising awfulness of Amazon's billion dollar Tolkien epic.
This is a disaster dragon – plucked, spatchcocked, with a tankerload of Paxo stuffed up its fundament, roasted and served with soggy sprouts.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (Amazon Prime) is so staggeringly bad, it's hilarious. Everything about it is ill-judged to a spectacular extreme.
The cliche-laden script, the dire acting, the leaden pace, the sheer inconsistency and confusion as it lurches between styles – where do we start?
Review: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is so staggeringly bad, it's hilarious. Everything about it is ill-judged to a spectacular extreme (Galadriel played by Morfydd Clark)
Review: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is so staggeringly bad, it's hilarious. Everything about it is ill-judged to a spectacular extreme (Galadriel played by Morfydd Clark)
Let's start with the budget: a billion dollars. Let that sink in. One thousand million bucks, about £860,000,000, such a colossal investment even for Amazon that industry rumour says the brand is gambling its entire future as a film production company.If this show fails, say insiders, executives could be forced to shut down Amazon Studios.
The book rights alone cost $250 million. And what did Amazon get for that? This is not a remake of Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit. This is a prequel, based on the appendixes – the reams of footnotes dumped by J.R.R. Tolkien at the end of his Rings trilogy, chronicling millennia of turgid historical fantasy. That's right... the unreadable bits.
Whoever thought that was a wise buy must have been smashed out of their minds on miruvor, the elvish liquor.
There's no doubt we can see the budget. It casts a throbbing glow over the screen like a chestful of gold. Ultra-high definition computer graphics paint ivory cities in mountain passes and conjure gigantic monsters in palaces of dark magic.
But magnificent visuals are meaningless if nobody knows who the audience is meant to be. And it's impossible to guess whether The Rings Of Power is meant for children, for hardcore fans or for general viewers – because it fails them all.
@George-K said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
One review is less than charitable.
The show may well be awful, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. It's worth noting however that if you look at Christopher Stevens reviews, he seems to think pretty much everything is awful.
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I just watched the first episode - I thought it was ok. Not great, but nowhere near as bad as this nattering nabob of negativity would have us believe.
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I’ve actually seen some very positive reviews…
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I’ve actually seen some very positive reviews…
@LuFins-Dad said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
I’ve actually seen some very positive reviews…
Yeah, pretty much all the papers like it except the Daily Mail.
And let's be honest, we all know they're a bunch of cunts.
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Okay this was pretty funny:
Amazon's new Rings of Power fanfiction is being somewhat warmly received by critics,
The rest of the article was meh, but that opener had me laughing…
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On IMDB (which Amazon owns) it has a 6.2/10 with 25% of reviews being 1 star.
On Amazon itself, it has…nothing, because Amazon has disabled reviews of the series entirely. Normally when you watch an Amazon show or movie, whether it’s an original or not, it will have user star ratings there. But Rings of Power has zero reviews listed because Amazon didn’t want to be broadcasting its premiere with a low score right next to it, no doubt.
Among the reasons for the negative reviews:
- Some fans are upset Galadriel is now a warrior instead of the sword-free sorceress she was in the LOTR trilogy. In general, the show has let its female characters slay out, including both Bronwyn and Galadriel.
- There have been long, long running controversies about how the show has included black elves, dwarves and humans in this adaptation, as opposed to the overwhelmingly white original trilogy. Complaints are that this clashes with Tolkien’s original work and has led to debates about “whether dwarves can be black because they live underground.”
- I read that the Harfoots having Irish/English country accents have offended some people in that region because they’re depicted as dirty, gypsy types.
- Then just…take your pick of any number of things that die-hard Tolkien devotees see as the show departing from the source material, or skipping over parts that should have been adapted instead. The general idea is that Jackson’s trilogy was faithful to the work while this is not.
Again, I’m not saying any of this is correct, or even the majority opinion of fans, but all of it feeds into the reasons for the flood of low scores for the series. This does seem to be at a level that House of Dragon managed to avoid, even as it faced similar controversies (cast members faced racist abuse for playing black nobles on that show). But we haven’t seen the same level of backlash compared to what’s happening with Rings of Power.
Seems like a lot of the negativity comes from the Tolkien fanbois, and not too much from the folks who just evaluate it as a story/tv series.
I'm not a JRRT fanboi (read half the first book and watched the trilogy - once), so I might give it a chance.
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On IMDB (which Amazon owns) it has a 6.2/10 with 25% of reviews being 1 star.
On Amazon itself, it has…nothing, because Amazon has disabled reviews of the series entirely. Normally when you watch an Amazon show or movie, whether it’s an original or not, it will have user star ratings there. But Rings of Power has zero reviews listed because Amazon didn’t want to be broadcasting its premiere with a low score right next to it, no doubt.
Among the reasons for the negative reviews:
- Some fans are upset Galadriel is now a warrior instead of the sword-free sorceress she was in the LOTR trilogy. In general, the show has let its female characters slay out, including both Bronwyn and Galadriel.
- There have been long, long running controversies about how the show has included black elves, dwarves and humans in this adaptation, as opposed to the overwhelmingly white original trilogy. Complaints are that this clashes with Tolkien’s original work and has led to debates about “whether dwarves can be black because they live underground.”
- I read that the Harfoots having Irish/English country accents have offended some people in that region because they’re depicted as dirty, gypsy types.
- Then just…take your pick of any number of things that die-hard Tolkien devotees see as the show departing from the source material, or skipping over parts that should have been adapted instead. The general idea is that Jackson’s trilogy was faithful to the work while this is not.
Again, I’m not saying any of this is correct, or even the majority opinion of fans, but all of it feeds into the reasons for the flood of low scores for the series. This does seem to be at a level that House of Dragon managed to avoid, even as it faced similar controversies (cast members faced racist abuse for playing black nobles on that show). But we haven’t seen the same level of backlash compared to what’s happening with Rings of Power.
Seems like a lot of the negativity comes from the Tolkien fanbois, and not too much from the folks who just evaluate it as a story/tv series.
I'm not a JRRT fanboi (read half the first book and watched the trilogy - once), so I might give it a chance.
@George-K said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
Seems like a lot of the negativity comes from the Tolkien fanbois, and not too much from the folks who just evaluate it as a story/tv series.
I'm not a JRRT fanboi (read half the first book and watched the trilogy - once), so I might give it a chance.I'm a big LOTR fanboi, but I don't get all psycho about it or anything, and I didn't see anything wrong with the Amazon show. It's a bit slow-moving, half way through the second episode things finally get going a bit.
I did think that making the Elves all speak with English accents, Dwarves with a Scottish brogue and Halflings with Irish was a bit naff.
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@George-K said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
Seems like a lot of the negativity comes from the Tolkien fanbois, and not too much from the folks who just evaluate it as a story/tv series.
I'm not a JRRT fanboi (read half the first book and watched the trilogy - once), so I might give it a chance.I'm a big LOTR fanboi, but I don't get all psycho about it or anything, and I didn't see anything wrong with the Amazon show. It's a bit slow-moving, half way through the second episode things finally get going a bit.
I did think that making the Elves all speak with English accents, Dwarves with a Scottish brogue and Halflings with Irish was a bit naff.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
naff
???
None of your complaints hold a candle to Kevin Costner trying an English accent - for part of the movie.
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I don't need this stuff in a show like this.
When 'wokeness' comes to Middle-earth: Why some say diverse casting ruins the new 'Lord of the Rings' series
Brandon Morse has read J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the "Lord of the Rings" series and watched extended editions of Peter Jackson's ring trilogy so often that "I can almost quote them all line for line."
But Morse is dreading a new addition to the Middle-earth canon that he says "perverts and corrupts" Tolkien's mythical medieval universe because TV showrunners have committed this storytelling crime:
They are trying to "woke-ify" Amazon's new series, "The Lord of the Rings: "The Rings of Power."
Morse is deputy managing editor of RedState, a conservative news site. He says "The Rings of Power" producers have cast non-White actors in a story based on European culture and who look wildly different from how Tolkien originally described them. He says it's an attempt to embed "social justice politics" into Tolkien's world.
"If you focus on introducing modern political sentiments, such as the leftist obsession with identity issues that only go skin deep, then you're no longer focusing on building a good story," says Morse, who wrote an impassioned essay about his misgivings. "You're effectively making propaganda, or art meant to fit a message, not a message to fit the art."
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I don't need this stuff in a show like this.
When 'wokeness' comes to Middle-earth: Why some say diverse casting ruins the new 'Lord of the Rings' series
Brandon Morse has read J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the "Lord of the Rings" series and watched extended editions of Peter Jackson's ring trilogy so often that "I can almost quote them all line for line."
But Morse is dreading a new addition to the Middle-earth canon that he says "perverts and corrupts" Tolkien's mythical medieval universe because TV showrunners have committed this storytelling crime:
They are trying to "woke-ify" Amazon's new series, "The Lord of the Rings: "The Rings of Power."
Morse is deputy managing editor of RedState, a conservative news site. He says "The Rings of Power" producers have cast non-White actors in a story based on European culture and who look wildly different from how Tolkien originally described them. He says it's an attempt to embed "social justice politics" into Tolkien's world.
"If you focus on introducing modern political sentiments, such as the leftist obsession with identity issues that only go skin deep, then you're no longer focusing on building a good story," says Morse, who wrote an impassioned essay about his misgivings. "You're effectively making propaganda, or art meant to fit a message, not a message to fit the art."
@Copper said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
I don't need this stuff in a show like this.
When 'wokeness' comes to Middle-earth: Why some say diverse casting ruins the new 'Lord of the Rings' series
Brandon Morse has read J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the "Lord of the Rings" series and watched extended editions of Peter Jackson's ring trilogy so often that "I can almost quote them all line for line."
But Morse is dreading a new addition to the Middle-earth canon that he says "perverts and corrupts" Tolkien's mythical medieval universe because TV showrunners have committed this storytelling crime:
They are trying to "woke-ify" Amazon's new series, "The Lord of the Rings: "The Rings of Power."
Morse is deputy managing editor of RedState, a conservative news site. He says "The Rings of Power" producers have cast non-White actors in a story based on European culture and who look wildly different from how Tolkien originally described them. He says it's an attempt to embed "social justice politics" into Tolkien's world.
"If you focus on introducing modern political sentiments, such as the leftist obsession with identity issues that only go skin deep, then you're no longer focusing on building a good story," says Morse, who wrote an impassioned essay about his misgivings. "You're effectively making propaganda, or art meant to fit a message, not a message to fit the art."
Basically, he's complaining about them using black actors in a fucking made up world.
What a stupid twat.
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Halfway through the first episode. Not horrible. MUCH better than the Wheel of Time abomination.
If you just accept the fact that it’s mediocre fanfic it’s popcorn worthy.
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Halfway through the first episode. Not horrible. MUCH better than the Wheel of Time abomination.
If you just accept the fact that it’s mediocre fanfic it’s popcorn worthy.
@LuFins-Dad said in Amazon's "Lord of the RIngs:
Halfway through the first episode. Not horrible. MUCH better than the Wheel of Time abomination.
That's true, I will give it that.
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Watched both episodes. I used to be all about TLOTR lore and swore than if anyone made a movie (a real movie) that it had better do this and it had better have that! etc. I have read the books several times.
Now I just don't care. I am enjoying the story and the acting is pretty good IMO.
Watching it on the 4k 82" with 5.1 surround. The room is dark and it's like being in a small theater. I hear that the ATMOS mix is pretty impressive. I need to upgrade! lol
Some pretty good production and effects here. But, in a couple of scenes I could tell I was looking at a green screen.
Watching it with my daughters. They are also enjoying it. I have heard no negatives from either of them. My other daughter might be a different story as she is the Keeper of Lore, in the family.
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Even the pirates don't like it....
With the release of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” and Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” two major fantasy series premiered last month.
The former was an instant success on pirate sites where, in true Game of Thrones spirit, it was leaked before the official premiere.
While both series are hard to compare, the media has pitted them against each other to see which one performs best. Does “The Rings of Power” dwarf “House of the Dragon” or vice versa?
In terms of user ratings, the Game of Thrones prequel wins by a landslide but official viewer statistics are harder to come by. According to Variety, the Dragons now average 29 million viewers per episode. Amazon hasn’t released much data on its billion-dollar production but previously said that the Rings premiere drew a 25 million audience.
Dragon Crushes Rings on Pirate Sites
To add our two cents to this battle, we decided to take a look at how both series are doing on pirate sites. With help from IKnow, we looked at a large sample of millions of global BitTorrent transfers over the past two weeks (7-21 September) which resulted in a clear winner.
“House of the Dragon” takes the crown with more than 1.4 million estimated downloads on peak days. During the two weeks that we collected sample data, the show amassed over 9 million estimated downloads.
The graph above shows that The “Rings of Power” doesn’t even come close with a maximum of roughly 650k estimated downloads. It typically beats the GOT prequel by just a small margin, shortly after a new episode is released. Over the two weeks, this resulted in 5 million downloads.
To give an indication of how popular “House of the Dragon” is, on the day of release the show is good for more than 10% of all movie and TV show downloads. That’s a percentage we haven’t seen for a while.
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Even the pirates don't like it....
With the release of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” and Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” two major fantasy series premiered last month.
The former was an instant success on pirate sites where, in true Game of Thrones spirit, it was leaked before the official premiere.
While both series are hard to compare, the media has pitted them against each other to see which one performs best. Does “The Rings of Power” dwarf “House of the Dragon” or vice versa?
In terms of user ratings, the Game of Thrones prequel wins by a landslide but official viewer statistics are harder to come by. According to Variety, the Dragons now average 29 million viewers per episode. Amazon hasn’t released much data on its billion-dollar production but previously said that the Rings premiere drew a 25 million audience.
Dragon Crushes Rings on Pirate Sites
To add our two cents to this battle, we decided to take a look at how both series are doing on pirate sites. With help from IKnow, we looked at a large sample of millions of global BitTorrent transfers over the past two weeks (7-21 September) which resulted in a clear winner.
“House of the Dragon” takes the crown with more than 1.4 million estimated downloads on peak days. During the two weeks that we collected sample data, the show amassed over 9 million estimated downloads.
The graph above shows that The “Rings of Power” doesn’t even come close with a maximum of roughly 650k estimated downloads. It typically beats the GOT prequel by just a small margin, shortly after a new episode is released. Over the two weeks, this resulted in 5 million downloads.
To give an indication of how popular “House of the Dragon” is, on the day of release the show is good for more than 10% of all movie and TV show downloads. That’s a percentage we haven’t seen for a while.
@George-K GoT has boobies. Never a fare comparison, especially on pirate sites.
