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***Official*** Amazon Rings of Power Thread (1 Viewer)

Psychopav

Psychopav

Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Saw the two hour preview of this series at my local Cinemark tonight. If the first two episodes are any indication, this series is going to be a home run.

It manages to be fresh and new despite feeling like a part of Peter Jackson's LotR world. Sepinwall has a great review that hits all the right notes. Bear McCreary's score was perfect...the Star Wars folks could take some cues from him about building on established motifs imo. The visuals were stunning throughout both episodes. No expense was spared, and it showed in the craftsmanship that showed up on the screen. The practical effects hit home and this did not feel cgi heavy at all. The dialogue was intelligent and flowed well, in stark contrast to the GoT dialogue once they got beyond the source material. Obviously it wasn't on par with Tolkien:s but it never felt cheesy or overly contrived.

All the complaints from some of the fans about women dwarves and black elves and the like were much ado about nothing imo.

What the future of this series brings remains to be seen, but this was a very welcome return to Middle Earth. It felt true to the source and more importantly the epic nature and ethos of Tolkien's vision. Let's hope it stays that way and maintains this level of excellence and class through the next 5 or so seasons.
 
Did anyone else see the previews that were shown in Cinemarks across teh country last night?

It was interesting, theater full of nerds like me. They stopped the showing about 20 minutes into it and turned on the lights so that they could announce that they had security watching with night vision goggles to make sure no one had their phones out.
 
Darn, didn’t know that was a thing with the in theater shows. Wish I had as I definitely would have tried to go. Would love to see this on the big screen.

Very geeked for this, the previews have looked great and I agree the fanboys upset about diverse casting are dumb.
 
With HoTD going strong, this is truly the season of the Geek. I'm dropping every other show so I can stay completely on top of these two.
 
what makes this thread more official than the one we have been using for the last 5ish years? lol ;)

Can't wait to see the first 2 episodes!!
 
NewlyRetired said:
what makes this thread more official than the one we have been using for the last 5ish years? lol ;)

Can't wait to see the first 2 episodes!!
Click to expand...
I thought a fresh start without all the baggage of the rumors, will they won't they ruin Tolkien, etc., would be a good thing. More reacting to what's in front of us than shadow boxing, if you get my drift.
 
Watched on Prime last night. Very well done. I wasn't sure about if for around the first 30 minutes, but by the end of episode 2 it had me hooked.
 
The first two episodes are fantastic. This show looks and sounds great, plus they seem to have nailed most of the cast. I'm pretty slow on the uptake, but I just realized that the guy playing Elrond is the same that played young Ned Stark in Bran's GOT flashbacks. I'm sure I've seen the lady playing Bronwyn somewhere, but I can't place. They keep anywhere near this quality of production/writing/performing up, this is going to be a great ride. I'm all in.

But, boy oh boy, I can already hear book purists screaming. I'm not gonna go there (yet), but there is one huge elephant in the room that I can see hard-core Tolkien fans losing their minds over. There's also another plotline that I'm assuming is a red herring because - if it turns out to be what I think the brain trust is leading us to believe - there will be a Purist mushroom cloud on everyone's horizon.
 
Uruk-Hai said:
The first two episodes are fantastic. This show looks and sounds great, plus they seem to have nailed most of the cast. I'm pretty slow on the uptake, but I just realized that the guy playing Elrond is the same that played young Ned Stark in Bran's GOT flashbacks. I'm sure I've seen the lady playing Bronwyn somewhere, but I can't place. They keep anywhere near this quality of production/writing/performing up, this is going to be a great ride. I'm all in.

But, boy oh boy, I can already hear book purists screaming. I'm not gonna go there (yet), but there is one huge elephant in the room that I can see hard-core Tolkien fans losing their minds over. There's also another plotline that I'm assuming is a red herring because - if it turns out to be what I think the brain trust is leading us to believe - there will be a Purist mushroom cloud on everyone's horizon.
Click to expand...

If you saw the documentary "Going Clear" - that may be where you remember the actress from. She was vetted and groomed by the scientologists as a potential Mrs. Cruise at one time but has since left the cult.

I'm sure this has been discussed extensively, but for movie-only people it might be a bit difficult when Elrond and Isildur eventually hook up but the actor playing Elrond is not the Matrix guy we associate with older Elrond.

Please post your huge elephant and the other plotline in a spoiler tag so we can discuss. I didn't notice anything but am not nailed-on with the source material and had a pretty strong edible buzz while watching last night. Probably need a re-watch.
 
CletiusMaximus said:
Uruk-Hai said:
The first two episodes are fantastic. This show looks and sounds great, plus they seem to have nailed most of the cast. I'm pretty slow on the uptake, but I just realized that the guy playing Elrond is the same that played young Ned Stark in Bran's GOT flashbacks. I'm sure I've seen the lady playing Bronwyn somewhere, but I can't place. They keep anywhere near this quality of production/writing/performing up, this is going to be a great ride. I'm all in.

But, boy oh boy, I can already hear book purists screaming. I'm not gonna go there (yet), but there is one huge elephant in the room that I can see hard-core Tolkien fans losing their minds over. There's also another plotline that I'm assuming is a red herring because - if it turns out to be what I think the brain trust is leading us to believe - there will be a Purist mushroom cloud on everyone's horizon.
Click to expand...

If you saw the documentary "Going Clear" - that may be where you remember the actress from. She was vetted and groomed by the scientologists as a potential Mrs. Cruise at one time but has since left the cult.

I'm sure this has been discussed extensively, but for movie-only people it might be a bit difficult when Elrond and Isildur eventually hook up but the actor playing Elrond is not the Matrix guy we associate with older Elrond.

Please post your huge elephant and the other plotline in a spoiler tag so we can discuss. I didn't notice anything but am not nailed-on with the source material and had a pretty strong edible buzz while watching last night. Probably need a re-watch.
Click to expand...
Tolkien retconned Galadriel's backstory more than any other person in his entire work and they vary wildly, but in every one - at this point in the 2nd Age - she was married to Celeborn and had been for centuries (they had already birthed Elrond's future wife). There ain't no Celeborn here. I don't care, but I can see the storm coming from a big subset of purists

Man, it looks to me like they are setting Meteor Man up to be Gandalf.

I did not see that documentary, so that's not where I know her from. Maybe she just looks like another actress to me. She's rather fetching, that I DO know.
 
Capella said:
Will I enjoy this if I never watched the movies? I know it’s a prequel and all. My LotR experience is falling asleep in the theater during the first one and my GF at the time breaking up with me a few days later because she was such a Tolkien enthusiast.
Click to expand...

If you didn't like the LOTR movies I doubt this will appeal to you. First impression is Amazon is doing a pretty good job but its almost certainly going to be the same style production and very similar story as Jackson's trilogy. Its ages before the LOTR action, but is the same world, some of the same characters, same good v evil plotlines - elves, men, dwarves, orcs, etc.
 
Desert_Power said:
Picked this one up quickly. Pretty funny.
Click to expand...
You have to remember that I killed damn near all my memory cells in the 70s/80s. Anyway, there was some point when he made an expression or something - it was late in the 2nd episode - and my pea brain picked up on it :lol:
 
37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
84% fresh.
IMDB 6.0 (for "the series", but 7.1 ep1 and 6.8 ep2)

Really fanbois? Really?
 
Psychopav said:
37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
84% fresh.
IMDB 6.0 (for "the series", but 7.1 ep1 and 6.8 ep2)

Really fanbois? Really?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don’t even bother with audience scores anymore. Wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of those “reviews” were posted before the actual premiere.
 
Psychopav said:
37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
84% fresh.
IMDB 6.0 (for "the series", but 7.1 ep1 and 6.8 ep2)

Really fanbois? Really?
Click to expand...
0 reason to ever pay attention to an audience score. Surprised any website even does them anymore.
 
CletiusMaximus said:
Capella said:
Will I enjoy this if I never watched the movies? I know it’s a prequel and all. My LotR experience is falling asleep in the theater during the first one and my GF at the time breaking up with me a few days later because she was such a Tolkien enthusiast.
Click to expand...

If you didn't like the LOTR movies I doubt this will appeal to you. First impression is Amazon is doing a pretty good job but its almost certainly going to be the same style production and very similar story as Jackson's trilogy. Its ages before the LOTR action, but is the same world, some of the same characters, same good v evil plotlines - elves, men, dwarves, orcs, etc.
Click to expand...
I’ll give it a shot, mainly because I don’t have to sit in a theater for 3 hours to watch it.
 
saw the two episodes last night, I'm in. as someone who don't read books, the storyline looks intriguing enough. But I have a question regarding some events that already happened, hiding it in as spoiler tag here, would appreciate a yes/no answer if this is in the books or anyone knows more about this.

The whole elves going home scene on the boat... so these are their elite soldiers and they get to go "home." the boat scene i thought was weird until I realized it's some kind of a ritual. Whatever that place was they were suppose to go, in real world terms that looks like these soldiers are sent to die from this world and move on to the next, but the death is really like a heaven for them as far as they know. So, the question is, does the storyline expand on this event more later, or was that all there is? If that is all there is then I can do my own google search and learn more about it rather than ruining it for other here. but if there is more coming potentially in this series because that's a major part of the story, then I'd rather wait and be entertained to learn the events in the story.

tia.
 
Pigskin Fanatic said:
saw the two episodes last night, I'm in. as someone who don't read books, the storyline looks intriguing enough. But I have a question regarding some events that already happened, hiding it in as spoiler tag here, would appreciate a yes/no answer if this is in the books or anyone knows more about this.

The whole elves going home scene on the boat... so these are their elite soldiers and they get to go "home." the boat scene i thought was weird until I realized it's some kind of a ritual. Whatever that place was they were suppose to go, in real world terms that looks like these soldiers are sent to die from this world and move on to the next, but the death is really like a heaven for them as far as they know. So, the question is, does the storyline expand on this event more later, or was that all there is? If that is all there is then I can do my own google search and learn more about it rather than ruining it for other here. but if there is more coming potentially in this series because that's a major part of the story, then I'd rather wait and be entertained to learn the events in the story.

tia.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about your specific question, but the prologue before the first episode starts in Valinor, showing the trees that Morgoth destroyed. There's a lot about it in the books and several places in the LOTR trilogy. Arwyn rejects Valinor in order to become mortal to stay with Aragorn in Middle Earth. They show Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf going, and the story is told that Samwise was also allowed to go there. My understanding is that essentially any elf who serves time in Middle Earth is eventually expected to go to Valinor some day, but some decide to stay like Galadriel.
 
Pigskin Fanatic said:
saw the two episodes last night, I'm in. as someone who don't read books, the storyline looks intriguing enough. But I have a question regarding some events that already happened, hiding it in as spoiler tag here, would appreciate a yes/no answer if this is in the books or anyone knows more about this.

The whole elves going home scene on the boat... so these are their elite soldiers and they get to go "home." the boat scene i thought was weird until I realized it's some kind of a ritual. Whatever that place was they were suppose to go, in real world terms that looks like these soldiers are sent to die from this world and move on to the next, but the death is really like a heaven for them as far as they know. So, the question is, does the storyline expand on this event more later, or was that all there is? If that is all there is then I can do my own google search and learn more about it rather than ruining it for other here. but if there is more coming potentially in this series because that's a major part of the story, then I'd rather wait and be entertained to learn the events in the story.

tia.
Click to expand...
The story should expand on this significantly later.
 
Great so far, very impressive, especially considering how mediocre Wheel Of Time was for Amazon. Hope they keep it up.
 
My thoughts on 2 spoilery items below.

The Stranger: I think he's probably Sauron. I don't see them placing an ishtari here, and think if they had, the fireflies wouldn't have been sacrificed. Have to assume that's a giveaway that the Stranger isn't a force for good.

The shadow at the end of Ep 2, the one who finds Galadriel and Halbrand: could it be a Numenorean?
 
Funny that IMDB has almost 25% rating this as a "1". Even if you deplore everything else about it, production values alone have to push this beyond a 1, don't they?
 
Psychopav said:
My thoughts on 2 spoilery items below.

The Stranger: I think he's probably Sauron. I don't see them placing an ishtari here, and think if they had, the fireflies wouldn't have been sacrificed. Have to assume that's a giveaway that the Stranger isn't a force for good.

The shadow at the end of Ep 2, the one who finds Galadriel and Halbrand: could it be a Numenorean?
Click to expand...
Doesn’t this take place in the 2nd age? If so I think that rules out a few folks unless they are playing around with the timeline
 
Psychopav said:
My thoughts on 2 spoilery items below.

The Stranger: I think he's probably Sauron. I don't see them placing an ishtari here, and think if they had, the fireflies wouldn't have been sacrificed. Have to assume that's a giveaway that the Stranger isn't a force for good.

The shadow at the end of Ep 2, the one who finds Galadriel and Halbrand: could it be a Numenorean?
Click to expand...
my wife asked what was the meteor all about, before we saw the man inside. i said, i don't know, but it ain't good.
 
Psychopav said:
Funny that IMDB has almost 25% rating this as a "1". Even if you deplore everything else about it, production values alone have to push this beyond a 1, don't they?
Click to expand...
Apparently, IMDB got spammed with a ton of 1* reviews. They shut down civilian reviews (at Amazon's request, I think).
 
I'm no Tolkien purist or expert so maybe one of you can tell me. Where the Harfoots Irish and Dwarves Scottish in the books too?
 
Redwes25 said:
Psychopav said:
My thoughts on 2 spoilery items below.

The Stranger: I think he's probably Sauron. I don't see them placing an ishtari here, and think if they had, the fireflies wouldn't have been sacrificed. Have to assume that's a giveaway that the Stranger isn't a force for good.

The shadow at the end of Ep 2, the one who finds Galadriel and Halbrand: could it be a Numenorean?
Click to expand...
Doesn’t this take place in the 2nd age? If so I think that rules out a few folks unless they are playing around with the timeline
Click to expand...

:shrug:
lotr.fandom.com

Blue Wizards

"Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship, to stir up rebellion... and after his first fall to search out his hiding and to cause dissension and disarray among the dark East... They must have had very great influence on the...
lotr.fandom.com lotr.fandom.com
The time that the Blue Wizards arrived in Middle-earth is uncertain. In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien wrote that the five Istari came to Middle-earth together in TA 1000. However, in The Peoples of Middle-earth, they are said to have arrived in the Second Age, around the year SA 1600, the time of the forging of the One Ring.[3] Their mission was directed at weakening Sauron's forces in the eastern and southern parts of Middle-earth, whereas the other Istari were focused on the west.
Click to expand...
 
CletiusMaximus said:

I'm not sure about your specific question, but the prologue before the first episode starts in Valinor, showing the trees that Morgoth destroyed. There's a lot about it in the books and several places in the LOTR trilogy. Arwyn rejects Valinor in order to become mortal to stay with Aragorn in Middle Earth. They show Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf going, and the story is told that Samwise was also allowed to go there. My understanding is that essentially any elf who serves time in Middle Earth is eventually expected to go to Valinor some day, but some decide to stay like Galadriel.
Click to expand...
someone told me this was a scene at the end of The Return of the King so I went back and watched it yesterday. it was such an odd and boring scene at the time, especially for someone like me who don't know the story or the book flow, that I completely missed the point of it. so much lore embedded in these movies, I may have to rewatch them and ask more dumb questions here as this story goes on.
Psychopav said:
The story should expand on this significantly later.
Click to expand...
exactly what I was hoping for.
 
Black dotting this since I missed it earlier.

I like the storyline as I tried years ago to get through Unfinished Tales and just couldn't. Cool to see it take form on the screen. May have to revisit it.
 
CletiusMaximus said:
Psychopav said:
Funny that IMDB has almost 25% rating this as a "1". Even if you deplore everything else about it, production values alone have to push this beyond a 1, don't they?
Click to expand...

Probably the same incels who put together memes like this one --> https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/official-amazon-rings-of-power-thread.805909/post-24168923
Click to expand...
Wow, reading that just hurts to read. Are fanboys and other guys that insecure that they can’t imagine Galadriel as a hero? I disagree with Musk’s tweet but damn there are a lot of white males who are truly pathetic.
 
stbugs said:
CletiusMaximus said:
Psychopav said:
Funny that IMDB has almost 25% rating this as a "1". Even if you deplore everything else about it, production values alone have to push this beyond a 1, don't they?
Click to expand...

Probably the same incels who put together memes like this one --> https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/official-amazon-rings-of-power-thread.805909/post-24168923
Click to expand...
Wow, reading that just hurts to read. Are fanboys and other guys that insecure that they can’t imagine Galadriel as a hero? I disagree with Musk’s tweet but damn there are a lot of white males who are truly pathetic.
Click to expand...
The strange thing is that The Silmarillion original actually DOES portray her as the hero who got her people through some tough ordeals.
 
Maggot Brain said:
stbugs said:
CletiusMaximus said:
Psychopav said:
Funny that IMDB has almost 25% rating this as a "1". Even if you deplore everything else about it, production values alone have to push this beyond a 1, don't they?
Click to expand...

Probably the same incels who put together memes like this one --> https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/official-amazon-rings-of-power-thread.805909/post-24168923
Click to expand...
Wow, reading that just hurts to read. Are fanboys and other guys that insecure that they can’t imagine Galadriel as a hero? I disagree with Musk’s tweet but damn there are a lot of white males who are truly pathetic.
Click to expand...
The strange thing is that The Silmarillion original actually DOES portray her as the hero who got her people through some tough ordeals.
Click to expand...
Just from the LOTR movies, she’s portrayed as a strong leader. Not a stretch to think she learned a few things and is a good fighter.
 
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