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[balls of snow]

Both Jeremy Jahns ans Dan Murrell disliked the show. Those are the only 2 critics I am subscribed to. I need to see what the nerdrotic review is.

Nerdotic has a 6 hours extravaganza discussion. Gonna listen to it on my flight tomorrow.
Supposedly the main dude has sources that leaked most of the show. They are spot on for the first two ep since I started listening to them last month. The one big spoiler I heard on the show will send the fandom into star wars mode though if it pans out to be real.
The thumbnails are a real turn off though.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

The one big spoiler I heard on the show will send the fandom into star wars mode though if it pans out to be real.

aww shit

 

[StealthGoblin]

Watched both episodes more than once and I still feel this is pretty dull. I feel the same way about House of Dragon. Two huge misses for me so far.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Watched both episodes more than once and I still feel this is pretty dull. I feel the same way about House of Dragon. Two huge misses for me so far.

i've watched both episodes 4 times now. i don't think that's something i've ever done. i can't get enough of it and patiently waiting for episode 3. i'm enjoying HOTD too but i haven't felt the need to rewatch them.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Finally watched both episodes and I'm completely hooked. I think this is perfectly in-line with the original trilogy movies in quality. It has some weak writing here and there because it is just going by the outlines of the story since Tolkien didn't really have much detail, and a lot of this is completely made up entirely, but it doesn't seem to violate the overall story points of Tokien's work so whatever. I really liked the Elrond vs Durin rock smashing contest haha, that was super charming.

My fears have been completely removed. They did not completely re-write every single thing like in Wheel of Time and this isn't some grimdark version of Tolkien with nudity and swearing, so I'm very happy with things so far.

 

[Lord Panda]

You know, I'm a diehard Tolkien fan that eventually grew to love the movies for what they are. I was also skeptical of this show (moreso even) … and it's not as bad as I thought it would be so far.

I mean sure, the dialogue is serviceable I guess, the constant switching of perspectives is a bit much, and everything kinda feels rushed, but it's an enjoyable romp and it's obvious that they put a lot of effort into the visuals and design.

The casting of the Elves are great, though I wished they better explained to the casual viewer how and why the Elves from Valinor are so damn powerful. The book reader will understand it's because these Elves have been roiding up simply by being in Valinor and sunbathing beneath the Two Trees; whereas the casual RoP viewer might wonder why none of the elves were killed or seriously injured after being fucked up by the snow troll.

I also don't understand why some elves look freaking old as fuck, and others look like teenagers. Take Galadriel and Celebrimbor for example: they were born sometime in the Year of the Trees, with the latter being the grandson of Feanor. They are first cousins but Celebrimbor looks old enough to be her father. I'll also point out that Galadriel was Feanor's niece, and she told him to fuck off when he asked for strands of her hair because he saw in them the light of the Two Trees. Anyway I digress.

Speaking of Valinor: I absolutely adored the sequence where Galadriel and the elves are about to enter Valinor and how they are bathed in light and music. That was wonderful and one of the shows highlights for me so far. They knocked that goddamn sequence out of the park.

I'm not onboard with how they've depicted Galadriel (Morfydd is goddamn fiiiiine though), but it's still early days.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Finally watched both episodes and I'm completely hooked. I think this is perfectly in-line with the original trilogy movies in quality. It has some weak writing here and there because it is just going by the outlines of the story since Tolkien didn't really have much detail, and a lot of this is completely made up entirely, but it doesn't seem to violate the overall story points of Tokien's work so whatever. I really liked the Elrond vs Durin rock smashing contest haha, that was super charming.

My fears have been completely removed. They did not completely re-write every single thing like in Wheel of Time and this isn't some grimdark version of Tolkien with nudity and swearing, so I'm very happy with things so far.

i remember watching Wheel of Time and that put the fear in me that they'd treat LOTR the same way. Almost straight away with ROP i was sold. It's not perfect but it's really good i think.

we should keep in mind that between episode 2 and 3 production was halted (mostly due to covid) for about 4-5 months. it's said that they took the time to go back over episodes 1 and 2 to see what could be improved. so i'm hoping that it gets even better with episode 3 and onwards...not that i thought 1 + 2 were bad. i think the haters have their work cut out for them now if this is true!

 

[Kev Kev]

Speaking of Valinor: I absolutely adored the sequence where Galadriel and the elves are about to enter Valinor and how they are bathed in light and music. That was wonderful and one of the shows highlights for me so far.

Agreed. I was getting chills during that scene. The song that started playin reminded of the first few pages of the Silmarillion where Tolkien is describing some kind of eternal song or music being sung/played. It also made me think of the scene where Gandalf is explaining to Pippin what happens when you pass on the to the next life.

---

There are so many things they are doing right with the show, and that was certainly one of them.

My biggest complaints so far is how much they are jumping around the world and how it seems like they are still meandering a bit with where some of the storylines are headed. Also, the scene where Galadriel kills the snow-troll was a bit overly flashy, but that stuff only bothers me slightly. I'm sure many people will latch on to that and say "See, see, they are pissing on Tolkien's legacy with flashy choreography" but it really isn't a big deal. It's a fantasy show in a fantasy setting, and Elves were always supposed to be agile, nimble and bad ass.

I really love the Harfoot storyline too. That little girl Harfoot and her friend are cute and funny, and there are so many parallels between them two and Sam/Frodo. People saying the show has no heart is mind boggling to me.

Oh and did we see some Ents in one scene!? Maybe we will see a young Treebeard at some point! Or just any tree Ent action will be fine by me, honestly.

Can't wait for the next episode

 

[Lord Panda]

My biggest complaints so far is how much they are jumping around the world and how it seems like they are still meandering a bit with where some of the storylines are headed. Also, the scene where Galadriel kills the snow-troll was a bit overly flashy, but that stuff only bothers me slightly. I'm sure many people will latch on to that and say "See, see, they are pissing on Tolkien's legacy with flashy choreography" but it really isn't a big deal. It's a fantasy show in a fantasy setting, and Elves were always supposed to be agile, nimble and bad ass.

I really love the Harfoot storyline too. That little girl Harfoot and her friend are cute and funny, and there are so many parallels between them two and Sam/Frodo. People saying the show has no heart is mind boggling to me.

100% agree with the perspective switching. I felt that there were instances were we've barely had a chance to settle into the scene, and suddenly we've switched to a different location. And then after a quick conversation, we've switched back.

Regarding Galadriel: I don't mind Galadriel being flashy in combat per say, but I expect all of those Elves to be at varying degrees of badass as well. Most of those Elves are from Valinor (I think), so they should all be wrecking shit up and Legolas'ing the crap out of everything. I personally wish there was more consistency and attention to detail with stuff like that.

I didn't expect to like halfling storyline but yeah they're all pretty endearing. Introducing the Stranger among them was a smart move too. Nori cleans up pretty well in real-life (and an Aussie too) as well:

Spoiler

I forgot to mention the other highlight of the show: Khazad-dûm and the Dwarves. So great.

 

[Neolombax]

I was bracing myself for the worst, but i found myself quite liking it honestly. I dont really get the woke messages (if any?) maybe im just too dumb to read between the lines or just couldnt be bothered. I like the art direction theyre going with this show, its a visual feast thus far. Plot is intruiging enough for me to continue watching.

 

[ManaByte]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...rong-tolkiens-galadriel-was-always-a-warrior/

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

I was bracing myself for the worst, but i found myself quite liking it honestly. I dont really get the woke messages (if any?) maybe im just too dumb to read between the lines or just couldnt be bothered. I like the art direction theyre going with this show, its a visual feast thus far. Plot is intruiging enough for me to continue watching.

it's so obvious! there are black hobbits and a black elf! Tolkien and Jackson never mentioned or showed minorities. only white men. Amazon has taken the woke approach. How dare hobbits be black and elves can only be white!

/s (because it really is needed)

 

[jason10mm]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...rong-tolkiens-galadriel-was-always-a-warrior/

I feel like trying to take literal interpretations of "fought" meaning she MUST have been swinging swords at heads just means that the word "rape" means dudes were sexually assaulting boats.

Quoted from that article:
"Even after the merciless assault upon the Teleri and the rape of their ships, though she fought fiercely against Feanor in defence of her mother's kin, she did not turn back. Her pride was unwilling to return, a defeated suppliant for pardon; but now she burned with desire to follow Feanor with her anger to whatever lands he might come, and to thwart him in all ways that she could."

I agree that it is a largely silly argument about her combat prowess as I imagine even the weakest elf was fairly capable of fighting other beings, but there is an odd trend to define a female as "a BADASS fighter!" as if punching and kicking were the ONLY ways a woman character could have value anymore. I'm curious how many MALE characters get a description like "strong in battle, renowned for slaying trolls, wielder of the elven blade Sleajdngnyittjndd" or the like versus somewhat more abstract comments of "fought" like the quote above, that might be more revealing as to her actual contributions in conflict.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

hold up...the scenes with the woman and the solider elf were set in MORDOR or what would eventually be mordor? like...that little village is meant to be near Minas Morgul??

damn, that's crazy. time for ANOTHER REWATCH of both episodes

 

[Bragr]

I think this is perfectly in-line with the original trilogy movies in quality.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

you could argue it's higher quality than the movies. at least from the visuals. i love those movies but they are dated looking now.

story wise, it's still really to be seen. don't get ahead of yourself.

 

[Kimahri]

it's so obvious! there are black hobbits and a black elf! Tolkien and Jackson never mentioned or showed minorities. only white men. Amazon has taken the woke approach. How dare hobbits be black and elves can only be white!

/s (because it really is needed)

You really fundamentally misunderstand the criticism.

People react to there being ethnic diversity in this the same way you'd probably react if white and black people played natives in a movie about the Lakota.

It's the inconsistency of it that bugs me. We have a small community of hobbits, but they're very diverse. We have a white girl with white dad and black mum. It goes on. Small communities that by any logic would be pretty homogenous are vey mixed, but interestingly enough it only matters as long as you add black people. There are no asians, for example.

It's just lazy work. It'd be far more interesting and compelling if they'd thought consciously about it, and for example made all the elves dark, like I mentioned in a previous post.

Keep in mind that this isn't modern time with simple and easy travel where peoples of all ethnicities and races could easily mix and mingle.

And this is what a lot of people have a problem with. Tolkien was one of the greatest and most meticulous world builders to ever live, but the show runners don't give their world building even a fraction of the attention that he did.

 

[Bragr]

(because it really is needed)

What is needed?

 

[Tams]

Okay, I admit I gave it a watch.

It's nothing special and bloody hell do they overdo the music. "You're too much of a dumbo, so here's some music to tell you how to feel." The social justice nonsense is there, but not pumped up like their promos suggested. It's still not inline with the lore though and all because they want to project the modern world on a fantasy one, but eh, whatever, for now. How they switch between scenes is often poorly timed too, and they could do with fewer monologues. The exposition is a bit ham-fisted at times too - though I can understand why they thought they had to do that.

The snow troll scene was silly. I get that Galadriel is supposed to be more powerful in it this take, but having the other elves just be smashed about the place helplessly was too much.

In comparison to House of the Dragon nothing has really happened and there's no real intrigue. Not that that show is really much better. They are both very clearly TV shows.

 

[Bragr]

you could argue it's higher quality than the movies. at least from the visuals. i love those movies but they are dated looking now.

story wise, it's still really to be seen. don't get ahead of yourself.

Did you just say the old movies are dated because the new show has better visuals? do you think the Godfather is dated because it's not filmed in 4K too?

 

[Tams]

Did you just say the old movies are dated because the new show has better visuals? do you think the Godfather is dated because it's not filmed in 4K too?

Be gentle. By their comments here, they're clearly already a big fan of this show.

I don't think the films have really aged at all, and this shows aren't really any better or worse. Well, unless you consider more bloom = better.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Ned Stark is Elrond.

 

[Tomeru]

Be gentle. By their comments here, they're clearly already a big fan of this show.

I don't think the films have really aged at all, and this shows aren't really any better or worse. Well, unless you consider more bloom = better.

Well the show does look better than the movies. Visually speaking at least. I love the story more so far. Never liked the main characters of the trilogy. Im sure you are familiar with all the memes.

I forgot to mention the other highlight of the show: Khazad-dûm and the Dwarves. So great.

Gave me Dragon Age vibes all over. Was beautiful.

 

[Kraz]

hold up...the scenes with the woman and the solider elf were set in MORDOR or what would eventually be mordor? like...that little village is meant to be near Minas Morgul??

damn, that's crazy. time for ANOTHER REWATCH of both episodes

Snatched a map from reddit.

Although a little inaccurate according to comments, looking at the map like this instead of from memory as it rolled over in scene is much clearer.

 

[partime]

When do new episodes come out?

 

[Oberstein]

Ned Stark is Elrond.

When we saw him in the first promo pictures, I immediately thought the worst, but honestly the actor is fine and does a good job.

He is not Hugo Weaving, but he brings something fresh and new to the character.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Unlikely as it's too early for him. He didn't arrive in ME until the third age. Likely it's one of the blue wizards as they arrived around the time Sauron made the One Ring and they helped defeat him.

He arrived on the ships passing through Grey Havens where he received one of the Three (which are not forged yet).

My guess is one of the blue wizards as well.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

He is not Hugo Weaving, but he brings something fresh and new to the character.

He seems way more brash, whereas Weaving's Elrond had a few millennia of extra time and give the wisest image much more. So far a good casting.

 

[Kev Kev]

 

[Come On Tars]

First episode was boring trash. Looks like a poor imitation of the Hobbit let alone LOTR. Why do the elves have short hair? So the black one doesn't stick out like a sore thumb as much? Seeing an elf with a fade takes me out just thinking of hair clippers in middle earth.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

He is not Annatar, jeez.

 

[Konnor]

Well the show does look better than the movies. Visually speaking at least. I love the story more so far. Never liked the main characters of the trilogy. Im sure you are familiar with all the memes.

The CGI look obviously better but everything else, from the art to the costumes and the setpieces all look better in the original trilogy and since it didn't rely that much on CGI it looks far better overall. The show looks better than The Hobbit trilogy though because it was filled to the brim with ugly as fuck, unrealistic CGI.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

You really fundamentally misunderstand the criticism.

People react to there being ethnic diversity in this the same way you'd probably react if white and black people played natives in a movie about the Lakota.

It's the inconsistency of it that bugs me. We have a small community of hobbits, but they're very diverse. We have a white girl with white dad and black mum. It goes on. Small communities that by any logic would be pretty homogenous are vey mixed, but interestingly enough it only matters as long as you add black people. There are no asians, for example.

It's just lazy work. It'd be far more interesting and compelling if they'd thought consciously about it, and for example made all the elves dark, like I mentioned in a previous post.

Keep in mind that this isn't modern time with simple and easy travel where peoples of all ethnicities and races could easily mix and mingle.

And this is what a lot of people have a problem with. Tolkien was one of the greatest and most meticulous world builders to ever live, but the show runners don't give their world building even a fraction of the attention that he did.

lol you thought i was being serious.

What is needed?

i thought i was making it obvious i was joking/being sarcastic. /s was needed because look at K Kimahri reply. obviously it didnt work.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Snatched a map from reddit.

Although a little inaccurate according to comments, looking at the map like this instead of from memory as it rolled over in scene is much clearer.

thats the map i saw that made me realise lol.

Did you just say the old movies are dated because the new show has better visuals? do you think the Godfather is dated because it's not filmed in 4K too?

i said the show has higher quality visuals than the movies which look dated in comparison.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

So I watched the 2 episodes and as expected, it's not good. As a Tolkien fan, this show is bad. To my wife who doesn't know the lore, the show is just average, mediocre.

The writing in this show is so bad. I don't know how you watch this and think that this is good. And I'm not talking about how a travesty of Tolkien's work it is. It's even worse when you consider the budget. I guess it all went to the special effects department instead of the writers. The biggest crime is how boring it all is. Just plain dull.

I give it a 3/10 so far.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

He seems way more brash, whereas Weaving's Elrond had a few millennia of extra time and give the wisest image much more. So far a good casting.

Elrond is the only elf apart from Celebrimbor in the show that shows any range of facial expression.

I guess also this is a like a multiverse - different universe from Tolkien's world.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

So I watched the 2 episodes and as expected, it's not good. As a Tolkien fan, this show is bad. To my wife who doesn't know the lore, the show is just average, mediocre.

The writing in this show is so bad. I don't know how you watch this and think that this is good. And I'm not talking about how a travesty of Tolkien's work it is. It's even worse when you consider the budget. I guess it all went to the special effects department instead of the writers. The biggest crime is how boring it all is. Just plain dull.

I give it a 3/10 so far.

3/10 so far?

you shouldnt bother wasting your time watching episode 3 of this bad dull boring show.

 

[Konnor]

So I watched the 2 episodes and as expected, it's not good. As a Tolkien fan, this show is bad. To my wife who doesn't know the lore, the show is just average, mediocre.

The writing in this show is so bad. I don't know how you watch this and think that this is good. And I'm not talking about how a travesty of Tolkien's work it is. It's even worse when you consider the budget. I guess it all went to the special effects department instead of the writers. The biggest crime is how boring it all is. Just plain dull.

I give it a 3/10 so far.

You are correct, the creator of this show hasn't done anything else, literally nothing, you can check his imdb page. They found someone who probably had connections and is a yes man and just gave him control of the most expensive show ever. Hollywood is a joke.

 

[Kimahri]

lol you thought i was being serious.


i thought i was making it obvious i was joking/being sarcastic. /s was needed because look at K Kimahri reply. obviously it didnt work.

So if you're not mocking the people you think are racist, what are you doing?

 

[Bragr]

lol you thought i was being serious.


i thought i was making it obvious i was joking/being sarcastic. /s was needed because look at K Kimahri reply. obviously it didnt work.

That's because you wrote "because it is needed" after the sarcasm, so it looked like you made an argument that it was needed in some weird way.

 

[Kraz]

thats the map i saw that made me realise lol.

First impression from looking at the map was the Hobbits are on Mordor's doorstep. After "Pick up those feet!" opened a few options for the Stranger like pointing the Hobbits towards those stars at the Gap of Rohan so he can go with some Men.

So much theorizing.

 

[Pidull]

GB 2016 heralded the start of the culture wars in movie fandom, around when everything stopped being fun online. There was an enormous gaf thread about it, with battle lines drawn up around a correct and incorrect position re: thinking the trailer looked good or not. Some of the cast did interviews talking about how only basement-dwelling incels were against the film, Milo Y. attacked Leslie Jones and got banned from Twitter, etc. etc. It became a huge clusterfuck and led to people taking extreme positions for or against it to signal their tribal affiliation.

My favorite part was when I logged into my Movies Anywhere account and GB2016 decided it was going to infect my digital collection like spyware.

For years my collection was Disney/Pixar movies for my kids, Marvel movies for me... And GB2016.

 

[FunkMiller]

Snatched a map from reddit.


Although a little inaccurate according to comments, looking at the map like this instead of from memory as it rolled over in scene is much clearer.

The swooping map stuff is terrible. Just show us the damn thing properly.

I had to explain to the missus where everything was happening. They really should make it much clearer that the southlands are actually what will become Mordor. Makes the whole business of the taint of Sauron already spreading hit a bit harder.

 

[Represent.]

Just finished the first 2 episodes. As someone who has typically hated fantasy settings (never watched LOTR, not a single episode of GOT, none of that hobbit shit either) I was drawn in by the fucking insane production values.

I had to watch the first episode twice to understand wtf was going on, but now im liking it quite a bit. Could be a little darker but I get that its not going for that tone. Cool.

Pleasantly surprised and looking forward to episode 3.

Also this shit looks batshit insane on my C1, and looks like Amazon got Dolby support just for this show

Im expecting some ridiculously epic set pieces in the later episodes.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

.They really should make it much clearer that the southlands are actually what will become Mordor. Makes the whole business of the taint of Sauron already spreading hit a bit harder.

They are not, you can see in one of the map shots Mordor + Orodruin, the south lands are just a little bit north. They will become Dagorlad.

 

[Kraz]

...too greedily and too deep...

Spoiler: What's in the case?

 

[FunkMiller]

...too greedily and too deep...

Spoiler: What's in the case?

I thought it might be a silmaril, given how they talked about them at the start of the episode, but you're more likely right.

 

[sinnergy]

I liked it , as a not that big of a Tolkien fan. It's a great production. So much negativity in this thread .. you know what's bad, the last mortal kombat movie , that real live Dead or Alive movie , Dragon Ball evolution The last Air bender movie .. this show actually is decent .

 

[reksveks]

First two episodes have been pretty good. Loving me some Sir Lenny Henry.

Really deserves to be watched in DV.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You are correct, the creator of this show hasn't done anything else, literally nothing, you can check his imdb page. They found someone who probably had connections and is a yes man and just gave him control of the most expensive show ever. Hollywood is a joke.

Huh? You think that "director" has any real control? He's just a name in the credits. The real control is elsewhere. You should find the list of nobodies they have hired for the 47 Marvel movies that have been made. Occasionally you get someone like Sam Raimi and the movie is actually good but most of the time it's the same identical assembly line factory assembled mediocre junk and the director's job is just to sit in the chair and watch the 47th film be assembled using the same formula as the other 46.

The bad James Bond movies in the Pierce Brosnan years also had the problem of hiring a nobody to be "director" because the real people in charge were not them.