House of Dragons vs. Rings of Power (and a touch of Wheel of Time)

[Mercurius]

I was fine with WoT until I hears about the budget. I was like “ok a fun generic little fantasy show, cool”.

But for the cost of that show…I mean where does the money go? The effects look cheap, the costumes cheap. Almost all of the actors are no names, they can’t cost that much. For a low budget show, I was like this is great. But for the millions of dollars spent…no it looks cheap and bland

The rumor is that there were production issues due to Covid - they had to rush things more than they normally would have. This seems backed up by the uneven CGI (and the now infamous Trollocs in the last episode, which look like a video game from 20 years ago).

I don't know if I agree that the costumes look cheap as much as they look too...costumey, meaning not like real clothes people would wear, but clothes clearly made to look fantasy-ish. RoP has this issue as well.

Anyhow, as I said in the OP, I'm giving WoT the benefit of the doubt. I don't think it will ever be a great show, but there's enough potential there that it can become pretty good...if they address the issues revealed by the 1st season.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That is a salient point - the budgets for these shows are massive:

Rings of Power: $750 million - $1 billion
House of the Dragon: $200 million
Wheel of Time: $80 million

For comparison, Game of Thrones had a budget for season 1 of $6 million, with the final season rising to a budget of $15 million. $50-60 million.

But for the cost of that show…I mean where does the money go? The effects look cheap, the costumes cheap. Almost all of the actors are no names, they can’t cost that much. For a low budget show, I was like this is great. But for the millions of dollars spent…no it looks cheap and bland

 

[Sepulchrave II]

For comparison, Game of Thrones had a budget for season 1 of $6 million, with the final season rising to a budget of $15 million.

Per episode. GoT cost around 100m per season, on average. Given that Amazon had to pay - what, 250m? - just for the rights, the shows are in the same ballpark.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

You are absolutely right - I was too quick in my Googling. I have corrected my post with a more accurate number.

Per episode. GoT cost around 100m per season, on average. Given that Amazon had to pay - what, 250m? - just for the rights, the shows are in the same ballpark.

 

[payn]

Looks like HotD is picking up steam, and RoP losing it.

 

[Mercurius]

From another thread....

I’m not saying it’s a horrible show but does it really have the spirit of Tolkien.
-we now have a new mysterious race of being hunting down a stranger who unlike gandolf (when he came back grey/white) can’t talk and is using powers not seen on the Tolkien universe or mentioned
-mithril might now be basically medicine for elves . Never mentioned before and Gillis reaction to it made it sound like he had never seen it never mind nobody saying hey remember when the elves lied/told the truth about a miracle cure
-we have an evil elf. There is no recognition from another elf on who he could be

It almost feels like a property that’s gone public so they can call it lotr but would the original author approve? If they walked into
A coffee shop and we were talking would they even recognize what we were talking about

I do agree with you - that it is lacking the "spirit of Tolkien" to a degree that I personally find prohibitive to my enjoyment - and this seems to be a common sentiment among Tolkien diehards.

Meaning, I think there is a strong correlation between serious Tolkien fans (of the books, especially the "legendarium") and dislike of the show.

That said, another sentiment that I've heard others voice, and that I've voiced before: If it was well-made fan fiction and a strong divergence from Tolkien, I'd have less of an issue with it if it was a good show - that is, if it had strong characterization, dialogue, and plotting. But it doesn't (imo) - in fact, it is markedly poor.

There's no accounting for taste and all that, but I have a hard time understanding why some seem to think that the acting is anything more than mediocre, or the plotting and dialogue is at all good. But for me the biggest problems are the mockery they're making out of some key Tolkien ideas (namely elves), and the very shallow, one-dimensional characterization (e.g. Galadriel).

 

[Dausuul]

That said, another sentiment that I've heard others voice, and that I've voiced before: If it was well-made fan fiction and a strong divergence from Tolkien, I'd have less of an issue with it if it was a good show - that is, if it had strong characterization, dialogue, and plotting. But it doesn't (imo) - in fact, it is markedly poor.

This, exactly.

I can tell you almost scene by scene where the Peter Jackson movies diverged from the books -- and there were a lot of divergences. But I love the movies on their own merits. In fact, there are things I think the movie did better than the books (especially Boromir, who is much more sympathetic in the movies, and his death hits a lot harder as a result).

I was ready for the show to take plenty of liberties. I expected that. But I didn't expect it to be so... amateurish. How the hell do you spend half a billion dollars on a show and end up with something that feels so thrown-together and sloppy?

 

[Mercurius]

I was ready for the show to take plenty of liberties. I expected that. But I didn't expect it to be so... CWish.

This, but with a slight alteration

 

[Zardnaar]

This, exactly.

I can tell you almost scene by scene where the Peter Jackson movies diverged from the books -- and there were a lot of divergences. But I love the movies on their own merits. In fact, there are things I think the movie did better than the books (especially Boromir, who is much more sympathetic in the movies, and his death hits a lot harder as a result).

I was ready for the show to take plenty of liberties. I expected that. But I didn't expect it to be so... amateurish. How the hell do you spend half a billion dollars on a show and end up with something that feels so thrown-together and sloppy?

1. Look how pretty it is. Look at the pretty lights.

2. Eat jellybeans.

They're gonna have to come up with a good explaination how Galadriel survives.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well I think this week's RoP was about as good as a typical HotD episode. Well done both shows.