Rings of Power -- all opinions and spoilers welcome thread.

[Henadic Theologian]

We must have watched different shows. It looked to me like the budget was all up on the screen.

And Amazon wouldn't have commissioned a D&D show as a flagship project in the first place.

Of course they would, everyone has heard of D&D. Even more so after Honor Among Thieves makes a ton of money.

Honor's trailer had a over 100 million views in 48 hours, RoP had what 25 million tune into the pilot, after which it dropped hard.

 

[Parmandur]

That would be my only real problem with the show (most of which I really enjoyed) - I just don't see Galadriel as the same character. Don't get me wrong, I like this Galadriel well enough (and quite enjoy Morfydd Clark's performance) and I can absolutely watch and enjoy the show anyhow. BUT - I just don't see her as the same person at all.

I did think of one solution to this though - it's not her aging a few more thousand years - it's that she doesn't appear to have much in the way of psychic powers yet. I can see her personality changing quite drastically if something (like say, her ring) unlocks her psychic prowess. THEN she could easily develop the calm stillness she shows in LotR.

Anyone more hip to the lore than me (say, @Maxperson ) know when/how she became a powerful psychic (she's downright clairvoyant, as well as telepathic, right?)

For a guy that used to be able to fluently write in Tolkien Dwarvish (like runes on the cover of the Hobbit) and Tolkien Goblin (from the Father Christmas Letters) and a tiny bit in Elven (just the letters, not the language) - I'm not much of a Tolkien buff, perhaps surprisingly. I've forgotten most of all of that, along with what I remember of any of the books.

It really is a divergent characterization, though it's actually surprising listening to the writers themselves talk about where they got it from in the original text (Galadriel has a nickname that means "Man-Maiden" as in masculine, for instance). But what matters to me is the shows internal integrity. The creators made it clear from early on that this is an original riff, so I went in willing to allow their take to stand on it own or not. And on that basis...the character works fantastically while still tying intonthe film and book depictions way better than I thought they would.

 

[Parmandur]

It shouldn't have gotten a billion dollar budget period, no way is it going to earn enough back that kind of money, even if it was more popular then it is. Honestly given DDHAT looks better then RoP from trailers and clips I've seen, I'm left wondering if embezzlement was occurring during RoP. That budget was just straight up irresponsible.

And it'd still be the Flagship show if it was set in a D&D setting, whose would displace it as the Flagship show on Amazon?

Keeping mind thst Rings of Powers has the same runtime as Jackson's LotR trilogy in theatrical release. It sounds like you havenwatched the show, because the budget is very apparent on screen, they spent their money well.

I can get people not vibing with the show, but the complaints thst it looks cheap are...super weird. That's just clearly not the case.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Keeping mind thst Rings of Powers has the same runtime as Jackson's LotR trilogy in theatrical release. It sounds like you havenwatched the show, because the budget is very apparent on screen, they spent their money well.

I can get people not vibing with the show, but the complaints thst it looks cheap are...super weird. That's just clearly not the case.

Some of that is second hand and some from clips and pics (like the rings don't look good to me).

 

[wicked cool]

Show is a mixed bag for me

Good -the scenery

Average-the acting. I’ve argued that acting is better on similar shows but I’d also like to argue that there is better acting on Amazon prime shows . Antony Star as homelander Carrie’s the boys and is a presence whenever he’s on screen. There is nobody on this show that is compelling . Robert aramayo and morfydd do a decent job but at times the acting is horrendous. Gabriel has become in many ways an unlikeable character. The harfoots at time are pure psychopaths but then become good . Zero emotion when a character died and I would argue zero emotion from the audience. That’s poor acting
Director/storyline/plot-agree with others. Feels like fan fiction and not very good. Time jumping not explained very well. Mordor creation poorly thought out. The bad guy twist was a tad interesting but honestly poor compared to other shows. At time feels like something vin diesel would do in fast and furious. Yes that franchise is successful but borderline sharknado

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Keeping mind thst Rings of Powers has the same runtime as Jackson's LotR trilogy in theatrical release. It sounds like you havenwatched the show, because the budget is very apparent on screen, they spent their money well.

I can get people not vibing with the show, but the complaints thst it looks cheap are...super weird. That's just clearly not the case.

"The three films were shot simultaneously and entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand from 11 October 1999 until 22 December 2000, with pick-up shots done from 2001 to 2003. It was one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with a budget of $281 million (equivalent to $457 million in 2021). "

A billion dollar budget was absurd, that doesn't even count the ton of money spent on marketing. With that kind of budget it needed to be nearly perfect, instead it's been shredded across the internet, even the Guardian and got is ass massively kicked by Cobra Kai (CK had like twice the viewership with a fraction of the budget). The higher the budget, the higher the bar is to justify it.

To justify a billion dollar budget, nothing less then the top spot is acceptable, never mind being way down the list from the top spot. No way Amazon gets that money back, Bezos might as well lit a billion dollars on fire. That not even a comment on the quality, it's on the fact that it will never earn that back in subs or advertising, perhaps not even close to that even with massive tax breaks.

For comparison Star Trek Discover with it's 55 episodes over 4 seasons at roughly 8.5 million per episode comes out to $457,500,000 (it's actually a high end estimate given that many episodes cost closer to 8 million dollars). STD has incredible SFX, it's no slouch on SFX, it's major sci Fi show, and the Flagship show of Paramount. Seriously they spent an entire high end Sci Fi/Fantasy series budget on 1 season of RoP and all they seem to have to show for it is a ton of angry fans and even friendly media shredding it. A complete disaster financially. Again this isn't comment on the show's quality, just the business angle.

 

[Stalker0]

That makes Galadriel around 5,500 years old. Sure, she'll age 3,000 more years into the Third Age, maybe changing her character (though I don't buy it as she is already wise in the Second Age) but... it makes very difficult for the writers to implement significant character change over the very short time of the series.

However, we have a plot device that might do the trick....the rings of power themselves. The idea that Galadriel sacrificed her sword to gain a ring is a possible foreshadow. As she trades martial for magic, and gains a power that binds her more to the soul of her people (after all these rings have to remove all of the corruption across the elven people)...that could have a tremendous transformative effect.

 

[Parmandur]

"The three films were shot simultaneously and entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand from 11 October 1999 until 22 December 2000, with pick-up shots done from 2001 to 2003. It was one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with a budget of $281 million (equivalent to $457 million in 2021). "

A billion dollar budget was absurd, that doesn't even count the ton of money spent on marketing. With that kind of budget it needed to be nearly perfect, instead it's been shredded across the internet, even the Guardian and got is ass massively kicked by Cobra Kai (CK had like twice the viewership with a fraction of the budget). The higher the budget, the higher the bar is to justify it.

To justify a billion dollar budget, nothing less then the top spot is acceptable, never mind being way down the list from the top spot. No way Amazon gets that money back, Bezos might as well lit a billion dollars on fire. That not even a comment on the quality, it's on the fact that it will never earn that back in subs or advertising, perhaps not even close to that even with massive tax breaks.

For comparison Star Trek Discover with it's 55 episodes over 4 seasons at roughly 8.5 million per episode comes out to $457,500,000 (it's actually a high end estimate given that many episodes cost closer to 8 million dollars). STD has incredible SFX, it's no slouch on SFX, it's major sci Fi show, and the Flagship show of Paramount. Seriously they spent an entire high end Sci Fi/Fantasy series budget on 1 season of RoP and all they seem to have to show for it is a ton of angry fans and even friendly media shredding it. A complete disaster financially. Again this isn't comment on the show's quality, just the business angle.

First of all, the budget for.makimg the Season appears to have been $450 millions, so slightly lower than the Jackson trilogy
Second, if you haven't watched the show, maybe it isn't wise to speculate that it "looks bad" because of financial mismanagement when...it doesn't look bad. It loos like the most expensive TV show ever made.

In terms of the business angle, it is a success by Amazon own metrics and goals, even if some on the Internet rage, as detailed here:

Is ‘The Rings of Power’ a Huge Hit? A Muted Flop? It’s Complicated

Data says "The Rings of Power" is a huge hit. Online buzz suggests otherwise. But there's no mystery: The series was made this way.

www.indiewire.com

I'm not sweating the business side at the moment, because the Tolkien Estate negotiated a commitment fromAmazon such that making all 5 seasons is cheaper than renewing, so thisnstory will play out.

 

[Zardnaar]

Keeping mind thst Rings of Powers has the same runtime as Jackson's LotR trilogy in theatrical release. It sounds like you havenwatched the show, because the budget is very apparent on screen, they spent their money well.

I can get people not vibing with the show, but the complaints thst it looks cheap are...super weird. That's just clearly not the case.

I don't get that either. It's prettier looking than the other fantasy shows with possible exception of HotD.

Keeping in mind this is a tv show not a movie.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't get that either. It's prettier looking than the other fantasy shows with possible exception of HotD.

Keeping in mind this is a tv show not a movie.

Yeah, and the pacing is different as a result. I think that Covid conditions may have minimized the possibility of larger crowd scenes, bit the actual CGI and art design issues jaw dropping.