[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Zaukrie]

I hope next season we have a thread about the show, and not about the books.....

 

[Ibrandul]

I hope next season we have a thread about the show, and not about the books.....

For my part, I would be happy to see a thriving "no book spoilers" thread here. But I wouldn't participate in it, since I'm as book-spoiled as they come.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Personally I would have pickedvavskice of time in the second age and develop that. Wouldn't have offended the hardcore Tolkein fans, less muddled pacing etc.

Then you wouldn't have access to Tolkien's actually good plot hooks. And never underestimate the ability of hardcore fans to get offended.

 

[Zardnaar]

Then you wouldn't have access to Tolkien's actually good plot hooks. And never underestimate the ability of hardcore fans to get offended.

It's not just the hard core though. Quite a few negative reviews in mainstream publications (Forbes, Guardian, Rolling Stone iirc), not much online buzz.

HotD is cleaning up there. It was a rough start for RoP and the 3rd or 4th episode was bad imho.

I think one of the executive types at Amazon fell asleep watching it.

Show has issues.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's not just the hard fire though. Quite a few negative reviews in mainstream publications (Forbes, Guardian, Rolling Stone iirc), not much online buzz.

HotD is cleaning up there. It was a rough start and the 3rd or 4th episode was bad imho.

I think one of the executive types at Amazon fell asleep watching it.

Show has issues.

The mainstream press has always disliked Tolkien, especially with his tendency to get lost in describing the countryside, songs and bad poetry.

"We need pace" "We need action" they say. Which put the program makers in a bind. To be true to Tolkien you need a leisurely pace, a love of nature, songs and poems. All of which are going to put you at odds with conventional shot-attention-span reviewers.

 

[Zardnaar]

The mainstream press has always disliked Tolkien, especially with his tendency to get lost in describing the countryside, songs and bad poetry.

"We need pace" "We need action" they say. Which put the program makers in a bind. To be true to Tolkien you need a leisurely pace, a love of nature, songs and poems. All of which are going to put you at odds with conventional shot-attention-span reviewers.

Reception is mixed is main point. Not just the usual suspects.

There's a tendency to downplay and dismiss online but objectively it's there. And it's not just the usual suspects.

Alot of reviews only rate the first few episodes as well. RoP was a bit weak there and kinda bad on one of those episodes. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

IMDb seems fairly spot on for the two best episodes anyway.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb

m.imdb.com

Thought 7 was better than episode 3 or 4 can't remember the exact one.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Reception is mixed is main point. Not just the usual suspects.

There's a tendency to downplay and dismiss online but objectively it's there. And it's not just the usual suspects.

Reaction to the original novel was "mixed". Which is to say, mostly negative in the mainstream. And most of the criticism levelled at the novel are, in a sense, valid. Tolkien was not a professional novelist, and he ignored a lot of conventional storytelling rules. Once you get past the racism, a lot of the criticisms levelled at the TV show are the same as those levelled at the novel, with regard to pacing and so on.

 

[Zardnaar]

Reaction to the original novel was "mixed". Which is to say, mostly negative in the mainstream. And most of the criticism levelled at the novel are, in a sense, valid. Tolkien was not a professional novelist, and he ignored a lot of conventional storytelling rules. Once you get past the racism, a lot of the criticisms levelled at the TV show are the same as those levelled at the novel, with regard to pacing and so on.

True I've only ever managed to finish the Hobbit. Peter Jackson seemed to have made most people happy so it's not impossible.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

For my part, I would be happy to see a thriving "no book spoilers" thread here. But I wouldn't participate in it, since I'm as book-spoiled as they come.

An easy way would have been to avoid borrowing from the book and launch a new fantasy series. I am very serious about it: having watched the show with people who never heard about the Middle Earth outside of a casual watching of the Peter Jackson films...

1. They don't get thrilled by the namedropping because they don't recognize it and are puzzled instead;
2. They like the new elements of the show (the harfoots are totally unidentified as hobbits);
3. They identify the same pacing problem as I do;
4. They... hardly make links with the characters of the films. Galadriel wasn't recognized by name, those films were 20 years ago. She's just "an elf", like... Dobby and who was it? Legolas!"

All in all, it could be an original story without losing anything.

Tolkien fans are less than thrilled by the changes they made to characters, literary adaptions fans complains about the inconsistencies, they'll probably generate more criticisms if they don't resolve a few situation they have put themselves in because of leftover inconsistencies with the LotR films... The only advantage of using direct reference to LotR are because it attracts curiosity from the slim slice of humanity between "Tolkien hardcore fans" (a few, but generally vocal as fans do) and "people who don't care particularly about Tolkien", both of which are not benefitting from the Tolkien association.

I'd say that the "mainstream reviewers" don't fall within the slim slice, most probably belonging to the "people who don't care".

Let's take an illustration. The Dwarves are swearing using Aulë's name. It has 0 added benefit for people who haven't read the Silmarillion and remember it well enough. I don't think Aulë is mentionned in the LotR movies and possibly even not books. It only puzzles them "Who? Did I hear well? Oh it was just filler text." It can also infuriate fans (why would they use this name and not call him the Maker or Mahal, esp. Durin who is demonstrated to be bad at speaking sindarin?). Is the number of people who remember their reading of the Silmarillion enough to justify introducing this kind of difficulty for the other two types of target?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

True I've only ever managed to finish the Hobbit. Peter Jackson seemed to have made most people happy so it's not impossible.

How can you say that, when he cut the best character*?


*Tom Bombadil, obviously