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

[RuinousPowers]

And I said above that single coincidences are fine. I can suspend disbelief for that. The three at once in the middle of the ocean went beyond the pale and was ludicrous. It was just plain bad.

That a shark-like sea monster would return to attack the survivors of a previous attack doesn't sound like a coincidence. It sounds like Quint's Indianapolis account.

 

[Mercurius]

In the case of the 1 star reviews for this? Soimply dismissed trolls. An ideological agenda is clearly in play.

You're going over the top about this. It doesn't hurt to consider the possibility that some people just think the show is that bad.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well most watchers are over 35 apparently.

Gen Z Doesn't Give a Shot About The Rings of Power

The audience is getting older.

startefacts.com

 

[Parmandur]

You're going over the top about this. It doesn't hurt to consider the possibility that some people just think the show is that bad.

Observation suggests that the 1 star camp is not operating in good faith. Simple as that, I have concluded that they can safely be ignored and dismissed. It may be that they are genuinely angry about the show, but the reasons lie not in quality of the show itself.

 

[Mercurius]

Maybe @Maxperson should see if the Tolkien Estate is hiring since it's clear they have no clue how to handle their IP.

It is pretty clear. They've greenlit some really bad stuff, while protecting other things which really don't make sense given what they greenlit.

indeed it's clear the hierarchy in knowledge goes: Tolkien himself> Christopher> you>then everyone else.

Well the way you are acting despite how involved the actual IP holders are, is giving off "I know better than them" vibes. Along with "no true scotsman"

I'm with Maxperson on this: Being the IP holders doesn't mean you are a good caretaker of the actual IP, and even if so, that you have much say once you license it out. And it isn't as if the Tolkien Estate is immune to make a buck: Amazon backed up a truck and dumped a huge load of cash on them.

Great books and stories have been made into bad adaptations, regardless of what the authors thought. Ursula K Le Guin absolutely hated the atrocious Earthsea series, which makes Rings of Power look like cinematic art in comparison.

There's also probably a reason the Tolkien Estate didn't sell rights to Amazon until after Christopher Tolkien stepped down (it was literally three months later). If he thought Jackson's trilogy was an "action movie for 15-25 year olds," I hate to think how he would have considered Rings of Power.

 

[Zardnaar]

Almost all 1 star reviews for anything are out to lunch. I own a comic & game store, and every 1 star review we've ever gotten are purely mental (some really, really strange) or some friend of a "rival" (we don't really have rivals) thinking that they're doing their buddy a favour by bombing the "competition" (we're not very competitive). They're frankly ALL BS. I'm fine with a 3-star review.

Frankly, I think that 5-star reviews are strange too, but it's what the 5-star system expects (for some dumb reason). IMO if the star-system actually worked, 3 would be considered "good". 4 would be "great" and 5 would be "better than I imagined it could be - it surprised and delighted me".

I wouldn't call this show a 5-star show. I can see how it was to you, but it's a solid 3 (pushing up to a 4 by the final episode, to me). With plenty of room for improvement.

Weirdly the trend seems to be for the 5-star system to be more binary to most people. It's either "I liked it - 5 stars!" or "I didn't like it! - 1 star!" (Which defeats the point of the other 3 stars). But it's not like people are very good at understanding their own feelings about something, far or less agreeing on what the system actually means for us.

I'm pretty much a 1-10 type review. I don't like rotton tomatoes as it's thumbs up or down so pretty much everything is an up. Hence why a lot of 80-90% thumbs up reviews are really anything over a 51/100.

RoP I would give 3-3.5 stars for with it's best episodes a 4.

Currently rewatching Shadow and Bone and that's better by a bit and most seasons of GoT and HotD basically kill it. Best HotD episode clubs RoP best episode.

Very few things to me are 1 or 5 stars. Individual episodes maybe otherwise it's things like peak GoT, Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Wire. For movies Empire Strikes Back.

WoT would a a 2/5 maybe 2.5.
Rats useless garbage critic and audience scores generally (,add them togather divide by two seems better).

IMDb had RoP at 6.9/10 that's more or less fair. Individual episodes break 8+.

For the amount thrown at it it's disappointing.

I don't think you can do a faithful Tolkein adaption that would have mass market appeal. The source material is to boring for mass market Jackson's movies about the best you can hope for probably.

Dune similar problem but their latest movie rocked.

 

[Mercurius]

Observation suggests that the 1 star camp is not operating in good faith. Simple as that, I have concluded that they can safely be ignored and dismissed. It may be that they are genuinely angry about the show, but the reasons lie not in quality of the show itself.

Yeah, I think you're way off base. My observations suggests otherwise. But does that mean I'm "not operating in good faith?" Is there no other alternative? Maybe I and others just honestly think the show is of overall poor quality?

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah, I think you're way off base. My observations suggests otherwise. But does that mean I'm "not operating in good faith?" Is there no other alternative? Maybe I and others just honestly think the show is of overall poor quality?

Well, you said yourself you would naive it a one star review, so I won't dismiss your opinion as lightly as the review bombing ravings of the lunatics. But the 1 star reviews are clearly nonsense.

 

[Maxperson]

Observation suggests that the 1 star camp is not operating in good faith. Simple as that, I have concluded that they can safely be ignored and dismissed. It may be that they are genuinely angry about the show, but the reasons lie not in quality of the show itself.

There are two problems here. First is that you are talking in absolutes. All. Right there your argument fails. It's simply not possible for all the 1 star reviews to be trolls. Second, your argument that the reasons lie not in the quality of the show fails on its face. I despise coffee and tea. They are two of the most foul tasting substances on this planet. A lot of others love the taste and think that those two things are quality. Well, not to me. Am I a troll because I give coffee and tea not even a rating of 1? No. Just because you subjectively feel that the show is quality, does not mean that everyone shares your subjective view on the matter. Nor are they trolls for feeling differently than you do.

 

[Parmandur]

There are two problems here. First is that you are talking in absolutes. All. Right there your argument fails. It's simply not possible for all the 1 star reviews to be trolls. Second, your argument that the reasons lie not in the quality of the show fails on its face. I despise coffee and tea. They are two of the most foul tasting substances on this planet. A lot of others love the taste and think that those two things are quality. Well, not to me. Am I a troll because I give coffee and tea not even a rating of 1? No. Just because you subjectively feel that the show is quality, does not mean that everyone shares your subjective view on the matter. Nor are they trolls for feeling differently than you do.

Let's be real here: those reviews are part of a coordinated political activist campaign. They have little to do with the show, and the control thst shows this is the critical reception versus the places open to review bombing by the misogynist and racist trolls. And yes, even a troll who apes language to make it sound like they have a "legitimate criticism" to the algorithm still stinks.

The taste of caffine tastes like a toxin, so it takes some work to acquire the taste for maby people, such as myself. I didn't like the taste, but after a few years of powering through for the buzz my brain reprogrammed itself to enjoy the taste. Same with beer, and other bitter flavors.