Rings of Power Reviews

[Voronwë the Faithful]

First reviews seem mostly positive. 96% so far at Rotten Tomatoes.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_l ... 01/reviews

[Alatar]

Irish review

https://entertainment.ie/tv/tv-reviews/ ... ew-539101/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Voronwë the Faithful]

First reviews seem mostly positive. 96% so far at Rotten Tomatoes.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_l ... 01/reviews

Down to 81%, though for some reasons the reviews are not showing.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Pretty awful review at EW.

https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/lord-of-th ... er-amazon/

[N.E. Brigand]

A friend got a free ticket he couldn't use, so he gave it to me. I wasn't able to get out of work in time to see it all (it didn't help that the screening was down in Akron), but I saw about half of the first episode and all of the second episode. I'd be very curious to have a discussion with the filmmakers to better understand what they've deliberately changed (and why) vs. what they just don't understand. So far, it's basically a goofy alternate history. Most of the dialogue is second rate. Some of the visuals are lovely.

For a minute I thought they were going to make Galadriel into Beowulf. I sort of wish they'd gone further in that direction.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Thanks, N.E.B. Coming from you, that is a ringing endorsement. (Compared to most of the comments that I have seen you make about Jackson's films.)

[Frelga]

Oh cool, first-hand knowledge!

If you thought about it not as an adaptation of Tolkien but strictly on its own merits as a TV show, how do you think you would rate it?

[N.E. Brigand]

Oh cool, first-hand knowledge!

If you thought about it not as an adaptation of Tolkien but strictly on its own merits as a TV show, how do you think you would rate it?

I haven't seen much of the so-called "prestige" television. I have no experience at all with Game of Thrones, so I can't compare it with that. So far, it's nearly not as good as the few episodes I've seen of Breaking Bad or the many more installments (albeit they were of highly variable quality) I've seen of more episodic shows like The Closer or The West Wing. There is some potential here. And having decided not to take it at all seriously as an attempted adaption of Tolkien's work, I am less bothered than many people probably will be both by the outright changes to what Tolkien wrote or by the additions that seem to come from some other world entirely. (Proposed: he's a lintip.) That said, both elements play a bit like the first Sherlock Holmes scenario that Data created on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I was one of many who long ago suggested that The Lord of the Rings might work better as a limited run TV program than as one or three cinematic films. The pacing here makes me wonder about that. I like quiet films and long conversations -- I've seen My Dinner With Andre twice! -- but they still have to be interesting. The world building here, particularly in terms of scenic elements, seems to me superior in many ways to Peter Jackson's work, but the character "business" is forced.

[N.E. Brigand]

Irish review
https://entertainment.ie/tv/tv-reviews/ ... ew-539101/

To say that this series "brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history" feels like the reviewer is repeating Amazon's P.R. spin, at least to judge from the first two episodes. The claim that this is "a Middle-earth that sure, has suffered greatly already, but doesn't know that the worst is yet to come" surely is unduly speculative: Middle-earth itself (as opposed to Arda) probably suffered less in the reshaping of the world that followed the destruction of Númenor (presumably to come later in the series) than it did in the sinking of Beleriand that must precede the series' events. To say that "separately, all three plots could carry their own 'LOTR' series, but woven together, they made for fantastical viewing" seems like a gross exaggeration: for starters, the sheer writing is far beneath Tolkien's. Kudos to him for at least spelling "Middle-earth" correctly (as the Entertainment Weekly reviewer, whose harsher criticisms to me seem about right, fails to do).

[Alatar]

Pick your poison!

Sublime?
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... ok-amateur

Or Ridiculous?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... Power.html

[Stranger Wings]

The reviews are very encouraging. Higher RT and Metacritic score than House of the Dragon, and I thought the first two episodes of that show were quite compelling. Especially pleased with the Metacritic score, which is much higher than I could have anticipated.


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The current RT rating is identical House of Dragon: 84. The Metacritic score is higher, 72 to 68.

Other than N.E.B.'s comments most of the negative reviews that I have seen sound like nonsense, and the positive reviews mostly sound encouraging. The most encouraging thing is the almost universal complaint that the show is "too slow". I like slow.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This extremely positive review at the Daily Beast has a huge spoiler in it.

Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Is Absolutely Stunning—and Puts ‘House of the Dragon’ to Shame

Only read this if you don't mind a huge spoiler.

Hidden text.

The Rings of Power thus puts Galadriel at odds with her own Elven people, including Elrond (Robert Aramayo), her close diplomat friend who works on her behalf to spare her the full wrath of the High King (Benjamin Walker), who forces Galadriel to accept an early retirement trip through the celestial gates that lead back to their homeland. It’s a fate that strikes Galadriel as akin to death, and that attitude immediately lands her in (literal) tempestuous waters, replete with a run-in with a gigantic sea serpent.

[Dave_LF]

It’s good. I like it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Did you watch it already? Will you post a more detailed review at some point? Complete with spoilers? Should I start a separate thread?

[Dave_LF]

I did. I can write more after I’ve thought a bit, but I’ve got a busy 4 days lined up so someone else might get to it first.

For the same reason, I’m glad it appeared tonight instead of tomorrow—I had September 2 in my head for some reason.

Edit: It probably dropped at what was 12am UTC on Sept 2

[Dave_LF]

That said, it’s easy enough to answer specific questions if you have any; at least until I fall asleep.

[Frelga]

Glad to hear you liked it, Dave.

[Smaug's voice]

Back in time?
I have not seen it yet and I already have very low expectations, but I'm excited to get back to talking and debating Tolkien again if only for a few weeks! (I have forgotten so much of it)

Eitherways, I'm glad we have that Bear McReary soundtrack atleast which I really loved. Even if the show was bad, it wouldn't be a complete waste atleast.

[narya]

I saw the first two episodes, and posted my thoughts in V's spoilerish review thread. It dropped at 6 PM Pacific Time (TORC time), and about 4 hours before the timestamp of this post, if your viewer has timestamps. Future episodes will drop, I believe, at 8 PM Pacific Time.