I thought this episode started strong, but I struggled to stay fully invested as it went on. I suspect it will improve in the coming episodes. One thing is for sure though, it's a beautiful show - one of the best, if not the best looking I've seen. That huge budget is on full show.
The show does not have much to do with Tolkien and his writings, it is a fanfiction at best and not a very interesting one at that. I found most of the episode boring and for some time I just waited when it is going to end. There were some beautiful landscapes and some pretty scenes, the beginning of the episode with young Galadriel in Aman looked very promising, but soon afterwards the episode started going downwards. I liked the scene with the Two Trees of Valinor and the retrospective of the war with Morgoth, and later on in the ep another scene I quite enjoyed was the elves sailing to Valinor. However, elves themselves are disappointing as they do not look elvish at all, they are supposed to be beautiful and ever-young, but of the elven cast only Galadriel can have some claim to beauty, Elrond is plain whereas Celebrimbor looks quite old (and elves did not grow old so this is in conflict with what Tolkien wrote). The hobbits look and behave like complete idiots, maybe with the exception of the original character Nori, who is quite likable. The humans do not act in a Tolkienian fashion at all, they would have been more at home in one of the bars in "The Witcher". Arondir and his lady love look a bit interesting, and it seems like they are going to do some detective work so this might be fun to watch. However, I am totally not buying this kickass warrior they turned Galadriel into. Her being bent on finding Sauron and avenging her brother does not seem believable in light of what we know about Galadriel. All in all, none of the characters can make me root for them, they are all equally bland and I don't really care for any of them, either Tolkien characters or original ones. The dialogue sounds quite trite, banal and commonplace, and completely lacks the poetic quality present in Tolkien's language. I understand that the show cannot quote Tolkien's words as Peter Jackson did in LotR, since there is no novel based on this period, only some notes in the Appendices the showrunners have the rights to, but they could have at least strove to achieve a similar poetic turn of phrase, and they haven't even attempted it. And last but not least, the show failed to awake any emotions in me, which might be its final nail in the coffin. Since the episodes are quite long, I am wondering whether I would like to spend so much time watching the show, and I am not sure whether I would give the next episode a chance. Emotion-wise, it couldn't have been further away from the moving and poignant Peter Jackson films (which do a great job at depicting the spirit of Tolkien's works if not the letter). The good thing about the episode was lack of nudity and excessive violence, but that and some breath-taking vistas might be not enough to keep me watching it.
Some people here seem to have the attention span of a TikTok video
A very good start. As someone whose answer is always “the entire LOTR trilogy” when I’m asked “what’s your favorite movie?” I have to say I went in with low expectations knowing TV show adaptions of something that already exists doesn’t work the majority of the time, I can say the pilot knocked me away. Sure, it’s a slow start but a start nonetheless and you have to keep in mind pilots are usually used to introduce the audience to everything especially considering Middle-Earth is so huge, someone who has never watched LOTR would appreciate it all the more. Those that already have the knowledge of Tolkien’s world, of course it felt a little slow-paced. But the costumes, the scenery, the music, the dialogue, the names and familiar names, the different folk, the languages and the creatures all scream Lord of the Rings and I am, for one, proud of what they have accomplished so far what we’ve seen. I cannot wait to see more. Solid pilot and episode to kick season 1 off.
69/100 (Good, It Gets the Job Done, Slightly Flawed)
This is a promising start. I didn't come into the show with any preconceived notions. To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the movies, and this show looks to be more my speed, but I know some fans of The Lord of the Rings tend to despise it based on a brief teaser and some purportedly forced diversity insertions.
Even though it was a tall order to follow in the footsteps of Peter Jackson's trilogy, I think they did a fantastic job of laying the groundwork for this expansive universe. The scenery and visual effects work are some of the best I've ever seen, and that's on both the small and the big screen. The scale is huge, and it has all the hallmarks of a major production.
The episode wastes little time in laying out the history that leads up to the present day, which undoubtedly helps us connect with the characters and circumstances they find themselves in. There hasn't been anything truly mind-blowing about it up to this point, but it's done enough for me to be interested in seeing more of it.
The good news is that it doesn't appear to be trying to compete with Game of Thrones.. Rather than aiming to be a poor imitation of Game of Thrones, I think the show is adopting the approach of maintaining the tone of The Lord of the Rings while adding some mature themes.
Generally a very solid start to this highly anticipated series. In the process of balancing a large ensemble of new and old characters the narrative feels uneven and inconsistent but I have hope it’ll get better as it expands. On a visual standpoint this episode is genuinely outstanding with it’s sweeping cinematography, beautiful visual effects, detailed production and costume design, and a breathtaking score. I honestly don’t care if this show turns out to be disappointing or excellent, I’ll continue to watch it for it’s visual look alone. Then again even with some speed bumps in the way it’ll have overcome this is a Lord of the Rings show so it can’t be anything less than at least very entertaining.
Audience reactions in 2022 are a mixed bag considering all the...stuff cough*fascism/racism/bigotry*cough going around, but it's been truly, truly hilarious to look at online reviews for The Rings of Power now that I've actually watched this episode. Opinions are fine and I am legitimately able to distinguish when people dislike something because of it's actual content versus when they're just dogwhistling something more sinister. This comes with some caveats, of course, but I do ultimately respect that there is some dissatisfaction due to the changing of lore within Tolkien's universe. For me, I view that as essentially a non-issue as Tolkien's lore is a) extremely old, b) probably a little outdated due to the social norms when it was written, and c) because the rights to The Silmarilion are ultimately not owned by the service who made the show because the Tolkien estate is bafflingly stingy with it therefore making it kind of hard to criticize a show that is legally unable to represent the universe accurately. So yeah, I understand why some superfans are upset, but as someone who has only read the first two Lord of the Rings books, read The Hobbit a handful of times, and watched the movies a bunch, I'm not sure I care enough to pan this series.
This first episode is absolutely stellar for someone who isn't steeped in Tolkien's lore. There is a massive sense of scale, adventure, and grandeur that feels like it's about to bust out of your television without warning. I was on the edge of my seat, mouth agape as what I was seeing. While ultimately I don't really want to compare this to House of the Dragon, I'll admit myself a passing glance: these two series are playing entirely separate ballgames. While House of the Dragon can be reduced to "more Game of Thrones" (and it isn't even stretch to say it, tbh), The Rings of Power is meticulously interested in showing you a different side of Tolkien's universe while still feeling indebted to what came before. Tonally and visually you'll feel the similarities, but they pass quickly. There's also something I find ultimately more respectable about choosing to make an adaptation of extraneous parts of The Lord of the Rings universe when at this point Jackson's trilogy is nearly twenty years old and The Hobbit came out nearly a decade ago. I'm ready to go back to Middle-Earth.
This pilot, WOW. Morfydd Clark? Killer performance.
I think it's important to preface this review with the following points. A. I know nothing about Lord of the Rings other what was presented in the movies and that Morgoth is the overarching villain of the entire 3 ages, with Sauron being a Lucifer like fallen figure, from the most beautiful angel into a cunning deceiver. B. I do not care about what lore is being contradicted and have decided to view this as fan fiction, and therefore review based on what I like and don't like.
That aside. I really enjoyed the first two episodes of this new series from Amazon. I was a little apprehensive as the trailers had not wowed me, and Peter Jackson's original trilogy comes with so much love, even 20 years on. It's not perfect, nor does it start as strong as other new recent fantasy arrival, House of the Dragon, but there's a lot of groundwork laid here that can become a great series later on. Most of this felt like Lord of the Rings and not a cheap imitation, which was good. And while both episode is generally enjoyable, there was an easy 10 minutes to cut off both episode - that would have made it tighter.
There's enough mystery, especially in the second episode, mainly around 3 specific characters, so there's a hook there. Despite my 8 rating for both episodes it's not a guaranteed win and a few poor episodes after this could see this falling into Wheel of Time territory, but a good enough start and I'll be here next week.
Stunning!
... And I'm not a LotR fan at the slightest
The music. The earnest Shakespearean monologues. The awesome scale and the meaningful extreme close-ups. I'm in!
A nice start.
Great to hear familiar names and to see this very familiar land.
It seems to be a slow start, but one I appreciate it, I myself need to know the characters, care about them, before I acctually care about the plot.
I do think they choose to do too many places and characters and we didn't even see them all yet. But I am interested. Hope they can all be linked together in a satisfying way.
But I do miss the long haired elves.
Also, OST is great, as I expected from this composer.
I’m not sure why people are saying this is a solid start, it’s stumbling at best. Not saying it cant get there, maybe that’s why they released two episodes to start, will see where it goes
I'm by no means a LotR purist. I love the movies (the OG trilogy, the Hobbit one different story) and I enjoyed reading The Hobbit. I finally found an audiobook that gets me into the Fellowship novel again (after several attempts to read it) but I'm by no means a hardcore fan. More a casual one really.
So believe me when I say, I went into this relatively neutral and with hope of loving it.
I don't. I didn't even like the first episode. It's a stumbling mess of set that tries too much at once.
It looks beautiful (you can definitely see the budget that went into making this) and the music is wonderful and atmospheric. The actors are fine, though I have a hard time with Galadriel, which is not saying that the actress is bad, by no means, she just feels so disconnected in looks, voice and manner from Cate Blanchett it's grading. But whatever. The issue is, it's all looks and atmosphere but pretty hollow on the inside and a pretty shall ain't make for an entertaining TV Show.
But fine, we all know by now to never judge a show by its Pilot, am I right?
Wow, this is a super beautiful and stunning work of art! <3 I'm watching it in 4K and the cinematography and CGI is so awesome that I could watch it for that alone. I'm not that much into this kind of fantasy (LotR was cool but not cool enough for me to rewatch it (although I think that I should rewatch it soon) and I liked The Hobbit more due to the even better visuals).
Anyway, it was super nice and I'm even liking the story :) I didn't expect that much of the story (but hoped that it'd be better than I expected) but I really started to like/feel it.
And that action scene with Galadriel was super badass! :)
And those CGI effects lke that glowing tree and the fireworks are just so beautiful <3
The first fight scene had some of the worst choreography I've seen in fantasy. The Witcher this is not.
Ok episodes 1 and 2. I think it suffers with too many POV and pacing issues. One minute we are just starting to enjoy the arc of a character then it shifts again to another character. A case of trying to fit too many things as fast as possible in an episode instead of solidly establishing certain arcs. Kind of reminds me of Justice League movie where they tried as well to fit so many origin stories in one go and therefore ended up people really not feeling attached to each character. I think they should have just concentrated on 1-2 character at most per episodes and cover the others on other character on other episodes instead.
Fantastic premiere episode. Stunning visuals and good acting makes this an instant winner. Really excited were the story will go.
I personally identify as a dwarf. Short, bearded, stature of a "baroque angel"... And this episode had ZERO dwarves.
Not bad! The writer's room really knows Tolkein and his world so there wasn't anything that felt foreign to the world we already saw in Peter Jackson's films. If anything a lot here knows there's a bunch of eyes looking at it knowing that it's probably the most expensive show ever made (for how much it was bought but also for the production). It feels like a great contrast to Game of Thrones (and far more entertaining than House of the Dragon, which doesn't know what makes it tick). Anyways, I'm on board for what's next but I'm still baffled by the reason for why this show exists at least the showrunners were able to create something worthwhile when Amazon said they wanted the next GOT and instead bought the rights to the previous GOT. Anyways, it exists, let's just be happy its something solid.
I'm not seeing what everyone's complaining about. So far it's exactly what I would expect a LOTR prequel series to be.
It is true that the pacing of the episode could have been better, but the magnificent scenery, the grand scale, the indistinguishable line between film and TV, besides the great music are the things that sell the show for me. I am so looking forward to continuing watching it!
Beautiful, breath-taking scenery but dreadfully boring and dragged out way too much. It was hard getting through this episode. 5/10.
occasionally good
I was whelmed
Tolkien experts. Stick with your books, don't come and ruin a good show with your negativity. Just read your damn books okay?
Well at least it looked nice.
I was hoping this show would follow the antics of baby Gandalf. Such a missed opportunity.
I really don't know what to make of it. It did not feel very Tolkien-esque to me. Even the wording seemed a bit forced in terms of pathos.
The look and feel of all the Zeitgeist elements just felt out of place. I give you shorthaired elves when they are young or at war. But other than that it kind of takes something away from their identity of longevity and nobility. Also while I don't necessarily have a problem with the cast it takes away a lot of the immersion for me to see mixed ethnicities living side by side without differentiation in such a prototypical middle-aged inspired high fantasy setting.
On top of that for my taste all the different storylines except for Galadriels seemed kind of irrelevant and squeezed in to tease the entire main cast. Plus I don't even remember Galadriel having such an important connection to Sauron. But maybe they only chose her so the film-only-audience have someone to relate to at all.
Harfoots? Were they thought up for this show? Definitely didn't play a role in Tolkiens Second Age. To me that's just another trilogy fan service element
The visuals were nice however but especially the beautiful scenery came way too short. Production overall was through the roof and the acting was unremarkable but in a good way.
So yeah ... left with a bit of a question mark here.
It felt like: "If we throw enough money to it and use the universe of Tolkien, it must be amazing".
This is proof it doesn't.
Maybe I watch the rest of the episodes, but i doubt it.
This has been a very dull episode. Okay, nice scenes.
This episode is aight. It's a bit too poetically and abstractly written in the beginning, but gets grounded towards the midpoint. The plot is well drawn out and they do a good job of connecting the various storylines. I do wish some characters were smarter, and that more hints were given as to why a specific apparently coordinated event occurred, but all in all the episode is not half bad, especially the ending, which does a great job of leaving behind a traditional cliffhanger, done well and tastefully.
It certainly looks beautiful for the most part. I don't like some of the CGI. But that's perhaps me - I often don't like CGI no matter how well it's designed and rendered. Overall, it's entertaining and I'll continue watching.
Is it great then? No! But I'm not prepared yet to call this show a failure. My expectations were low (I have longstanding suspicion when the budget seems too big) and I'm not a LotR fan anyway, so I didn't really hope or wish for anything. Most certainly I'll watch this show very differently from "real" fans of the franchise. Condemning this show after one episode would be wrong, anyway. But I'm afraid it has all the problems the movies have: overbearing pathos, histrionics, bombastic over-the-top orchestral score, people who endlessly wander from one place/adventure to another, one-dimensional black and white characters, strangely whispering elves and narrators (good shows don't need narrators), unnecessary mystery babble, too many characters. Plus, a new clown folk. I never thought that the Hobbits were funny. I always thought they are annoying and an insult to Irish people. And these guys aren't any better. I can't really comment on the main story after one episode but I guess it's fair to say that it will turn out to be convoluted given the number of characters introduced in just the show's premiere.
My interest is piqued. It could go so badly from here though. Definitely looks like the most expensive TV show ever that’s for sure
Arondir I love you :heart:
A solid start! It's still early to judge the story but I like the characters especially Galadriel and Arondir is already a favorite he's kinda mysterious and I can't wait to see him shooting arrows everywhere. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and every set looks like it cost a fortune. I love the soundtrack! At first not knowing any of the actors I was skeptical as for the quality of the acting but at least in this episode everyone seems good enough. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the story is going because it's hard to tell with this first episode.
Also I can't really compare it to the movies I haven't watched them in a while i'm long overdue!
A solid start! It's still early to judge the story but I like the characters especially Galadriel and Arondir is already a favorite he's kinda mysterious and I can't wait to see him shooting arrows everywhere. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and every set looks like it cost a fortune. I love the soundtrack! At first not knowing any of the actors was skeptical as for the quality of the acting but at least in this episode everyone seems good enough. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the story is going because it's hard to tell with this first episode....
Pretty, but pretty boring. Not as boring as the films though.
That was kind of lame.
I really liked the first part, it really is a member of this year's big fantasy trio (HoD, The Sandam and TRoP) and I have to say it deserved the attention it got. I can't wait to continue!:heart_eyes:
The no1 problem from the dawn of time. Stupid beliefs killing people lol. Man it must have been so nice back in the day when everyone believed one thing and the high ups could control everyone with that belief system. I know they miss when people didn’t have common sense or thought for themselves
6/10
Fair for a first.
Well that was a lot of talking, like 85 percent of the episode.
I'm going to allow that just because it had a lot of heavy lifting to do with it being a bran new show but I hope the hole season isn't just going to talk it out.
Please don't make me hate Galadirel I love her in the movies and Kate the actress but not so much this younger interpretation of her.
Okay I get it your on a vengeance mission, to the point of getting yourself killed (which we know
you don't), but it's no excuse to get everyone else killed along the way.
I will say I was rooting for her at the very end, something was telling me she needed to get wet and quick.
I hope we don't get a bunch on annoying kids all the way through that's not what I signed up for.
It's all very high production filled with beautiful people
I just hope they've put as much money and effort into the story and the quality of it as they have the beautiful landscape and places of wonder.
Time will tell.
Damn, Nice Start!! As expected from a high-cost production like this.
“Choose not the path of fear, but that of faith.”
Not great to be honest. Doesn't feel like lotr at all, and way too many storylines going on. Some fairly weak writing
It's acceptably good
Pros
+I think some people might dislike this but the world looks like a more magical, less real version of Middle Earth and that fits the time period we are in where the Elves magic is still powerful, great costume design as well.
+The Elves status of overlords over the humans who were deceived by Morgoth is a cool concept
+Dialogue in general was good
+Great intro scene and set up to the conflict between Galadriel and everyone else.
+Harfeet are pretty cool and comfy
Neutral
*Honestly most of the episode was forgettable
*Acting was pretty average
Cons
-Arondir and that random chick are going to be completely pointless fanfic, I can already tell
-They are making the big mistake of assuming that everyone knows that Sauron is going to return and fuck shit up and thus this show carries this smugness where Galadriel KNOWS she's right (and we know she is, only because we have seen/read the other LOTR/Hobbit/Silmarillion stuff) even though it makes absolutely no sense for her to think anything is wrong and the audience is going to think everyone who doubts her is a fucking moron even though given their perspective they are the ones who should make more sense and her only justification is "muh brother died to Sauron" and "I feel it in me bones". I really hope she doesn't continue to act this way but I'm 98% sure she will for a while. Every cuck fanboy/fangirl will be talking shit about Gil Galad and Elrond like they're morons when it's really just a problem of perspective and lack of weight behind reminding everyone that Orcs literally haven't been seen for years. Then the Book crew will pull up and talk about how it's just a dumb fanfic and every review/opinion on this series will be tainted by pedantic arguments between self righteous nerds instead of just people having fun watching some new Tolkien stuff
- also her jumping off the boat was dumb af
This looks incredibly beautiful and pleasant to look at. My only worry is that it seems they have not spent much on casting. Galadriel for example. I wish they had cast someone with a more unique and cinematic look. The actor just looks like your average person.
I'm a huge fan of anyting and everything related to Middle Earth. I also work in media and understand that text and screen are different mediums so I judge The Rings of Power as it is: a television series.
They clearly put a lot of time, effort, and thought into this, especially in the pre-production phase. That's particularly evident in directing and cinematography. There are many creative and well-crafted scenes and sequences throughout. Use of colour and lighting is also top notch. Pacing/editing may seem fast but that's understandable since they have to establish many different characters and storylines within limited time. Dialogues and humour worked for me. Speech patterns are distinctive enough and I found them fitting for their respective races.
On a more personal note, it does feel amazing to go back to Middle Earth after all this time.
The pacing of this episode is such a drag. 30minutes in and I thought it was the ending. Perhaps, the set design, wardrobe and CGI is what makes this a good pilot.
The pacing of this episode is such a drag. 30minutes in and I thought it was the ending. Perhaps, the set design, wardrobe and CGI is what makes this a good pilot.
The big budget is noticeable. We liked how it started
The thing I felt was the most bizarre was the Silmarils and Kinslaying not being mentioned which would seem to be to be pretty central to Galadriel's arc and her quest for redemption. Overall it misrepresents some lore, over does the exposition, but it is pretty to look at. First read the books The Hobbit, and LOTRs age 11 back in 1978…then went on to read The Silmarillion. Ever since have collected most works on the subject. Probably too much of a purist really, but some aspects of the Tolkien update I find quite good. I particularly enjoyed the Hobbits of Rhovanion. I believed every moment they were on screen. The Elves I find a bit annoying and like magazine model cut-outs, just too perfect, and yet their story and portrayal poorly conceived and executed. The pacing is ok. Slow-burns can be effective if done visually. It seems to be more in tune with 21st century United States culture than Tolkien in this depiction. 6/10
Not bad. Mostly watching for Morf.
Shout by FinFanBlockedParent2022-09-02T16:46:35Z
I'm by no means a Tolkien expert so I can't say anything about how this fits in. Maybe that's an advantage as usually, people who have intimate knowledge tend to compare so much that they don´t enjoy what's there. Been there myself more than once.
It feels grand, the scenery and especially the soundtrack. The dialogue is great. Nothing like you hear in contemporary shows. I liked Galadriel in the movies and I'm really looking forward to learn more about her. I'm already beginning to somewhat fall in love with Morfydd Clark.
What can I say - it's but one episode but it was absolutely worth the wait.