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Tams
Member
At least it didn't shit on its source material, has a coherent story, good writing, good acting, and decent CGI.
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Oh, HotD ABSOLUTELY shat on the source material, and s3 will only get worse, I fear.
Tams
Member
In comparison to The Rings of Power, lol no.
Hero of Spielberg
Member
Oh, boy. We're in for one serious shitshow if IGN can't even bring themselves to give it a 7 at least.
And more ...
variety.com
And more ...
‘The Rings of Power’ Makes ‘Lord of the Rings’ a Boring Slog in a Lifeless Season 2: TV Review
Season 2 of Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' is a boring, lifeless slog.
variety.com
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Revolutionary
Member
Reviews are rolling in. Currently has a 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes but so did the first season, and we all know how that went. I couldn't even force myself to finish the season.
When it comes to this show, I'm going to trust the more critical reviews than the perfect 100 from Empire
Also:
What a memorable show!
When it comes to this show, I'm going to trust the more critical reviews than the perfect 100 from Empire
Also:
What a memorable show!
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EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.1
Loved the lord of the ring movies, and I completely understand the hobbit movies, I just don't know how they came up with a tv show.
NecrosaroIII
Ultimate DQ Fan
There is material there to make something out of, but they dont have the rights to ir
ManaByte
Banned
Annatar is not mentioned anywhere in LOTR or the Appendices, but he’s in S2 and on the poster. They have rights to use stuff from the Silmarillion now.
freefornow
Member
Dayum! A 6 from IGN is a 3 from other sites. They must have really stretched any remaining thread of review integrity they had to get it to 6!Oh, boy. We're in for one serious shitshow if IGN can't even bring themselves to give it a 7 at least.
And more ...
‘The Rings of Power’ Makes ‘Lord of the Rings’ a Boring Slog in a Lifeless Season 2: TV Review
Season 2 of Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' is a boring, lifeless slog.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Yep he poured decades of his life thinking and crafting and forging the mythology and his books.
Then you have the writers of Rings of Power who ... fuck it, nevermind.
clarky
Gold Member
Already was.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Oh, boy. We're in for one serious shitshow if IGN can't even bring themselves to give it a 7 at least.
And more ...
‘The Rings of Power’ Makes ‘Lord of the Rings’ a Boring Slog in a Lifeless Season 2: TV Review
Season 2 of Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' is a boring, lifeless slog.
This is the real surprise here - was expecting mainstream outlets to just shill for this show like they did for Acolyte.
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
Always will be.
clarky
Gold Member
Which means its worse than you could possibly imagine. If thats actually possible.
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NecrosaroIII
Ultimate DQ Fan
Do we know if hes actualpy refered to as Annatar in RoP? They can dance around it. Him assuming fair form and trying to seduce the elves IS mentioned in the text of LotR and its appendices.
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Cyberpunkd
Member
Isn’t he mentioned in the Fall of Numenor, which is one of the Appendices (B I think) of LotR?
Dazraell
Member
If I remember correctly, even WB's Shadow of Mordor game briefly included Annatar's form and they also never had rights to Silmarillion
Toytown Assassin
Member
Boring, stupid, badly written, pretty and occasionally unintentionally funny. Just like season 1 really.
Unknown Soldier
Member
There's a lot of desperation to get someone to care about this show. Amazon is contracted and committed to producing 5 seasons of this at a cost of over $1 billion
My Samsung Smart TV was offering Season 1 of this show to me for free on the home screen, streaming via Samsung TV+, no sub to Prime required. For those who don't have a Samsung TV, the Samsung TV+ is a bunch of free streaming TV channels that Samsung gives for free to buyers of their TV's and naturally when it's free most of the stuff is useless trash. I've never seen anything resembling a less than 30 years old and not completely obscure show being offered for free through Samsung TV+ until I saw Rings of Power
I still didn't bother watching it LMAO
My Samsung Smart TV was offering Season 1 of this show to me for free on the home screen, streaming via Samsung TV+, no sub to Prime required. For those who don't have a Samsung TV, the Samsung TV+ is a bunch of free streaming TV channels that Samsung gives for free to buyers of their TV's and naturally when it's free most of the stuff is useless trash. I've never seen anything resembling a less than 30 years old and not completely obscure show being offered for free through Samsung TV+ until I saw Rings of Power
I still didn't bother watching it LMAO
Ironbunny
Member
Watched the first two episodes. Visually it does look great but not being familiar with Silmarillion i have no clue what these charecters are or are they just made up. Half-wits are back again sadly. Biggest gripe is how stupid the Elves are and how the Orcs are not evil to the core. They are potrayed more like unwilling slaves that would live a different more normal lives without Sauron. I dont mind that they try pull in some familiarity with Jacksons LOTR especially with how it looks or tries to sound.
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Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Yeah i believe (memory is hazy) it's mentioned in LotR that Sauron took the form of a fair seeming elf and did some consulting for the Elven Smiths of Eregion. Though the name Sauron is using at the time is never stated. If I can be arsed I can look for the passages in the books later.
I wonder if there's an escape clause in there somewhere. Or a UN Human Rights Convention they can use to end the show.
I'll probably watch a bit of it later to see how will it matches up with the leaks because said leaks depicted events (characters?) from Silmarillion.
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OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
It's not based on the simmarilion. It's not based on much of anything that Tolkien wrote
Ironbunny
Member
Well thats how it kinda looks like too. Everything is just somewhat off.
Dazraell
Member
To my understanding, both WB and Amazon have similar rights which covers LotR and Hobbit. The primary difference is in format as WB had rights for movies, while Amazon has rights for episodical format. WB recently renegotiated that deal for new movies and I'm not sure if these conditions have changed
Amazon's series is based on the appendices from Return of the King. I don't think it was ever directly confirmed by Amazon they obtained rights to Silmarillion
ManaByte
Banned
Yes he’s actually called Annatar in ROP.
Melon Husk
Member
I think I'll "watch" this show on my phone when I'm in the gym or in the background while doing something productive.
So many layers of awful, I can't even unpack this out loud because it would be a long, ranting off-topic essay.
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ManaByte
Banned
WB rights come from the film rights that Sal Zaentz bought in the early 70s. WB has LOTR and MGM actually has The Hobbit distribution (which is why those movies are a co-production). They didn't re-negotiate the rights, there was a lawsuit between the Estate and them dealing with LOTR slot machines that was resolved. They're required to use the IP within a certain amount of time or else they lose the rights; that's true with everything including Sony and Spider-Man. Meaning they have to produce movies to keep the rights. That's why they made the anime and they have Jackson and Serkis returning for the Gollum movie.
Except unlike with Jackson's movies, the series is being overseen by the Tolkien Estate and Trust and Harper Collins (their publisher). So if they want to use Annatar going to Lindon and being turned away by Gil-Galad or other stuff from the Silmarillion that's not mentioned in the Appendices, then they can.
Sauron is, Annatar is not. Sauron taking on the form of Annatar and attempting to get into Lindon but being turned away by Gil-Galad who recognizes him as evil is from the Silmarillion and not mentioned in the Appendices of LOTR.
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Ironbunny
Member
They should go full left field with half-wits make Sauron turn them into goblins in the end.
ManaByte
Banned
The final episode of S1 confirmed what Wizard it was.
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
well I forgot.....Or didn't want to remember. I just assume it is not Gandalf.
Ulysses 31
Member
ManaByte
Banned
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
I know its Gandalf by a different name. Olórinor I believe.
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ManaByte
Banned
Like it or not, you're getting 5 seasons. That was the Estate's requirement upfront for whoever won the bidding war for the show.
Amazon won the bidding war by bidding LESS than Netflix (they wanted to do Marvel LOTR with multiple series joining up into LOTR Avengers which freaked out the Estate), but letting the Estate and Trust oversee the series. HBO was rejected when they just wanted to remake LOTR but in HBO style with lots of sex and nudity.
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Ulysses 31
Member
diffusionx
Gold Member
It's crazy how much (artificial IMO) hype the first season got and how now absolutely nobody gives a shit about this season 2. It's going to be a total disaster in terms of audience. I don't know if they have to do season 3+ or whatever but they are not going to be happy about spending money on it.
Are we even hate watching season 2? I'm not feeling very motivated about it. It was fun to do back in S1 when Amazon was in full marketing blitz mode and there was all that artificial hype from shills and astroturfers and looney internet people, but I don't think they'll be able to sustain any of that energy this time around.
FunkMiller
Gold Member
I have zero intention of watching it. You only get so much time on this planet, I’m not wasting any on an overblown piece of shit, based on a sliver of backstory for another story completely.
NecrosaroIII
Ultimate DQ Fan
I'm gonna watch it, but I'm trying to mentally shut off my Tolkien fanboy side. I'm hoping it is at least a funnish fantasy show that is vaguely tolkien-esque
Kraz
Member
Those others do sound more superficial. Although all are following trend, not leading.
Prequel material leading into established stuff has been done intensely for decades with established IP, tired method. This character could've been another wizard opening up the south and east of ME. Setting up the world for future storytelling. Southern nations and further east. Even just using the map of the Earth as a guideline, from evolutionary history to overlapped with colonialist and current geopolitical events gives so much sublimated inspiration to distill from. Even go as far as Australia to introduce new sentient species.
Maybe since they're locked in contractually they'll take more risks in the upcoming seasons. Develop a concurrent storyline with new characters to test response a set up to a series that takes place in other parts of future ME.
I get the sense the younger generations want more sophisticated ideas reflecting a better understanding of the natural world. These don't necessarily have to be launched from the fictional worlds of these IPs, but can encompass and evolve them. Not prequels on rails leading into stories they know, like older generations did.
If there was some hint it would be leading into new territory on ME it would make it more appealing to watch.
