LOTR: The Rings of Power

[Sugar Ape]

First two episodes out on Friday, in the UK anyway. Reviews are in and seem mostly positive (they’re all based on the first two episodes only). The Mail gave it one star which I’m taking as a good sign. 
 

I’ve been looking forward to this more than House of the Dragon so be interesting to see which one is acknowledged as coming out on top. 
 

The Guardian

Rating: ****

The visual splendour of this rich, gorgeous Tolkien drama will make you gawp throughout it makes House of Dragon look amateur.

I love Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) the fighter. She is valiant, flawed and haughty, as bloody-minded as she is brilliant, scarred by the horrors of war. 

This is enormously enjoyable TV, a cinematic feast. 

 

Entertainment Weekly

Amazon's prequel is kind of a catastrophe.

It takes six or seven things everyone remembers from the famous movie trilogy, adds a water tank, makes nobody fun, teases mysteries that aren't mysteries, and sends the best character on a pointless detour. 

 

The Independant

Rating: ****

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power sets out its sprawling epic fantasy credentials right from the off: even its title seems like it could be split into multiple instalments.

While The King Of Power might be a brand new story, it still has plenty of authentic Tolkienesque charm to go along with the best production value money can buy.

 

Variety

From this prelude onward, The Rings of Power narrative adopts a solemn and awestruck approach. 

The first two episodes are admirably concise and compelling in their introductions.

 

Empire

Rating: ****

Lavish and sweeping, The Rings Of Power puts its money where its mouth is. 

The immensely fun Dwarves are Scottish-tinged and larger than life, canny and caring all at once.

It might take a second to get accustomed to these new characters, but the signs are that it will be worthwhile.

 

NME

Rating: ****

'Don't the great tales never end?' asks hobbit Samwise Gamgee during a slower moment in The Lord Of The Rings. He's talking about his own journey through J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy world – but he might as well be referring to the franchise itself.

As a start, this is an excellent one.

 

The Times 

Rating: ***

Despite the inventiveness that the creators have had to deploy to populate Tolkien’s world with fresh, non-canonical characters, the whole thing has the vibe of terrified executives carrying an exceedingly expensive vase across a slippery floor.

Perhaps two episodes aren’t enough to judge, and we are indeed gearing up for the greatest and most gripping fantasy TV series ever made. But I’m certainly not there yet. 

 

The Mirror 

Rating: *****

I’ve got a pretty good inkling of how Amazon is hoping to make its money back. By flogging thousands of expensive big screen TVs - so viewers can truly appreciate the full cinematic wonder of this J.R.R. Tolkien masterpiece. 

The special effects in this prequel could very well blow his Peter Jackson’s pair of Tolkien trilogies out of the water - and that’s before we’ve even seen the most spectacular of the promised battle scenes.

 

IGN

Verdict

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is telling its own story using the lore of Tolkien as a foundation, and the first two episodes make a solid case for why that story deserves to be told in such extravagance. While the first episode gets a little too caught up in exposition, the second is able to build on the characters and their relationships much more naturally, setting in motion a few intriguing subplots and a respectable amount of action. Through it all, it’s always well-acted by its ensemble cast and gorgeously shot and produced, with cinematography, effects, costumes, and original music that rival the biggest of big-budget movies.

[Bjornebye]

@Mook 

[Harry's Lad]

Looking forward to this.

[Pete]

Give it a watch.  More excited for Cobra Kai Season 5 though. 

[Mook]

5 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

@Mook 

About time I received some well earned recognition for my work.

[Baltar]

Should be interesting. This is the first major LOTR work not directly written by Tolkien or his son I believe. No easy task to get this right so will be watching with interest.

[johnsusername]

I heard Jeff Bezos wrote the whole thing. And he composed and sings the theme tune. And he's created a character called Beff Jezos who saves all of Middle Earth and also sets up a chain of competitively priced yet efficient and accessible shops. 

 

[niallers]

I think the best way to enjoy this is not to have any knowledge of the silmarillion at all. I've read that numerous times and I'm looking forward to this with mild trepidation. Avid fans will be hyper critical and even though the silmarillion rights aren't being used, there have been a few exemptions granted by the Tolkien estate to fill in the back story. 

I saw the LOTR movies before I read the books so my expectations were non existent and I'm glad I did it that way. 

I hope I like it and it opens up Tolkiens works to more people which is always great

[Mudface]

4 hours ago, johnsusername said:

I heard Jeff Bezos wrote the whole thing. And he composed and sings the theme tune. And he's created a character called Beff Jezos who saves all of Middle Earth and also sets up a chain of competitively priced yet efficient and accessible shops. 

 

Then gets 'disrupted' by a wizard delivery service using slave orc labour and goes out of business. 

[Kevin D]

What time will this be available from?

[Sugar Ape]

46 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

What time will this be available from?

 

[SilverSong]

Enjoyed it. Who the fuck is the stranger.

[Pete]

36 minutes ago, SilverSong said:

Enjoyed it. Who the fuck is the stranger.

Someone not yet known? 

[SilverSong]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Someone not yet known? 

I just dont know. A well known Istari arriving on the scene a tad early mayhaps.

[cloggypop]

Visually stunning this. Absolutely gorgeous. 

[Scott_M]

12 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

Visually stunning this. Absolutely gorgeous. 

Agreed.

 

I’m yet to be convinced on the rest of it though.

 

I’m not saying it’s bad or good, I’m sat on the fence. It’s certainly promising.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Looked and sounded incredible! for quite a bit of it I was bored shitless. It was only the first episode setting the path ahead. Looking forward to the rest even if its just for the visuals.

[Strontium]

On 01/09/2022 at 20:20, Kevin D said:

What time will this be available from?

 

At first light on the fifth day.

[J-V]

Well that was shit.

[Red_or_Dead]

Just watched them, first episode was boring as fuck, the second a lot better.  Will probably watch the rest but it won't be a series to return to like The Sopranos, etc.

 

 

[Anubis]

Enjoyed the first two episodes, which seem to be mainly world building. Watching the season preview there is certainly a lot more to come.

[Juniper]

Watched the first episode and quite enjoyed it.
 

Naturally it was setting up some of the series ahead. 
 

Looking forward to checking out episode 2 

[Section_31]

Thought it was good but agree with a lot of the reviews, looks good but slow. 

[TD_LFC]

Fine with it being slow, as long as it's compelling, too many shows want to just get to the next action beat.

[Section_31]

Elrond Hubbard.