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Lord of the Rings Universe Thread

ISUChippewa

ISUChippewa

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I enjoyed it. I'm more of a LOTR movie person than a book person (I tried as a kid and it was just too dense for me at the time), so I'm not as well versed in the mythology of it as others, but it was definitely a show I looked forward to every week and made the time for.
 
BryceC

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ISUChippewa said:
I enjoyed it. I'm more of a LOTR movie person than a book person (I tried as a kid and it was just too dense for me at the time), so I'm not as well versed in the mythology of it as others, but it was definitely a show I looked forward to every week and made the time for.
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I like them both and I understand the limitations of adaptation. Fellowship came out when I was driving the bus at ISU, and I struck up a conversation with a guy who had a copy in his hand who turned out to be a HUGE LoTR fan who was absolutely livid Frodo wasn't going to be middle aged.

I think there were some extremely great stuff in this series and some monumentally dumb stuff. Also, the series was originally slated to be 10 episodes and got shortened to 8. So I think the final episode really raced through the creation of the rings for example. I think 10 episodes would have been a lot better.

I get people's legit complaints about the series, but overall the production design, the actors, and everybody did a great job IMO. It looks and sounds like Tolkien. Some of the speeches were outstanding. I can't wait to see what happens with the characters I really enjoyed. Great work by the showrunners and Amazon and while I'm not sure this show is worth what they paid for it, man I'm happy it exists.
 
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bos

bos

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The angry moment in the argument between the two on the raft was one of the best parts of the series. Loved the tension and background effect.
 
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Cyclonepride

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BryceC said:
I like them both and I understand the limitations of adaptation. Fellowship came out when I was driving the bus at ISU, and I struck up a conversation with a guy who had a copy in his hand who turned out to be a HUGE LoTR fan who was absolutely livid Frodo wasn't going to be middle aged.

I think there were some extremely great stuff in this series and some monumentally dumb stuff. Also, the series was originally slated to be 10 episodes and got shortened to 8. So I think the final episode really raced through the creation of the rings for example. I think 10 episodes would have been a lot better.

I get people's legit complaints about the series, but overall the production design, the actors, and everybody did a great job IMO. It looks and sounds like Tolkien. Some of the speeches were outstanding. I can't wait to see what happens with the characters I really enjoyed. Great work by the showrunners and Amazon and while I'm not sure this show is worth what they paid for it, man I'm happy it exists.
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No idea who wrote Galdalf's "I am good" line, but they should be banned from ever writing again.
 
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Triggermv

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Finally caught the finale of Rings of Power last night and I largely enjoyed it, and thought it was a good way to end the series. So what about thoughts on the whole series? I think I can now that I largely enjoyed it and am glad it exists. Was it perfect? No, far from it in fact. It started way too slow and it was really quite loaded with logic fallacies. However, the visuals were outstanding and maybe surpassed expectations, the characters and overall story are pretty good overall, and I think it did more good things than bad things. I'm also excited to see what comes next. Combine all those together and I'd call it a win for Amazon, even if it was more a B-level performance than an A-level one. I also believe things are set up now in a way where we could get an A-level series for season 2.
 
NorthCyd

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Now that I've seen the whole thing it's a solid B for me. Of the reveals at the end one I saw coming from a mile away and the other I didn't.

From the beginning I figured the stranger was Gandalf. I mean it looks like Gandalf, but of course there was always an inkling of doubt because that would be SUCH an obvious choice, and they played on that doubt a little in the finale. But now that it is more or less confirmed it's Gandalf I'm excited. One of the great characters in all of fantasy is back! How can you not get excited at the prospect of Gandalf and a hobbit companion setting off on an adventure together as he doles out his whimsical bits of wisdom. Makes me excited for the next season!
 
BryceC

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Triggermv said:
Finally caught the finale of Rings of Power last night and I largely enjoyed it, and thought it was a good way to end the series. So what about thoughts on the whole series? I think I can now that I largely enjoyed it and am glad it exists. Was it perfect? No, far from it in fact. It started way too slow and it was really quite loaded with logic fallacies. However, the visuals were outstanding and maybe surpassed expectations, the characters and overall story are pretty good overall, and I think it did more good things than bad things. I'm also excited to see what comes next. Combine all those together and I'd call it a win for Amazon, even if it was more a B-level performance than an A-level one. I also believe things are set up now in a way where we could get an A-level series for season 2.
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Admittedly I'm a slappy for this material, but I'm more now than ever simply because it seems like this peak TV era is all pretty grim stories about how everybody is an a-hole and there are no good guys. I'm honestly kind of tired of it. I'm ready for some heroes to fight an overwhelming evil.
 
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houjix

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Now that the big reveal has happened, I'm not sure if this will be appointment television for S2. The dialogue was hacky, the characters constantly made the worst decisions possible, and the timeline changes have been a detriment to the story. What should feel like a sweeping grand epic has been sacrificed to the altar of expediency. At this point, the Stranger's whole purpose was to serve as a misdirect, which really wasn't that effective had you paid even the slightest bit of attention. And too many of the moments have all the nuance of "The Eagles are coming". Big, cool, but entirely too convenient. Too much deus ex machina can ruin a story.
 
Triggermv

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houjix said:
Now that the big reveal has happened, I'm not sure if this will be appointment television for S2. The dialogue was hacky, the characters constantly made the worst decisions possible, and the timeline changes have been a detriment to the story. What should feel like a sweeping grand epic has been sacrificed to the altar of expediency. At this point, the Stranger's whole purpose was to serve as a misdirect, which really wasn't that effective had you paid even the slightest bit of attention. And too many of the moments have all the nuance of "The Eagles are coming". Big, cool, but entirely too convenient. Too much deus ex machina can ruin a story.
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Honestly, my biggest plot hole/poor storytelling moment was when we realized this really cool sword/key was simply used to open up a dam to run to Mount Doom, when some simple dynamite or other explosive would have taken care of it years/decades/centuries ago for Adar and the orcs. That and others aside, at least I still enjoyed the series overall in the end.
 
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Cyclonepride

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Triggermv said:
Honestly, my biggest plot hole/poor storytelling moment was when we realized this really cool sword/key was simply used to open up a dam to run to Mount Doom when some simple dynamite or other explosive would have taken care of it years/decades/centuries ago for Adar and the orcs. That and others aside, at least I still enjoyed the series overall in the end.
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Yeah, that was just weird. Let's set up this elaborate Rube Goldberg machine that can only be set in motion through this special key that puts into motion something that we presumably already wanted to do.
 
AuH2O

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BryceC said:
Admittedly I'm a slappy for this material, but I'm more now than ever simply because it seems like this peak TV era is all pretty grim stories about how everybody is an a-hole and there are no good guys. I'm honestly kind of tired of it. I'm ready for some heroes to fight an overwhelming evil.
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SO much this. The level of production and acting in TV is absolutely through the roof, but I find the story writing to be pretty dumb for most of these shows. In my opinion TV mostly just jumped straight from idiotic idealism to an equally idiotic world where everything and everybody is this mix of good and evil, and everything is some morally complex gray area. We are asked to believe a character is a real and complex person, while they do things that in real life only a severely damaged sociopath would do. Audiences are supposed to empathize with someone that kills and assaults for money because sometimes they struggle with morality of that and they seem to like their kids.

I liked RoP pretty well. I wouldn't say it was incredible, but I don't have any gripes with it other than I did find it a bit slow to start and rushed toward the end. I liked having the story focused on Galadriel, in my opinion the character in the Jackson movies I thought was interesting that needed more development. Frankly it's been like 25 years since I read the Hobbit and LoR, so I can't really remember what is in the books vs what I'm remembering from the Jackson movies.
 
Triggermv

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Cyclonepride

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Triggermv said:
I'm more excited for the team coming in for this movie than the premise itself for the story
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Premise is weak. When I first read about a new one in development, I was really, really hoping for the tale of Luthien and Beren, the Silmarils and the defeat of Morgoth. That story has everything you need for a big budget movie trilogy (or more).
 
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Triggermv

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bos said:



I have hope yet. I didnt hate the first season, but its definitely had its troubles. Some really cool elements that kept me coming back though. Looks like they are getting in to the meat of it now.
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I'm totally with you as I didn't love the first season and even walked away somewhat disappointed. At the same time I didn't hate it, and it showed enough promise to the point where I could see the show still being redeemed with a really good second season. There was also a few elements of S1 I really enjoyed.
 
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