The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer

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Garbage.

Remember "The Hobbit"?

This is even worse.

OP seems to be shilling.

$465 million for ONE SEASON

r2 What does The Hobbit have to do with this TV series, run by different people, set in a different age?

Also, The Hobbit was brought to you by the same guy who did the LOTR movies, so your point doesn't make sense on several levels.

Looks great! The muddy proto-hobbits' feet look so much more appealing than those nasty hairy feet of their descendants in the movies.

r3 I think they might cancel The Wheel of Time after three seasons and funnel that money into this show.

Garbage. I will not watch but will follow some of the DL threads probably. The LOTR and the Hobbit cast was perfect. This can only be worse. Much much worse because now they have an agenda and care shit about the books. I watched one interview with some of the cast and they looked like employees, not persons enthusiastic about the material. No thanks.

Oh great, "agenda" makes its first appearance, take a drink everyone!

Now excuse me while I go unearth message board posts from 2001 about how Peter Jackson is pushing an agenda by casting that outspoken fag as the wizard...

R4, illiterate twat: The OP invoked how the show looked like the movies, and the last three movies looked like shit and were shit.

You know shit, since you apparently soak in it for your entertainment.

Keep trying.

r8 Gosh, but you're vile. Just move along, no one cares.

There were hobbits back then?

Where are the Trans Elves of Color?

Sauron or no?

Gandalf?? Saruman???

This is likely to be as awful as The Hobbit, rather than glorious like LotR.

Who the hell is "Adar" that is supposed to be the main villain, rather than either the Witch King or Sauron.

Sauron should be beautiful and working for the downfall of Numenor.

As for "young" Galadriel - Galadriel is probably the oldest elf in Middle Earth at that time. Her grandfather Finwe was literally created by illuvatar and was the first king of the Noldor. Her father, Finarfin, was among the greatest and most powerful elves from the First Age. Galadriel actually fought against Morgoth. Galadriel hadn't been "young" for thousands of years even by the end of the First Age, let alone at the time the Rings were forged.

My point: When they play fast and loose with Tolkien and insert melodrama, it becomes a mess like The Hobbit. When they do a good adaptation, you get LotR.

I had always hoped the Mouth of Sauron would get his own show, maybe the new host of Leopardy.

They shouldn't have cut the Mouth of Sauron scene. It was so short, but really interesting.

Wasn't he a Black Numenorean?

Mouth scared the shit out of me the first time I saw him.

Why can’t they find some new fantasy author’s works to butcher? JRRT must be tired of turning in his grave by now. Six movies in the LOTR and The Hobbit franchises are already four too many.

One Intellectual Property to rule them all

Another kids' show. Why did they kept that stupid Amazon logo for their movie studio and streaming service? I can't take it seriously when it has the same logo as the packet of Chinese junk you order from online.

Never doubt it'll be yet another woke disaster where coloured people are good, white people bad, women better than all the men combined, and the men not even in starring roles with swords in their hands.

[quote]r4 ...You know shit, since you apparently soak in it for your entertainment.

R4 is Erna?

Surprised as she usually signs her posts.

R15 I think he was my favorite character in LOTR, I was really pissed that Aragorn killed him (it was a flag of truce after all). The slow ride out of the gates was very effective, they should have extended that scene.

Looks like their script adds a lot to Tolkien’s history. I tend to agree with [R20], but I’ll still want to see it.

One thing they’ve already got right: they hired LOTR composer Howard Shore to write the music score. He’s to be assisted by equally adept composer Bear McCreary. So that should be good.

(Funny: Composer McCreary looks like a younger version of Saruman.)

Woke-cast garbage like most streaming service shows nowadays: Witcher, Shadow and Bone, The Wheel of Time...

Colorblind casting is the pits

The woke-whingers are out in force again. Just be honest and admit you hate anyone who isn’t white like you.

[quote]Colorblind casting is the pits

I don't have a problem with colorblind casting when race is not an issue in the story. Even something like Bridgerton isn't really a problem because nothing about it is really a period drama, so the race of the cast doesn't matter. As a matter of fact, I think having the second season with the female lead and her family being Indian actually added to what was otherwise a rather thin story.

Wheel of time is another where I don't have a problem with race of the characters, per se. Where I do have a problem is where an entire "race" of fictional peoples are different - the Aiel are all tall with red hair. It's no uncommon for men to be 6'4" or taller. You can't just randomly cast a black person. While the Emond's Field folk are fine as all not being white, the story actually has huge elements that are driven by the Aiel falling into a certain warrior mold.

Where I have a problem is in something like Wheel of Time where they actually explicitly change story history to insert a woke agenda. The Strike at Shayol Ghul and LTT's backstory are reengineered to make it the fault of "male arrogance" while the women were the sane rational ones. That is NOT the theme that RJ was trying to convey. As a matter of fact, it's the women who created the male/female schism due to an interesting mechanic of the magic system.

Ok well at least now we can see which part of the Silmarillion they're adapting.

The good part. Which is good. I guess. Galadriel's journey across the frozen waste etc.

Shimarillion.

Will the Lady Ungoliant be making her dread appearance? Not familiar with the cycle overall past a few characters, Her Ladyship's terrifying ancestress being one of them.

Where are the hot guys? So far I haven't seen any sexy Male characters on this show. Will we get a gay elven couple? What about a Trans non-binary Dwarven character? I'm sure Tolkien would've loved to see one in an adaptation of his works.

Hope it fails. (And partly because Amazon cancelled Night Sky which was great and ORIGINAL).

Nobody asked for this - it is only just over 20 years since the Peter Jackson films which have held up very well.

I've got better things to do with my time than watch endless re-makes of films that have already had very satisfying film versions.

SDCC trailer.

Looks so good. Love that the palantír is made of labradorite.

Anson Boon, rumoured to be playing sexy Sauron, seen in the trailer with a buzzcut.

Based on that clip, it's another silly girl power extravaganza that is going to sacrifice story and character for an agenda.

Sexy Sauron, what have you done

You made a fool of everyone

You layed it down for all to see

Sexy Sauron oooh you broke the rules

The buzzcut person in the latest trailer is apparently a priestess of Melkor sent by Sauron, played by Bridie Sisson. Weird name. Sexy Sauron/Annatar, played by Anson Boon at r33, has not yet been revealed in any footage.

People are settling down on the Meteor Man being one of the blue wizards, who are both gay in my imagination. Of course, I don't expect him to hook up with a guy on this show, the internet would just go offline if that happened.

R32 Some of the commenters were definitely DLers.

[quote] When all the hobbits came together and danced to “all the single ladies”, tears literally filled my eyes. Such beautiful writing.

I think it's fun how the showrunners have decided to use a different poetic meter for different species -- some will speak in iambs, some in dactyls, and others in trochees.

For example, the opening lines in the latest trailer are in iambic tetrameter, with slant rhyme. Incidentally one of Tolkien's favourite meters.

The problem with The Hobbit was that Jackson took a single book with a one-movie story and stretched it out with way too much filler to try to make it an epic. What is this new series based on? Is it based on The Silmarillion, which J.R.R. wrote, or something Christopher wrote after JRR died? Or worst of all, are they just making stuff up?

[quote]The problem with The Hobbit was that Jackson took a single book with a one-movie story and stretched it out with way too much filler to try to make it an epic

Not by his own choice. He'd have left it at two (which, admittedly would have still stretched mighty thin), but the studios involved wanted a trilogy.

If you see any photos or videos of him from the set, he just looks dead inside.

[quote]Where are the hot guys?

I agree. Every show could use some eye candy along with the good actors. That formula sure worked for the CW, although that was mostly eye candy and few decent actors. Hopefully, these relative unknowns in The Rings of Power cast can emote well. It could always be worse. At least they aren't guilty of using flavor-of-the-moment stunt casting here (no Pete Davidson, Thank God).

This version stars females and Africans pretending to be Irish.

r39 Series takes place in the Second Age, which basically only exists in the form of appendices, so they have lots and lots of leeway for dramatisation, in consultation with the Tolkien estate. They do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or The History of Middle-earth.

The prologue in the first episode will feature Ungoliant and Melkor destroying the Two Trees and some other stuff from before the Second Age.

R41 I had thought that Will Poulter had been confirmed as cast in this series, but I see no sign of him...?

[quote]One thing they’ve already got right: they hired LOTR composer Howard Shore to write the music score. He’s to be assisted by equally adept composer Bear McCreary. So that should be good.

I believe they also licensed the visuals from New Line or WETA or whoever owns them, which is why there's fidelity to the movies.

That said, the existence of this series offends me. Not so much because I have hatred of the source material, but because for the amount of money they spent on this, Amazon could have either produced four or five really high quality original series, or given their poor workers a raise.

r44 Poulter left the show in December 2019 due to scheduling conflicts.

[quote]One thing they’ve already got right: they hired LOTR composer Howard Shore to write the music score. He’s to be assisted by equally adept composer Bear McCreary. So that should be good.

Howard Shore won't be assisted by anyone, he's old as dirt and has never done TV. He has composed the opening theme for the show and McCreary will score the show itself. The theme music for Sauron and Galadriel is out already.

Are there trans women of colour in it?

Otherwise I'm not watching.

It looks better than Game of Thrones: The House of Dragons, but that's not saying much.

Are there Kenyans and Sudanese in it?

Otherwise I'm not watching.

If G. is in it, I'm not watching it.

Are there sexy muscle men in G-strings in it?

Otherwise I'm not watching.

R45 I feel the same - they stole Jackson's vision and made a rip-off. It looks oddly similar but feels entirely different.

Obviously they had to follow some of Jackson's aesthetic or the fans would have gone ballistic. Even those fans who bitched about the LOTR movies back in 2001 but have forgotten about their misgivings by now. As soon as Morfydd Clark was announced as Galadriel, people were already saying she couldn't replicate Blanchett's voice closely enough, and said that Amazon should have just cast Cate again instead.

r49 Same here. HoD's trailer made it seem like 100% court intrigue, and I like some ordinary common people in my fantasy stories as well.

This franchise has really outstayed its welcome. Totally agreed with Viggo Mortensen when he said that The Fellowship of the Ring is the only movie that still holds up well. The rest are just silly overstretched action movies filled with some very questionable CGI.

Significantly less time elapsed between the forging of the Rings of Power and the destruction of the One Ring than between Galadriel's birth and the forging of the Rings.

In the Second Age, Galadriel was already a queen among elves - she was the most noble of the Noldor still in Middle Earth. Frankly, even before the Noldor who were pardoned went back to Valinor, she was among the most noble and a queen among elves. She was also considered among the most beautiful of all elves who had ever lived - except for Luthien and her own granddaughter Arwen (who herself is a decendent of Luthien and the Maia Melian.

I saw the trailer and I thought it was a French and Saunders Red Nose Day or Christmas special.

Soundtrack is out, although even more of it will be released over the coming weeks.

R57 I wonder when this fad will fade.

Official trailer.

How big is Augie Prew's part?

Cheap, BBC level special effects.

r61 He's not part of the promo tour, so not that big. There's speculation that he's playing Celeborn, Galadriel's husband, and that he'll feature more prominently in later seasons.

r62 clearly has no clue what quality CG looks like. This show has the best CG in showbiz right now, and they shelled out an insane amount of money for it as well.

[Quote] There's speculation that he's playing Celeborn, Galadriel's husband, and that he'll feature more prominently in later seasons.

Damn. If that's true, coming out really did ghettoize him.

In what way? Celeborn isn't gay...

I don't consider the Jackson movies sacrosanct, but the amount of money Amazon spent on this offends me. They could have made so many original series for what this cost.

In fairness, you should go big if you're going to do a Tolkien show. Otherwise, you'll just end up with another WoT and everyone will just keep laughing at the whole genre.

[Quote] In what way? Celeborn isn't gay...

Augie rose to leading man with his own TV show. He brought his boyfriend to the promo events. The series lasted a season and he's been given bit parts (and a few leads in gay indies) since.

I had no idea he had his own show and I'm a DL regular. I only watch non-American gay indies, so that's probably why I don't know him from there either.

If this show blows up big, taking up this role will be the opposite of ghettoisation. An actor acts, and we all like money.

The Jennifer Aniston Programme has been successful. Prew's role is still a bit part.

Just saw the first episode and it looks epic. Lord of the Rings always has this grand, noble and epic feeling while Game of Thrones looks dirty, dark, grim and gritty.

Where is the prequel shot?

New Zealand, but they're moving to the UK for the second and future seasons.

r71 Indeed, I like that both exist. I just maybe wish they didn't air at the same time, so we'd get fantasy content spaced out over the year more.

Fuck this! They paid $250 million for the right of this turgid shit?

[quote]It cost Amazon $250 million alone just to secure the rights to the prequel

Lol at linking to a DailyMail review.

And yes, obviously the rights to Tolkien IP don't come cheap, it's one of the hottest properties out there.

One has to be creative about linking to the DM these days.

I'm really enjoying it.

I mean... each episode looks like they've spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it. It's utterly gorgeous.

Some of the new cast for the second season.

I want to eat Gavi Singh Chera's ASS. My god, he's good looking. And he was just in a gay short called Temple (2022).