Here for this content. Also, why is that person not the one who did the Amazon series. The Tolkien fan in me is cringing heavily when observing the "plot" of the Rings of Power
The saddest part for me is that the RoP could have done something very similar to what they did, while still staying true to the canon 2nd Age, and arguably telling a much better story. Instead we got sometinf that felt more like ham-handed generic 80s fantasy, coaplaying as Middle-earth.
From the moment it opened with elf-children acting like orcs, it was clear not only that she showrunners had missed the mark, but they lacked enough of Socrates "beginning of wisdom" that they couldn't even understand how they were missing it
Not just any elf-children, but children of the Noldor. And not just any Noldor, but the scene implies that many of them are from the House of Fëanor. Who are the biggest assholes in the history of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is largely a story of that.
The series has many issues, but the showrunners not understanding the works of Tolkien is not one of them. Many of the issues arise from the main premise of the series. Like with many recent big-budget adaptations, the showrunners are retelling the story from the perspective of a subset of 21st century Americans. If you are not in the target audience, many things may feel off.
Also, it's good to remember that big-budget adaptations usually fail. Any story worth adapting is likely exceptional. Because you are retelling the story in a new format, you usually have to change many things. But the new things you create are unlikely to be exceptional, because exceptional things are rare.
Also, it's good to remember that big-budget adaptations usually fail. Any story worth adapting is likely exceptional. Because you are retelling the story in a new format, you usually have to change many things. But the new things you create are unlikely to be exceptional, because exceptional things are rare.
D&D has only a couple big screen adaptions, and as far as I know (although I certainly could be wrong), Warhammer Fantasy has none. These seem to a the bombastic tone that should work better for a big budget translation.
The Amazon series is not about making a good LOTR movie. It's about making money for the studios and also removing any/all sympathy for the striking writers. Its incredibly insidious in that way.
ROP is clearly just using the Tolkien universe as wrapping paper. No one seems very serious about the lore anymore (or much of anything, really). The barest of efforts will still drive massive revenue so why bother trying very hard?
You will find those that trip over themselves to defend ROP (and new Star Trek, et. al.). This is the target audience. I am not sure what convinced this audience that the new content is good - Part of me suspects it's mostly Stockholm syndrome. Those without the courage to adopt a more stoic attitude towards life.
I feel like if more people would quit consuming pointless shit all the time, we might wind up with better pointless shit. As it stands, anything will generate some amount of revenue when you launch it on Netflix. This is really bad game theory for high quality content producers and the risk/reward tradeoff they have to negotiate with publishers.
"We need 2 years to run the traps on lore" and "casting will be an on-going and convoluted process" == you are kicked out of the Netflix green light meeting without any additional courtesy.
Dude, if you think the ROP is bad... don't know if you've seen the Foundation from Apple TV, but holy hell.
Kinda follows the plot, also completely demolishes it in other ways. Mad times
I love the Foundation series(the books) and I actually really enjoyed the TV show - I just don't think they are very related other than some surface level connection.
I don't think it's too bad either. It's very pretty, I like the cast (the Emperor is just the perfect amount of 'regal' and 'ewww'), and the plot is actually pretty interesting so far. It just isn't the plot of "Foundation" beyond the thinnest veneer of "math predicts future and bad things are gonna happen but if we do this right we shorten bad stuff...cue drama happening". If it wasn't called "Issac Asimov's Foundation" and constantly screwing with my expectations from the books (which are a favorite), I'd give it a solid B+. I gotta get better at shutting down the "expectations from book" part of my brain.
For instance attention to detail was a pretty important theme in Tolkien’s works. He was pretty strict about timeframes, military planning etc. in Amazon’s show everyone seems to have a teleportation device, boat hulls breaks the law of physics considering how much stuff you can fit into them and “Galadriel” is the best swimmer in history multiplied by 100…
It pretty much a cheap 90s fantasy tv show with an inflated budget that takes itself way to seriously than it has any right to.
Whether or not RoP is true to the themes of Tolkien or not or not is in the eye of the beholder I suppose, but it certainly has dispensed with the existing lore. I've read more than my fair share of Tolkien, and the show just doesn't feel like Tolkien to me. It's a serviceable Tolkien flavored generic fantasy show, if you are looking for that sort of thing.
The tragedy is that the source material for the second age is so great yet they chose to take the show in a baffling and arbitrary direction, almost completely decoupled from the existing lore.
Most of these shows are so badly written, I can't help to think there is a conspiracy to demolish sympathy for writers, if this is the best that a billion dollars could do.
From the moment it opened with elf-children acting like orcs, it was clear not only that she showrunners had missed the mark, but they lacked enough of Socrates "beginning of wisdom" that they couldn't even understand how they were missing it