Actually it tells you up front that it is based on the appendices in the LOTR, etc.
Amazon's Rings of Power.
- Thread starter Sam Gamgee
- Start date
This thread made me go ahead and finally watch it. I never took up Wheel of Time, but I've been enjoying this. Not as good as the movies, but it's fine a time. I don't know what people are going on about.
I'm of the opinion set characters should stay to their own ethnicity: 007 should stay caucasian because that's what his character is and how he was written, yet I diverge when it comes to, say, different, original characters. For this intstance I bring up Miles Morales' Spiderman. He doesn't replace or rebrand Spiderman, he's just his own spidey existence and fits into the spidey universe just fine. That's how I see the actors of this show. I feel like the inclusion does the show good, personally.
I'm of the opinion set characters should stay to their own ethnicity: 007 should stay caucasian because that's what his character is and how he was written, yet I diverge when it comes to, say, different, original characters. For this intstance I bring up Miles Morales' Spiderman. He doesn't replace or rebrand Spiderman, he's just his own spidey existence and fits into the spidey universe just fine. That's how I see the actors of this show. I feel like the inclusion does the show good, personally.
A (probably uncommon) opinion of mine is this:
"Fan fiction" is usually ethically suspect, unless the author is given the opportunity to approve of it (or not). Fan fiction hijacks somebody else's world, characters, fictional history, etc., and does things with these that the author did not intend.
"Fan fiction" has often been the polite label for literary vandalism.
That vandalism has usually been well-intended. But subjective good intent is a completely different question.
This literary vandalism is serious to the degree that the original art is great, and to the degree that the original author is unique.
Tolkien was unique in ways and on levels that few people even have categories to comprehend.
And he is not around to approve of what others are doing with his creations.
If somebody wants to make films and shows involving elves and orcs and reforged swords, that's fine, he can have fun. But he shouldn't freighthop on the train of Tolkien's world and countries and characters and names. He needs that Trojan Horse because he doesn't have the skill to garner fans on his own merits.
"Fan fiction" is usually ethically suspect, unless the author is given the opportunity to approve of it (or not). Fan fiction hijacks somebody else's world, characters, fictional history, etc., and does things with these that the author did not intend.
"Fan fiction" has often been the polite label for literary vandalism.
That vandalism has usually been well-intended. But subjective good intent is a completely different question.
This literary vandalism is serious to the degree that the original art is great, and to the degree that the original author is unique.
Tolkien was unique in ways and on levels that few people even have categories to comprehend.
And he is not around to approve of what others are doing with his creations.
If somebody wants to make films and shows involving elves and orcs and reforged swords, that's fine, he can have fun. But he shouldn't freighthop on the train of Tolkien's world and countries and characters and names. He needs that Trojan Horse because he doesn't have the skill to garner fans on his own merits.
I discovered Tolkien long before Middle Earth was put into pictures by Peter Jackson.
So I created my own image of this story before the movies that are canon today existed.
The first thing I would say is that the Jackson movies also have big differences from the books.
Quoting from memory "The Fellowship of the Ring" is massacred, especially on the journey from the Shire to Rivendell.
Tom Bombadill and the Old Forest, the Barrow-down, etc. disappear.
In "The Two Towers" they put elves in the battle of Helm's Deep, which is impossible since the last alliance between men and elves occurred 3000 years before.
In "The Return of the King" the Battle of the Shire disappears.
The Hobbit trilogy was directly pulled out of Peter Jackson's balls, pardon the expression.
So it's nothing new.
My opinion?
I like the series, the photography, the staging and the cinematography seem excellent to me.
That Galadriel doesn't seem so smart?
Well she is 3000 years younger than in the LOTR events. In addition, the idea of the perfect, intelligent and fair Elves is from Jackson's movies, the elves do stupid things, commit cruelties and murders in The Silmarilion. The Slaughter of Alqualondë for example.
That they put a black elf in the series?
There are no nogre elves, but if there are black men in LOTR, in fact the army of Mordor has entire battalions of blacks from the South.
But in a fantasy world, if someone is upset about putting a black man in a role, the problem is whoever is upset.
The problem with the series is including men in general.
To include the human race they are compressing the story too much, because otherwise it is impossible to have human characters with whom the public identifies and the story should be only elvish.
since in a history of thousands of years the human characters in particular only appear in fleeting brushstrokes.
Honestly, I like it and it's enjoyable.
So I created my own image of this story before the movies that are canon today existed.
The first thing I would say is that the Jackson movies also have big differences from the books.
Quoting from memory "The Fellowship of the Ring" is massacred, especially on the journey from the Shire to Rivendell.
Tom Bombadill and the Old Forest, the Barrow-down, etc. disappear.
In "The Two Towers" they put elves in the battle of Helm's Deep, which is impossible since the last alliance between men and elves occurred 3000 years before.
In "The Return of the King" the Battle of the Shire disappears.
The Hobbit trilogy was directly pulled out of Peter Jackson's balls, pardon the expression.
So it's nothing new.
My opinion?
I like the series, the photography, the staging and the cinematography seem excellent to me.
That Galadriel doesn't seem so smart?
Well she is 3000 years younger than in the LOTR events. In addition, the idea of the perfect, intelligent and fair Elves is from Jackson's movies, the elves do stupid things, commit cruelties and murders in The Silmarilion. The Slaughter of Alqualondë for example.
That they put a black elf in the series?
There are no nogre elves, but if there are black men in LOTR, in fact the army of Mordor has entire battalions of blacks from the South.
But in a fantasy world, if someone is upset about putting a black man in a role, the problem is whoever is upset.
The problem with the series is including men in general.
To include the human race they are compressing the story too much, because otherwise it is impossible to have human characters with whom the public identifies and the story should be only elvish.
since in a history of thousands of years the human characters in particular only appear in fleeting brushstrokes.
Honestly, I like it and it's enjoyable.
Yes.
Apparently they set themselves the goal of creating a 50-hour story.
So the first season seems like a kind of bucolic first act.
Although chapter 6 was very entertaining.
The thing that often moves me most in Tolkien’s work is his wisdom and the ability he has with language. To me, what he could do with language was ridiculously complex and beautiful, and sometimes it even has the flavor of holiness. Much of that translates into the original Jackson trilogy since he borrowed so heavily from the page for dialogue. This gave the original films the same _flavor_ as the books (yes, a lot was changed, as has been pointed out in this thread, but the _spirit_ of the story remained).
All of this is what’s missing from the Amazon series - for me at least. The writers just don’t have the ability to write beautiful and believable dialogue for the characters (or apparently even craft a story for the viewer to follow). I don’t blame the actors because they are acting as they are being directed - that is their job. But the producers just aren’t in the same league as Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) and it shows.
All of this is what’s missing from the Amazon series - for me at least. The writers just don’t have the ability to write beautiful and believable dialogue for the characters (or apparently even craft a story for the viewer to follow). I don’t blame the actors because they are acting as they are being directed - that is their job. But the producers just aren’t in the same league as Tolkien (or Peter Jackson) and it shows.
What I wonder is if we have to give so much importance to the books that were published after JRRT's death?
Being that he was successful in publishing, I always believe that what he didn't publish in life, he had the intention of not publishing it.
He didn't consider it finished or he didn't consider it valid.
His heirs have been making money off his legacy ever since he was put 6 feet under the ground, without much respect for his work.
At least sometimes I think so.
Being that he was successful in publishing, I always believe that what he didn't publish in life, he had the intention of not publishing it.
He didn't consider it finished or he didn't consider it valid.
His heirs have been making money off his legacy ever since he was put 6 feet under the ground, without much respect for his work.
At least sometimes I think so.
I found myself rooting for Sauron.
I believe there was tremendous respect. Christopher was his literary executor so, while he was alive, I viewed the released works as canonical. He knew the landscape better than anyone outside of his father and understood author intent. After his passing several years ago, all bets are off.
Much of Christopher Tolkien’s life’s work was arranging his father’s unpublished writings for the public to enjoy. From all the evidence I’ve seen over the years, he did this to honor his father and give the fans more of what they wanted. And Tolkien, having been a good man and having loved his family, would have surely wanted them to proposer after his death. I know I would want my own children to benefit from my work if they could.
If you publish a successful book, your family will benefit from them for 70 years from your death, that's the law. The rights pass their inherited for 7 good decades.
The family was well provided for by the rights to what was already published.
In fact, the rights that Amazon bought cost 200 million dollars.
Christopher's intentions may have been good, but it doesn't change the fact that JRR, had he wanted to, could have published all the material he wanted, since he was successful in publishing.
It is not that his books have not been published for lack of editorial or public interest. If they weren't edited it's most likely because JRR didn't intend to publish them.
In fact according to Tolkien's letters, JRR had serious reservations when it came to making movies with the LOTR series, very serious doubts.
It's just an opinion I sometimes have.
It is my understanding that Tolkien sold the film rights for tax purposes, to ease the burden his children would face after his death. I doubt Tolkien could envision a quality film being made of his work in his day, and in all likelihood he wouldn’t have wanted films made at all, regardless of quality. He was from a different age and couldn’t even understand why he was a celebrity.
I’ve also heard from Tolkien scholars (I am not one) that much of his work was unfinished upon his death, making one of his great fears realized. Christopher had to not only compile it all and put it it order, but he actually had to finish some of it himself. I see nothing amiss with any of this. YMMV.
Prime’s Reacher was spot on! At the end of the season there is a 5 second cameo of Lee in one of the last scenes. I’ve watched it twice already, very happy with the portrayal of the book. Hoping for Tripwire next.
Bingo bango bongo, I'm so happy in the jungle I refuse to go...
Several years of hard labor in the Mines of Moria should make you much more pliable.
I tapped out after the third ep. Its the worst writing on TV right now. The more that comes out about how this was greenlit and the show runners starts to explain why its so bad and failing. Unfortunate but not totally unexpected.