Amazon's LOTR: Rings of Power

[Amunet]

Guess we'll get a better idea of what to expect from this series as it seems the first teaser trailer will be shown this Sunday, February 13, during Super Bowl.

[Blackmoor]

Originally Posted by Pelagius

The problem- as you point out- is that 90% of this is going to have to be invented out of whole cloth, and nothing about the writers' previous credentials or the various noises being made by the journalistic reporting apparatus inspire great confidence in this regard.

That is my main concern. These things are not easy to write well as demonstrated by the many not so brilliant fantasy films and tv series that already exist.

The best are usually from books written by authors who love the genre and write the stories for themselves as much as anything.

I did look at who was producing it and was surprised that they didn't seem to have that much experience (according to IMDB anyway).

I expect the trailer coming this weekend to give some hint of what tone they're taking with it, and I think from that we'll be able to tell a lot from that.

[MrBear]

There's a Vanity Fair article out that begins to peel back the curtain a bit on this show. I'm... not more excited after reading it, but also not less. It really can go either way with this one.
Just as a heads-up: there are a few minor (?) spoilers for the first couple of episodes. I skipped those lines when I realised, but still read more than I'd have preferred to know beforehand (but also, I vehemently dislike spoilers, so the average person will probably be perfectly fine reading it ).
To that end, small spoilers from the article will follow:
I'm still digesting the information in the article, but I think I like that they're bringing new characters to life. It would've been easy to play it safe and stick with names you recognised, but having a mix seems to hold the most potential for a good show. Of course, it all comes down to how well they're handled.
We have a picture of our first dwarf woman and I'm a little sad that she doesn't have a beard. Guess they have to conform to human beauty standards?
We'll have a pair of hobbits among our cast of characters, seemingly just for the sake of having hobbits. As above, as long as they're handled well. My love for the halflings is so rooted in how idyllic the Shire is, so hopefully their Second Age home offers a similarly peaceful slice of the world.
Some details were a bit worrying. For one, a little too much corporate talk. Why did they interview Amazon suits for this and not more of the creative minds? It's possible it was a requirement for giving them this exclusive article, but in that case, it's interesting that they note some less flattering details, like breaking ties with Tom Shippey, a Tolkien scholar, and subsequently striking any names of other scholars they'd collaborated with. Man, I really wish it wasn't Amazon that was behind this project, even though, as the article likes to emphasise, no one else likely could've produced this.

Still, I'm looking forward to the other side of Summer and seeing what awaits us there.

[Mani_Man]

Only looked at the pictures because i wanna go in as blind as possible.

It looks really really good, you can tell that there is a lot of money in that.
But it looks too good at times i feel, not like a living and breathing world you know.

I really need to stop having my first thoughts being on this be "This doesnt look like Jacksons LOTR" , that wont end well.
This will be different and i need to get this in my head soon.

I am really interested if they can deliver, there is a lot of pressure on this.

[Blackmoor]

I'm a bit disappointed it was so short and nobody spoke at all.

I like the music, it feels simultaneously grand, playful and also mournful (which seems right for this world). I love the scenery, you can almost literally see the money thrown at this.

Most of the characters in the trailer have pretty or handsome faces. It feels polished and slick.

It just raises so many questions.

Is that Galadriel that features prominantly? Climbing up the ice wall and riding the horse? Is the first season going to focus heavily on her?? Is that her voice over as well or someone else?

Who are those men with the huge antlers? Are they moose antlers? Are they part of their bodies, or just carrying them?

I wish we'd seen a bit more, especially the characters talking, but we are still months away so I suppose they're sensibly stretching this out. We don't want to be tired of it before it's even started.

[biscuits]

It looks very fun imo

[Costel]

You dont have to put a woman in armor to show that she is a badass.
The woke coulture are not capable to create something new of their own. They like to butcher and bastardise someone else work.

[MrBear]

Originally Posted by Blackmoor

(...)

I'm a bit disappointed it was so short and nobody spoke at all.

I like the music, it feels simultaneously grand, playful and also mournful (which seems right for this world). I love the scenery, you can almost literally see the money thrown at this.

Most of the characters in the trailer have pretty or handsome faces. It feels polished and slick.

It just raises so many questions.

Is that Galadriel that features prominantly? Climbing up the ice wall and riding the horse? Is the first season going to focus heavily on her?? Is that her voice over as well or someone else?

Who are those men with the huge antlers? Are they moose antlers? Are they part of their bodies, or just carrying them?

I wish we'd seen a bit more, especially the characters talking, but we are still months away so I suppose they're sensibly stretching this out. We don't want to be tired of it before it's even started.

Definitely a lot of questions despite how short it was, but I suppose that's the point of a teaser trailer

Some guesses of mine (not that I think you're asking anyone more than just wondering out loud, but still): I think the antlers are being carried, although for what purpose I'm not sure. Must be heavy carrying them around. And I imagine the voice-over belongs to someone else; it feels too naive and full of wonder to be an elf's. More like a hobbit caught by wanderlust - perhaps the bright-faced woman at 16 seconds in? Also, I'm not great with accents, but it sounds too ... rural? to be elven. I'm guessing Galadriel will speak more like the Queen's English
I imagine Galadriel will feature heavily, or maybe she's just being promoted a lot more here to draw people to a familiar name that they can connect to the Peter Jackson trilogy. We know there'll be a wide array of characters, but I could see her being one of the 'main' ones, like Jon Snow. It certainly looks like she's got a wild adventure on her hands if it's indeed her on the sea.

Originally Posted by Costel

You dont have to put a woman in armor to show that she is a badass.
The woke coulture are not capable to create something new of their own. They like to butcher and bastardise someone else work.

The armour doesn't automatically turn someone into a badass. It only denotes certain characteristics of her, her societal role or occupation, and perhaps speaks to her character as one that's prepared to fight, not how well she does so. I'm failing to see your point about 'woke culture' or how that's in any way relevant. Whatever you're reading into it is perhaps something you're bringing into it yourself.

[not again!]

The costumes look like Bezos made one of his exploited warehouse workers design them without pay in their free time.

[Blackmoor]

Originally Posted by MrBear

Definitely a lot of questions despite how short it was, but I suppose that's the point of a teaser trailer

Some guesses of mine (not that I think you're asking anyone more than just wondering out loud, but still): I think the antlers are being carried, although for what purpose I'm not sure. Must be heavy carrying them around. And I imagine the voice-over belongs to someone else; it feels too naive and full of wonder to be an elf's. More like a hobbit caught by wanderlust - perhaps the bright-faced woman at 16 seconds in? Also, I'm not great with accents, but it sounds too ... rural? to be elven. I'm guessing Galadriel will speak more like the Queen's English
I imagine Galadriel will feature heavily, or maybe she's just being promoted a lot more here to draw people to a familiar name that they can connect to the Peter Jackson trilogy. We know there'll be a wide array of characters, but I could see her being one of the 'main' ones, like Jon Snow. It certainly looks like she's got a wild adventure on her hands if it's indeed her on the sea.

Partly wondering out loud, but also wanting to hear other people's thoughts because I'm genuinely wanting the answers!

I was kind of hoping they were strange antlered people, but yeah, it's more likely they're hunters who sell those huge antlers...

The accent does sound more rural now you mention it, so it probably is a hobbit or the bright-faced woman.

I am amazed at how beautiful everything looked and to me, it looked like Jackson's middle earth but MORE. It definitely doesn't feel like a completely new imagining in that regard, the people feel connected to the later age of LOTR, and the landscapes and buildings and statues, etc, all feel very Jackson's LOTR-ish.

I did hear that for season 2 they're moving filming to the UK and other parts of Europe, which I'm wondering if they'll lose that New Zealand-Jackson feel because of that.

I believe that part of the contract Amazon did with the Tolkein estate guarantees 5 seasons of it. So, I'm sure one way or another they will get it to work.