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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will begin with a two-episode premiere at the start of September, followed by a new episode every week (at the same time around the world) up until October 14.
This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
I thought the first episode was a bit dull. I'm sure it'll warm up a bit as more characters come into it but if it wasn't for the little people (harfoots they're called here) there wouldn't have been much life in it at all. And the couple being set up for the big romance aren't the most charismatic. But I'll carry on anyway, even though I'm in two minds about continuity with the Jackson middle-earth (first trilogy fine, second one very, very bad).
Yes, your review echoes what I've read elsewhere. Beautiful to look at, but very slow.
Still, as the first 2 eps of a 5 series show, it might work better overall.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62738442
The second episode has a bit more life to it. Slow pacing doesn't bother me, but slow doesn't have to be dull. After 2 episodes I'd say it could go either way. I know Tolkien purists* are up in arms about certain casting choices, but I'm not a purist. The LOTR and Hobbit books are enough written Tolkien for me, so if liberties are taken with the lore I probably wouldn't even know.
I do think they've overdone somewhat the 'poker-up-the-arseness' of elves. In episode one a bunch of them on a long sea journey stand lined up on deck looking... well, like they have pokers up their arses. Elf shipwrights don't make seats, folks! I know it's a small point but it also led to what I thought looked like a surprisingly unconvincing 'sore thumb' fx shot.
* I've done no reading up on this series and the purists I refer to are players of the 15-year old (but still going) Lord of the Rings Online MMO.
Four episodes in. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be this one: dull.
That's a shame, cos I had high hopes ... we've not started this yet, as we're trying to schedule a time with friends when we're all free. Sounds like I will need to get the coffees on ! ☕☕
I suppose it doesn't help being out at the same time as 'House Of The Dragon', which from the soundbites I've tried to avoid, seems to be shaping up as an equal alongside GOT.
I'm really enjoying it. The last episode was over an hour and seemed to fly by.
Without dropping any spoilers, the most interesting characters in my opinion are the little people. They seem to be the only ones with any spark to them, and they weren't in episode 4. The cast is generally capable but the writing is just... dull. I'll continue with it (mainly because I'm playing the game and I feel that I have one foot in the world already) and I'm aware it's still early days. I just hope it doesn't go down the moronic Hobbit films route - a distinct possibility since the design is adhering slavishly to Jackson's version of Middle Earth. And it has to be said, that warg looked like an angry poodle.
We finally finished this ! We were watching with another couple, and it was hard to get our schedules to line-up. Plus we ended up nattering so much that on some Saturdays we only managed to watch a single episode!
Overall we enjoyed it, but as you said @wowbagger ... it is very slow, and much of the dialogue is clunky. I didn't like the Harfoots so much - the dwarves for me were the highlight, along with the Orcs of course. The Elves were very stiff, but that was the point I guess, although Galadriel was excellent throughout.
There were some excellent scenes, and surprising flashes of brutality and blood too, but overall there wasn't enough of them to make it feel exciting.
I'd rate it a 7/10 same as HotD, but of course they are very different.
Interesting. I thought the treatment of Galadriel was one of the big mistakes, and symptomatic of the real big problem, which was that, with instant popularity in mind, the makers decided to follow Peter Jackson before Tolkien. I was excited at Morfydd Clark's casting (as a big fan of Saint Maud) but the longer this went on the more laughable she became - clearly intended as a pre-Legolas, with some ridiculous saddle-antics thrown in to remind us. I'll watch season 2, I know, with expectations suitably tempered. It wasn't all bad, and they'd probably have to get hobbit-films bad for me to give up on it.
