Jump to content

Rings of Power: A New Thread to Rule them All


Ser Drewy

Recommended Posts

It's bewildering to me that people on social media have already decided that this is either the best show ever or the worst show ever without even seeing one episode. It just goes to show how successful Amazon's marketing has been.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, farerb said:

goes to show how successful Amazon's marketing has been.

As well, how obsessive/completist are those who are its target audience-- which they, of course, know.  See: Wheel of Time, for another instance.

Or from another entity HBO, with theirs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Quote

"The reason why it's going to succeed is because the executives at Amazon need it to succeed. If it doesn't succeed, there's going to be a big question from Andy Jassy and the board," said one former senior Amazon Studios exec. "If we can't take this piece of IP and make it successful, why is Amazon Studios even here?" 

"It has to succeed," this person added. "There's no option."

And if it doesn't, then what?  Does it cancel everthing and close up shop?  The Boys, Wheel of Time, etc.?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:
And if it doesn't, then what?  Does it cancel everthing and close up shop?  The Boys, Wheel of Time, etc.?

I'd guess every person working on the show and all people above will not keep their jobs.  Then they would try again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

 

And if it doesn't, then what?  Does it cancel everthing and close up shop?  The Boys, Wheel of Time, etc.?

Not to mention that now they own MGM which came with about 4000 titles and there are some franchises among them that Amazon will absolutely want to develop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah the idea that Amazon would cancel The Boys and the entire studio that made it because of the failure of a different TV show- even an incredibly expensive one- is wild. Like, some other studios wouldn't be able to take the financial hit but I don't think Amazon have put themselves in that position here, what with being Amazon.

Some heads would roll, for sure, but one wonders if the 'former' in 'former senior Amazon Studios exec' isn't doing a lot of the talking there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Ser Drewy said:

Including the Hobbits in 2nd age and having Gandalf (I assume) land in the middle of their village demonstrates how little they appreciate Tolkien's subtlety.

People keep saying "well you haven't seen the show yet". Sorry but even if the show's good I'll resent it for making story decisions like these. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such shows aren't owed anyone's time or money, though some seem to feel entitled to it. It's on them to sell us their product, and they've done a terrible job of selling this one. There's an odd undercurrent to the "well you haven't seen the show yet" dismissal, as if you are obliged to grant views to something that looks terrible before commenting on it, and nevermind that the people at Amazon would neither know nor care whether those views came from someone who enjoyed it or someone who hate-watched.

The complete lack of subtlety behind the "hearts bigger than our feet" thing is reason enough to avoid this. That being an example of the artistry of the people who think they can improve Tolkien.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Darryk said:

Including the Hobbits in 2nd age and having Gandalf (I assume) land in the middle of their village demonstrates how little they appreciate Tolkien's subtlety.

People keep saying "well you haven't seen the show yet". Sorry but even if the show's good I'll resent it for making story decisions like these. 

There is nothing that says straight out that Hobbits weren't in the Second Age oddly at least that I can find.  In the prologue it actually speaks of the Harfoots going west early, having many dealings with the dwarves and living around the mountains before wandering around Eriador.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

There is nothing that says straight out that Hobbits weren't in the Second Age oddly at least that I can find.  In the prologue it actually speaks of the Harfoots going west early, having many dealings with the dwarves and living around the mountains before wandering around Eriador.

I'm more concerned with the the fact Tolkien INTENDED the hobbits to be a humble people that none of the great kings know  knows or cares about until they suddenly emerge during the War of the Ring and rise to the occasion

The whole point is they're the surprise package, the ace in the hole. You don't reveal the ace in the hole so early in the game ie in the 2nd Age.

The there's the fact that Gandalf discovers the Hobbits on his own during his wanderings and takes an interest in them because he sees something special about him. This series is gonna make it that he likes the hobbits just because they took care of him after he crashed into earth, which is a much less interesting and poignant reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

There is nothing that says straight out that Hobbits weren't in the Second Age oddly at least that I can find.  In the prologue it actually speaks of the Harfoots going west early, having many dealings with the dwarves and living around the mountains before wandering around Eriador.

The issue is not that the Hobbits were not arround in the Second Age in some form or another, it is that Hobbits simply have no place in the tale of the Forging of the Rings, the Fall of Numenor and the War of the Last Alliance. When writing a story, you only present a small slice of the world at during a certain time relevant to the story you want to tell.

How likely is it that the Hobbit will have an actual, substantial, non-contrived contribution to the stories of Men and Elves at this point in Middle-earth? What would be lost by leaving them out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look its clear they wanted to bring in Hobbits to increase the show to have a wider appeal, you can see in the interviews with the creators that they are doing all sorts of references to the movies. Doesnt bother me that these Harfoots are included in principle but it all depends on how it plays out, their dialogue, how they will be portrayed. Seems they are certainly going for a different look with them being a scruffy looking wandering people.

In the Durin clip Drewy linked to, have to say I love the way Khazad Dum looks, and that gate looked cool.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mean, all that sure, but it's never going to not irritate me that one of the main characters is named after something and someone that happened thousands of years after she was born. 

That her surname uses a Hobbit prefix that shouldn't exist till after the Hobbits settle near the Brandywine river is just icing on the cake. Like others have been saying, it's not really that they're making changes that's the problem - like for some that would be an issue but I like plenty of movies and stuff that are shit adaptations but good work on their own, I could deal.

But this just seems so fucking careless, like they're trying to hit those deep lore-lines but don't know how. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I think it's silly to complain about Hobbits being in it.  Of course any studio was going to make them put Hobbits in it.  As long as their role in the major historical events is limited - i.e. why they're not mentioned in the histories thousands of years later - it is what it is.

OTOH, yes, as I've said before if meteor man is Gandalf that would royally piss me off.  That's not only fucking with Tolkien's cannon, it's fucking with the films' - and cheapening basically the latter's main character.  But, unless I'm missing something, no one here knows yet that it will be Gandalf.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...