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What are your thoughts on Amazon Prime's Lord of the Rings project?

posted 5 years ago by RussellNash (2087)
31 replies | jump to latest

Allegedly it's going to be the most expensive tv series ever made. Recently it's been revealed that it will take place in the second age in Tolkien's fictive world of Arda. As Tolkien readers will know, this is roughly 3500 years before the events in the Lord of the Rings and will cover the rise of Númenor (the civilization of Aragorn's forefathers), the rise of Sauron in Middle-earth, and the wars of the Rings between Sauron and the Elves. We see a glimpse of some of these events in the prologue to Fellowship.

I've been a huge fan of Tolkien and his universe since I was 7, and I enjoyed Peter Jackson's original trilogy, particularly Fellowship. Yet I have no clue about what to expect of this new series. I do fear that it will be too heavilly influenced by the present time and political correctness, which in my opinion ruined the Hobbit trilogy and the new Star Wars trilogy. I have little hopes in a faithful Tolkien adaptation which will stand the test of time. But hey, I might be pleasantly surprised! I will have to subscribe to Prime to find out, no matter what.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I think they should've made a series about Smeagol and Deagol and Smeagols transformation into Gollum.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 5 years ago

It's a very limited story though, and partly done in the prologue of ROTK.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I think they could easily expand on it. They can show the upbringing and relationship between Deagol and Smeagol and eventually get to where they find the ring and tell about the whole seduction and Smeagol using the rings powers and being banished and what happened during the 500 years in the cave. I would prefer that over a show about the war. We already had a lot of battles in the trilogy and it was the least interesting aspect in the films for me.

[–] TexasJack (12515) 5 years ago

I’m very excited for it, but I wish they would have started with the First Age instead. There are so many great stories from the First Age.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 5 years ago

There are indeed, TJ! Maybe they'll get to the first age later.

[–] TexasJack (12515) 5 years ago

A prequel to the prequel! That might make sense.

Maybe they wanted to tie the stories as closely as possible to the LOTR era, so they started with the Second Age where Sauron was also the Big Bad as opposed to the F.A. which was mostly about Morgoth with Sauron playing second fiddle.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 5 years ago

The S.A. resembles the T.A. in regards of the war against Sauron, the story of the rings, and the fall of the kings of men. I reckon they'll evaluate the ratings before going on to the F.A. which in all fairness is sometimes less "tangible" than the other ages: Imagine if The Song of the Ainur was the first episode, presented to an unprepared audience who expected something similar to The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy...

[–] ShogunofYonkers (71750) 5 years ago

Had not heard of it 'til you posted this
I'll read up on it, hopefully it's going to be great!

[–] RussellNash (2087) 5 years ago

👍

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I watched the first three but there will be no more for me.

[–] McQualude (4231) 5 years ago

Those will be renamed 4,5, & 6; sorry.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Three was enough

[–] TandyMan (10364) 5 years ago

I think it's going to be great, i'm just not sure what Amazon is hoping to gain from it. I don't see them garnering enough new subscribers to offset the cost.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 5 years ago

Good point, TandyMan!

[–] McQualude (4231) 5 years ago

Subscriber numbers are built on reputation for quality content and it's working for HBO and Netflix.

[–] TandyMan (10364) 5 years ago

Amazon's entire business model operates in the red. They only offer the prices and free shipping they do through endless expansion and government deals. I'm sure their entertainment division is no different. That's all going to implode sooner or later.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12299) 5 years ago

I didn't even know they were doing this.

[–] FredBurroughs (19706) 5 years ago

Most expensive TV series ever made is an understatement. Amazon paid $250 million to the Tolkien estate for the rights alone. Just the rights. That's $250 million before the cameras even start rolling.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

That's insane!

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Hm. I was hoping it was about the extremely dramatic end of the 2nd age, not the middle.

The forging of the rings of power just isnt as entertaining as the fall of Numenor and the war of the Last Alliance, so I'm not running out to get Amazon Prime quite yet.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 4 years ago

You and me both, Otter!

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

I'd actually vaguely planned out a huge, spectacular, big-budget movie trilogy about the end of the second age, with Elendil and his family serving as the relatable, human, believable protagonists:

Film 1: The seduction of Ar-Pharazon, Numenor turning to the worship of Moroth, the fall of Numenor, the escape in nine ships.

Film 2: The founding of Gondor and Arnor, the alliance with Gil-Galad, the start of the War of the Last Alliance.

Film 3: The War of the Last Alliance and the siege of Barad-Dur, the capture of the One Ring and its loss.

Good thing I never wrote a word of the screenplays, because the coronavirus and the closure of movie theaters has brought the age of the blockbuster film to an end. Maybe someday, there will be a streaming series, and if they did, it'd be WAY better source material than Numenor slowly colonizing Middle-Earth while the elves fought with Sauron.

[–] RussellNash (2087) 4 years ago

That's impressive, Otter! You really know your Tolkien! That's definitely a trilogy that I would watch.