Der Herr der Ringe: Die Ringe der Macht

As a Lord of the Rings fan, I was eagerly awaiting the origin stories of Middle-earth. Of course, I have high expectations after Lord of the Rings, which is close to perfection in terms of time and fiction. Because they have a considerable budget and opportunities, that's why I gave my points by watching the first episode right away. Although it is the beginning part, I can say that I liked the first part very much. The character of Galadriel could have been more strong, but she is still successful. We will warm up to the characters better over time.

Characters: 8 Story: 10 Decor and venue: 10 Costume: 10 Music: 10.

A pleasant surprise, the cinematography is impeccable, the characters quite well done, the plot looks like a link between the stories of the First Age, the Silmarillion and the stories of the Lord of the Rings of the Third Age, the rhythm of narration is pleasant albeit a bit slow. If the outcome of the series will be to narrate how Sauron forged the Rings of Power, it will definitely be something to watch. Until this moment, I think that in general terms, at least the first chapter delivers. I think enough to be cautiously optimistic about what the next 7 episodes might turn out to be. I must add, again that I am pleasantly surprised.

We all know liberties were taken with this series so my review is not based on faithfulness to the source material.

A lot of the marketing for this show led people to fear it would be woke. I didn't see anything like that. I wasn't rolling my eyes or cringing at any virtue signalling.

The pace is a little rough in parts but since it's the beginning of the series I almost expect a little dawdling. There's a lot going on, things to be set up and introduced etc...

The characters and the story is engaging though, the cinematography was well done, and the score seemed to fit... so I'm honestly excited to see where this series goes.

Definitely give this a shot and decide for yourself.

I loved the original trilogy. I wanted to love this show as well. However, if we take out the amazing visuals or diverse cast of new and old characters, this movie is a major misfire. The dialogue is some of the worst I have seen in recent TV shows. The show is honestly boring and I have no clue why given the deep source material to work with. Also, the "re-imaging" of characters does no justice to the author who spent such effort molding them into who they are. JRR shaped his fantasy world to tell his stories. They do not always match up to reality because this is a fantasy show for a reason. It is truly sad that one of the greatest fantasy stories is reduced to such divisive and uninspiring argumentation. Gave it a chance. Sadly, not all fantasy should match the real world.

I'm okay with changes to Tolkien's lore when necessary. Although, as a fan of Tolkien's writing, I'll say that I'd only advise doing that if you have a really strong idea for something different. I don't think these writers had strong ideas... in nearly anything.

This show's downfall is its absolutely soulless writing. The characters are bland, the dialogue is awful, and the story is uninteresting. It's clear that they spent a lot of money hiring talented CGI artists to come in and give the show beautiful CG artwork. It's just a shame that the actual direction of each episode is as bland and uninteresting as the writing. I think this show was one of the biggest wastes of talent ever aired on TV. All these fabulously talented Visual Effects artists wasting their efforts on a show that has absolutely no heart and no honest feelings in its script.

Tolkien's stories thrived on a delicate balance between the deep sense of history and the grand personal adventures of his characters. His characters fit perfectly into a mosaic of story arcs that range through a long and beautiful history. His work is absolutely phenomenal to those who can appreciate it, but this new show really feels like it was made by people with no understanding or appreciation of what made Tolkien's stories so amazing. Instead, the show feels like a gigantic corporation wanted to make a popular TV show (like Game if Thrones) so they decided to purchase whatever Tolkien IP they could in order to pump out a product with "Lord of the Rings" stamped on it. All so they could make money off the value of Tolkien's legacy while paying no respect to him... oh wait that's exactly what happened!

Don't be fooled by the showrunners acting like this show has a positive moral agenda. I swear, that's a cynical manipulation tactic to try and get audiences to overlook the fact that this show is an utterly shameless cash grab that Tolkien would, no doubt, absolutely despise.

Try and imagine these writer's creating their own fantasy story... NOBODY would watch it. They're getting eyes on this story because they're coat riding Tolkien while also acting as though they're somehow "fixing" his work. I genuinely hate it.

People are free to disagree and enjoy it as much as they like. I know a few people who really like the show and that's awesome for them. I have noticed that these people tend to be easily pleased and enjoy it mostly for its loose connection to the world of Middle Earth (details like Balrogs, Orcs, Elves, Locations, and characters ect.)

But I genuinely don't understand it. I like big fun fantasy stories and I love Tolkien. I'm exactly the kind of person this show SHOULD appeal to and yet I genuinely think it's terrible. It's a shame, I wanted to like it.