द लॉर्ड ऑफ़ द रिंग्स: द रिंग्स ऑफ़ पावर

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.

Supposedly there was a bidding war between HBO and Amazon that the latter won. Just imagine the excellent series we'd have been treated to had the former won the rights.

This was just so wrong on many levels. Tolkien's books were in many ways a reflection of the times he lived in and some of the dreadful experiences he had suffered during war times. For instance the Dead Marshes were a reimagining of dead soldiers under water at the Somme. The series, in some of its characters, bore no resemblance to that long-ago England. Nor did the themes of industrialisation and its ruinous effects appear.

A billion was spent on this. Why could they not have commissioned armour that looked the real thing rather than cheap plastic? The headguards for the Numenorian horses were particularly ridiculous.

More of this largesse should have been spent on plot development and scriptwriting as well as characterisation.

The various races - Elves, Men, Dwarves, Harfoots, Orcs - were assigned their own accents and a pig's ear they made of it too. The elves, attempting Received Pronunciation, made glaring errors that the voice coaches and checkers didn't pick up on. "Proh-ject" instead of "project" was one that sticks in the mind. But as for the cod-Irish accents of the leprechauns, sorry Harfoots, and the embarrassing Scottish accents of the dwarves, these were laughable. The Orcs were not speaking Cockney, as some have asserted, but a strangled south London accent that was obviously put on as badly as the Oirish and Scotch travesties.

Then there are the utter impossibilities that happened. The same character attempts to swim a thousand miles as well as later surviving a pyroclastic flow without a single blemish. Elves are immortal, not indestructible. One character suffers a mortal wound and needs Elvish medicine but somehow manages a six-day horse ride to get it.

Despite red herrings, I knew 100% who Sauron was very early on. I shan't say when or how as I don't want to leave clues but how Galadriel didn't guess is beyond me.

And then the Harfoots. What were they for? We could have had better plot development and more time for what was so sorely lacking in other departments without their aimless presence.

OK, I watched it all so it gets a three. I just don't agree that it got better in the final three episodes. To me, it became more absurd and superficial. I'm not sure that I'll particularly rush to get the second season.

The writing breaks many rules in a way that is either incompetent or extremely arrogant. There is no attachment to characters and dialogue is terribly bland. Adapting Tolkien isn't easy but this show just butchers it. So much nonsensical issues are being juggled simultaneously that one cannot have interest in the characters. The insane cost per episode was clearly not used in costume design, choreography, makeup, or writing. It's hard to determine where all that money went but it's easy enough to conclude that it's money wasted. This show is how not to write or direct fantasy. I hope people will learn from it and prevent future shows from being absolutely pathetic.