What's up with those shots on the horse? I thought I was watching a perfume commercial for a second.
Amazon's Lord of the Rings (tv series)
- Thread starter ghostryder
- Start date
kalkamel
Master Member
They just love to drag things on and on. Slow motion action, exposition that goes way too long. Take the Numenor reveal scene for example.
How much do you think each frame cost? What's the average cost per word on this show?
and each episode is 60 minutes at 24 fps so...math isn't my thing.
CT1138
Sr Member
You guys have clearly never read Tolkien. He did this stuff with folks' titles all the time. He'd do something like introduce Gandalf to a new character, and it's not just "Gandalf the Grey," it's "Gandalf the Grey, the Wandering Wizard, the Grey Pilgrim, the Storm Crow, Mithrandir..." on and on and on.
The slow-mo horse scene did seem a bit excessive, but keep in mind this is the same property that took 20 years for Frodo to actually start his journey in Fellowship. The LotR books are literally just a bunch of elderly people climbing mountains.
kalkamel
Master Member
I've actually been reading Tolkien since I was 14. While my book collection is not as voluminous as others, I do have First Editions dating back to the early 70s, and multiple versions of the same book.
But bear in mind Tolkien was a philologist. He constructed every sentence with care and thought and his expositions are filled with metaphors, some obvious and others obscure. That's why the appeal of his stories have lasted this long.
Jackson knew this and incorporated a lot of Tolkien's dialogue wholesale in his movies. And the fact that they are performed by truly talented people like Sir Ian McKellen make them a pleasure to hear.
The Amazon writers try to emulate this style but they end up desperately trying to sound poignant but end up being filled with redundancies and non sequiturs. To make it worse, their performers (like Ms Clark) don't have the same gravitas in their delivery so they come across as flat most of the time.
CT1138
Sr Member
Tolkien was a brilliant linguist, but his pseudo-Medieval dialogue left a lot to be desired. It was clunky and yes, full of redundancies and non sequiturs. As somebody who's written fanfiction, it can be incredibly difficult to mimic another writer's style, especially one so unique as Tolkiens'. But Tolkien himself had a very bad habit of rambling. Not quite Dickens bad, but his writing was filled with verbiage.
kalkamel
Master Member
Yeah but think of all the slow motion horseback riding perfume commercials that await us in future episodes.
kalkamel
Master Member
Too bad they didn't show Elendil grinning while riding the horse in slow motion too. An older man and a younger woman looking very pleased would make a great Viagra commercial.
Maybe they will shoot the next one in the Misty Mountains...
Pretty good for a commercial that only cost $768,000 according to the previous math established.
Gimpdiggity
Master Member
I’ve enjoyed all three episodes. The pacing seems a tiny bit slow, but from what I understand it’s supposed to be a 4-5 season story…so really we are just in the first few moments of the overall story and we are still being introduced to all of the characters.
I think they’re doing a good job with Meteor Man right now, too. Is he bad? Is he good? Pretty vague so far while not being annoyingly so.
I think they’re doing a good job with Meteor Man right now, too. Is he bad? Is he good? Pretty vague so far while not being annoyingly so.
Analyzer
Master Member
I flip back and forth between it being Gandalf (or another Istari/Wizard) and Sauron
At first I thought Sauron as this shot is very reminiscent of the "Eye of Sauron"
However that may be an intentional misdirection?
It could be symbolic of Sauron eye, but still be Gandalf as if Sauron is watching a new threat to himself
The Wizards were sent as protectors specifically against Sauron
Then of course their was the bit about the fireflies dying after he used them
Once again, very reminiscent of Sauron corrupting things
If we are to have Sauron trick people into forging the ring, he can't exactly be a giant in armor, he needs a more normal looking form.
I believe his new form though was described as "fair" or elf like though, but forget if that was Silmarillion stuff or not (remember, they do not have rights to anything outside the LOTR trilogy books and the Hobbit)
Not sure of it could be one of the "Blue Wizards" who arrived before the three, but I do not think they were in the LOTR stuff so they would not be able to use them
Naturally it also makes sense why Gandalf would have such a connection to Hobbits later on if his early interactions are with their ancestors
However, the appendix supposedly has the Wizards showing up at the beginning of the Third Age. But it is not like they can't take liberties with the timeline
My bet is Gandalf (or Saruman or even Rhadghast)
But they keep throwing in some misdirection to make me think Sauron
Of course, if looking for the "shocking twist" factor, this is one way to get it
Analyzer
Master Member
Here are some good arguments though for why it is neither Gandalf nor Sauron
www.polygon.com
The Stranger in Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power isn’t who you think
Who is the meteor Stranger? Here’s what the Tolkien lore says
www.polygon.com
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