BIG, EARLY NEWS: Amazon buying LOTR to make a Series

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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

Oddly enough, I didn't mind the Hobbit trilogy.
It was ridiculously long but I found it enjoyable.

Someone painstakingly edited all three Hobbit movies into one and removed anything that wasn't in the books.
It was about 1 hour and 30 minutes long and I loved it.
I don't have a link, I think I downloaded or torrented it.

I think that explains why I like the Hobbit trilogy movies despite all the changes.
Because buried in there is the story that I love.

Plus I really like Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen.
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Post by wayfriend »

I think I am going to enjoy kick-ass Galadriel.

And the old man? There's a character poster of him holding an apple for crise sake. If that's not a give-away I don't know what is.

Speaking of which, I never new about this "Mairon" thing until I read some posts about the Series. I'm surprised I never encountered that before. I have to check up on what I didn't read. But I am going to keep reading it as "Marion" for a long time, I'm afraid.
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Post by Zarathustra »

I recently watched the 4k version of The Hobbit trilogy on an LG OLED. It looked spectacular! I had a blast. The changes don't bother me nearly as much as they did in LOTR. I'm currently rereading The Hobbit, and it's the first time since I was 13 that I'm not having all that much fun. The writing really is horrible in the first few chapters.

Looking forward to the Amazon series! Everything I've seen so far looks great.
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Post by Avatar »

The changes bothered me less in LotR than in The Hobbit. :D (But then I read The Hobbit many more times than I did LotR...)

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Post by wayfriend »

I just a bit taken aback by how this series went from zero to full blast.
Up until a few weeks ago, there was no news, no commentary, nothing.
Now it's everywhere. With all the downside that comes with it.

It's still a long way away. And when it's here it will trickle out week by week, year by year. It is a rare bird that can sustain that kind of presence. If it's not every bit as captivating as Game of Thrones was, it will be a let down.
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Post by Avatar »

Well, all the news sent me on an hours long meander through the LotR Fandom wiki last night. :D

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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

From what I've been reading, Amazon only has the rights to the 3 books of the LotR.
So, only the Appendix.
No the Sil and not Unfinished or any of the Letters (that they like to quote).
But they are also saying that it's not in anyway a prequel to the LotR either.
They are just using it as a guide.
So....just make up you're own god damn stories then!!
Amazon basically paid $250 million for some recognizable words to use in the title.
:lol:
Unreal.
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Post by wayfriend »

Lore, Legal Rights & the Tolkien Estate

First off, we are hearing that the Tolkien Estate is very happy with how things are progressing. Seems they really are more involved in this Production than with any previous LOTR adaptation ever [including the Bakshi version in 1978 and the six Middle-earth films from Peter Jackson; per the terms of the newest deal] and are thus enjoying the creative process. The overall plan for the show has instilled confidence in the Production and more story rights have been assigned to the show.
  • *CONFIRMED* for the 1st time EVER: elements & passages from “The Silmarillionâ€� and “Unfinished Talesâ€� are licensed by Amazon Studios for this adaptation [we broadly speculate those are sections of the book relative to Númenor and Rings of Power including full rights to stories licensed in the Appendices of “The Lord of the Rings,â€� which already mention Númenor and much more. Actors had posted instagram pics from Silm over the last 18 months.]
  • Amazon DOES have merchandising rights
  • Three lore experts / Tolkien scholars were on set for a time during production
  • Tolkien Estate is said to be very happy with how things are progressing
High Lord, if the Tolkien Estate is happy, how can you be disgruntled?
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

I'd love to see the link, WF.
That contradicts what I've read (that I didn't bookmark but I'll look for it again.)
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Post by Zarathustra »

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Post by High Lord Tolkien »


Thanks.
That's from July 20th, 2021 though.
A lots happened since then, lol

Also, it's from theonering.net
I used to love that site but lately I wonder if Amazon didn't buy it.
The insane amount of Amazon ass kissing they crank out is ridiculous.
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

Found one article.
This was from last week:

https://lrmonline.com/news/what-materia ... -answered/
https://thoolah.blogspot.com/

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Post by wayfriend »

Well, theonering.net seems to be the only site reporting that Amazon acquired further rights from Tolkien estates. (Although there are many sites reporting that theonering.net reported it.)

I will assume it's true, as I have no reason to doubt it.

A lot may have happened since then. But we can assume that they still have those rights. Which means that they can portray far more than what is in the Appendices.

It seems to make sense from Tolkien Estate's point of view as well. I mean, I am sure that they don't want to see the story butchered so as to stay within a very limited set of sources. Imagine if Amazon portrayed Numenor, but was legally blocked from portraying it as described in Akallabeth? Who wins with that plan?

So: Let's presume that they would still be limited to what is in the Appendices. They can draw on details from the Silmarillion that flesh it out, but not on additional material beyond that.
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Post by Menolly »

Was there seriously ever any doubt?
Uh-oh:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... Power.html

"Turkey is not the word. No turkey, however bloated and stupid, could ever be big enough to convey the mesmerising awfulness of Amazon's billion dollar Tolkien epic."
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Post by Zarathustra »

I agree with the review. This was awful. There is no story here. There is no focus. Everything is contrived. There is no depth. It's silly. Every scene felt unnecessary and ad hoc. Melodramatic. Meteor man is dumb. It felt like a big budget Willow. The only thing that felt like Tolkien was the names and the artwork. I hope it gets better, but after two episodes, House of the Dragon blows this away. That show has a story, a focus, characters who actually have things to care about that make sense, and acting that doesn't feel forced.
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It's like Amazon wrapped the Lord of the Rings Appendices around the Ill-Earth Stone and then sat on it while writing the script. I don't even know what the hell I just watched.
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Post by Zarathustra »

High Lord Tolkien wrote:It's like Amazon wrapped the Lord of the Rings Appendices around the Ill-Earth Stone and then sat on it while writing the script. I don't even know what the hell I just watched.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Exactly.

It's minor complaint, but even the music felt wrong. We had a choir of men with deep voices singing while the humans (Southlanders) were on the screen, music that felt more appropriate for Dwarves and Khazad-dum. It felt like it was trying to parrot both Tolkien and Jackson and failing at both attempts.
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

Zarathustra wrote:
High Lord Tolkien wrote:It's like Amazon wrapped the Lord of the Rings Appendices around the Ill-Earth Stone and then sat on it while writing the script. I don't even know what the hell I just watched.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Exactly.

It's minor complaint, but even the music felt wrong. We had a choir of men with deep voices singing while the humans (Southlanders) were on the screen, music that felt more appropriate for Dwarves and Khazad-dum. It felt like it was trying to parrot both Tolkien and Jackson and failing at both attempts.
I didn't even notice the music, to be honest. which isn't a good indication either.
I wasn't a fan of much of the Jackson trilogy but the music was pretty damn good.

[spoiler]When I saw there was an outpost of Noldorian Elves in the lands of the Harad....WHAT THE FUCK???[/spoiler]

I watched both episodes twice just to make sure it wasn't me just being a dick going into it.
2nd time with subtitles to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Nope.

Reminds me of what Covenant said in the Wounded Land: "There's only one way to hurt a man... give him back something broken."
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Post by High Lord Tolkien »

The only part I liked, because it was well written and creative was:

[spoiler]The one minute when Galadriel was little and talking to her brother about which light to follow and her whispered something into her ear that the audience wasn't privy to.
And then at the end of episode just before the boat crossed over to Valinor (which was stupid and pointless all in itself) where we heard what Finrod said to her.[/spoiler]


That was good.
So, two minutes of good that had nothing to do with Tolkien in anyway.
Good job Amazon. :lol:


[spoiler]The "crossover" or whatever was happening with the boat scene was pointless and stupid because in the 2nd Age there was nothing keeping Elven ships from reaching Valinor! It was wide open. The Elves were free to return.
There was no Kinslaying mentioned in this show's reality or any kind of Ban of the Valar keeping Elves from returning...It was a totally moronic scene.
There weren't even any Valar mentioned either.
I can't even believe Amazon did this with as little rights to Tolkien's stories that they have.

Oh, and the 2 second scene of the Eagle and Dragon fighting was pretty awesome.
2 seconds...
Only spent 2 seconds on the War of Wrath.... :lol:
[/spoiler]
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Post by Zarathustra »

Spoilers for people who don’t know why boats float: it isn’t because they seek the light. Jesus. I disagree HLT, I thought this was the epitome of cheesy, stupid writing. I’ve argued with some on FB who said I just didn’t get the symbolism, but when it’s revealed what was whispered (dumb: why whisper the crucial point? There was no one around to hear except the audience), she was literally in the water trying to float. So it was just a helpful hint to be taken literally, not symbolism. And literally, it’s ridiculous. Young Galadriel is so dumb she can’t tell up from down? Sparkles on the water confuse her so bad she can’t tell if they are the sun in the sky? How exactly does “touching the darkness� clear up this distinction between reflected light and direct light? Do boats need to touch darkness to make this distinction? When she’s in the water, she turns away from the light of Valinor, so wouldn’t this (symbolically) mean she should sink? I honestly think it’s the dumbest metaphor I’ve ever seen.
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