Lord of the Rings Series
 

The upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series at Amazon has made its first casting decision.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lor...gh-1203268175/

https://www.theonering.net/torwp/201...s/#more-106907

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

The Lord Of The Rings Production Team has been announced.

https://www.tvshowsace.com/2019/07/3...eam-announced/

Lets hope its as good as l hope as it will be interesting once more cast members are announced.

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Probably not one I'll bother with - the films did nothing for me.

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I really enjoyed the films. I had never read the books and knew nothing of the story. I enjoyed the films as much for the visual spectacle as I did the story. I was very jealous of Bilbo and would love to live in Rivendell.

It is great to see they are getting a Grade A production team, it means the series is going to get all the TLC it possibly can and the production quality is going to be excellent. I just hope each season is at least 10 episodes long like GoT because we are going to be in awe, just feel like we are settling in to it and then it is going to be over.

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After being a great fan of the books for many years l watched the films in anticipation and l thought Peter Jackson did the films superbly.

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I missed so much from the books that didn't make it to the films and The Hobbit had too much "added" and distanced itself too far from the book as a children's story. (Tolkein wrote LOTR because he wanted to have a go at writing a long adult story.)

They mucked up TOTR probably to include more female lead but the worst was treatment for Faromir and dropping the whole "Cleansing of the Shire". But then I read Tolkien for years, LOTR took me 3 days when I was ill - no TV.

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Black Mirror star Will Poulter cast in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series.

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-d...%20Newsletters

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Lord Of The Rings returns to New Zealand for Amazon TV series.

https://news.sky.com/story/lord-of-t...eries-11812901

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Fantastic, it will help with the continuity of the series from the movies plus it is a beautiful country.

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The subsidies they got offered helped given the vast cost of the project.

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I find the whole epic a cure for Insomnia.

The only version I did like Was the ZX Spectrum adventure game, 'The Hobbit'....I kept getting eaten by a nasty troll, it's what I expect when i play such things....

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Well each to their own taste Mr K.;)

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One of those rare times we agree ;)

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Shooting to begin early 2020.

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Excellent pip.:D

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Amazon Orders Lord of the Rings Season 2 Early. They must have faith in it. Season 1 is set to debut sometime in 2021.

Link

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That bodes well..

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Certainly does den.

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Given the huge production investment I imagine they are very keen to keep things running as smoothly as possible and it is in their interest to keep the sets up and running and keep the crew and actors signed up to maintain continuity and let everyone know what they are doing. It is good planning because any one of a million things can go wrong with something like this and you only need one cog to break for it all to grind to a halt.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Amazon Studios Sets Series Cast.

https://deadline.com/2020/01/lord-of...hDEgebZCgAhQMk

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Never heard of any of them. :erm:

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Was that not the same with GOT generally?.

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I was going to say that and you need it in a series like this to make it more realistic. I hate watching something so intense and with such a strong fantasy or escapism story line only for it to have known actors in. "Oh, there is Tom Cruise again". Although it has been cancelled, that for me was the mistake they made in casting in the was-going-to-be new GoT series with people like Naomi Watts. They are telling a new story in a new land (universe) and you need new (unknown) people who you can't relate to make it feel new and authentic.

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There is one GOT star in the LOTR series though.;)

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as an example, I went to see 1917 today and I thought "hey, there's Rob Stark". I haven't seen him in anything since GoT.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

If you are referring to Robert Aramayo he hardly starred in it. 4 episodes as young Ned does not a star make.

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Just remember Benjen.;)

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Amazon's Lord of the Rings production in West Auckland shut down.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...MwpgSPcZjSshrk

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Amazon Studios reveal more of the cast for the Lord of the Rings series.

https://www.gamesradar.com/lord-of-t...gn=buffer_tftw

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/t...ries-synopsis/

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Something l can't wait to watch.:hyper::hyper:

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More interesting than the films I hope, I gave up on them after the first one.

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I should hope so considering the cost.

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/lor...st-1234953345/

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Lets hope its worth it as l am certainly hoping it matches the standard of the films.

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Yet to be titled ?

How about "Lord of the Rings" :)

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

You would think after spending so much money they would at least have a title.

Then again "Lord of the Rings" would be inappropriate.

No teaser or trailer yet but a first image. Not all that exciting, even though I'm looking forward to it.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...4&d=1627947561

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

I dont really know anything about 'The Lord of the Rings' or 'The Hobbit' so I hope it stands up on its own.

I vaguely recall watching the first of the LOTR films, and not caring for it much, I didnt watch any of the others.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Tolkein’s original notes on Middle Earth cover periods of thousands of years and I believe this series is set about a thousand years earlier than the Lord of the Rings films. A few of the immortal characters from LotR might well crop up but as all the events will be prior to those of the films, prior knowledge shouldn’t be necessary. Unless the series focuses specifically on the other end of the One Ring story (the forging of the ring, as opposed to its destruction) then it’s not even very accurate to call it a “Lord of the Rings” series. There are plenty of other characters and events in Tolkien’s own imagined history of Middle Earth.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

I hope they have taken advantage of the opportunity to do some "making of" featurettes along the way. This is on the same scale of Game of Thrones and the effort which must have gone into set decoration, costumes, planning etc must be phenomenal. I would love to see all the filming locations and the logistics behind it all. Now that they have finished filming I would love to know how many tens of thousands of hours have been planned for post production and all the visual effects. I am really really looking forward to this. Just from that one photo it looks like they are doing a top notch job.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Certainly top notch CGI (VFX if you prefer) is that where most of the money has gone though?

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If I remember correctly season 1 has cost just over $500m but something like $285m of that was just to buy the rights from the Tolkien estate but even so, you are still looking at $20m per episode if it is going to be a 10 episode season (I don't know).

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

See my earlier post.;)

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If they’re allowing a whole year for post production, then yes, it would seem so.

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Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Well, let’s be honest - most of it is going to be filmed against green screen or large scale video backdrop similar to Mando. An Amazon TV show isn’t going to have the sort of budget you need to actually go into the New Zealand wilderness and use it for location shoots, so why bother making it in New Zealand if you already own a capable production base somewhere else? The only reason they went there in the first place was sentiment.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Not everything in the books is going to be BIG SCENE stuff so you can film that in NZ and then move the indoor and more European look stuff can be better filmed here.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Point is, there’s no need for the big scene stuff to be done in NZ either, and from season 2 onwards it won’t be. Even if they did any ambitious location shooting for s1 they will have been taking note of the massive strides outfits like Lucasfilm have made in recent years (if you have access to Disney +, the making of the Mandalorian series is absolutely fascinating, especially the instalment that focuses on the Volume, which is a 270-degree video wall that replaces a huge amount of the green-screen work a show like that demands).

What’s tragic for NZ is superb news for UK TV production, because Lucasfilm’s Volume is the state of the art and if Amazon is serious about concentrating production of shows like LotR here, sooner or later they’re going to be building that sort of facility here.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

It's not as if the British Isles doesn't have good outdoor filming locations that look Middle-earthish either. Tolkien wasn't a Kiwi.

The U.K is doing very well for TV/Film production. I read the other day that our studios are booked out for years. TV production is ramping up due to all the steaming companies and it's a perfect storm for us in that we have competitive tax breaks, are English speaking and have a large pool of existing trained production staff due to the amount of domestic television and films we've produced over decades.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

This is the kind of series which is perfectly suited for the technology they use on The Mandalorian. The world is your oyster when you can create any environment you can imagine and Amazon have definitely got the money for it. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet this is well worth 4 minutes of your time:

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

I guess that means its renewed for Season 2 then ......

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It would be stilly not to. I imagine the Mazon bean counters have been at it going "well Game of Thrones made $xxbn in merchandise over 8 years so we can do the same"

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Official Teaser which debuted during the Superbowl last night.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qN_3HITC7U

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Just clicked that, and the trailer played as an advert before the trailer then played as a video :D

Looks very good tho. They seem to be sticking close to the production design of Jackson’s films, although having said that, those films deliberately leaned on conceptual art by John Howe who has been illustrating Middle Earth since he was a teenager, long before the Jackson films. There’s a very clear sense amongst fans of what Middle Earth ‘should’ look like, which any TV producer would ignore at their peril.

(Edit) New Line is involved in the new show, presumably because they still hold the rights, which would also clear any copyright issues around reflecting the production design of the films.

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Tolkien's own pictures in "The Hobbit" are what I think of as Middle Earth. The rest is my own imagination.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

It looks interesting, I'll certainly give it a go.

(Never read any of the books, I saw part of one film, once).

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

New The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Main Teaser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewgCqJDI_Nk&t=2s

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Really good start imo. I wish it dropped all in one cuz I would have watched most of it by now. Really like Lenny Henry in it too stuff the haters. All I thought when I saw him was I know that face not oh not a black hobbit

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Only my opinion but after watching the first 2 episodes l thought it was outstanding and as good as what Peter Jackson done.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Hmmmm.

Well so far (1st episode only) I can sum it up with one smilie .... :zzz:

I have no knowledge of the books, or any real memory of the film(s).
I recall watching the first film, and it bored me so much I barely finished it, and didnt watch any others.

So far this is going the same way, it was just so slow and boring.
The last 2 minutes were about the only time anything really happened.
I will give it 3 or 4 episodes and hope something (anything) exciting actually happens.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Just watched two hours that could have usefully have been edited down to 20 minutes.

I'll give it one more episode but pretty poor so far.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

So, Ive now watched episode 2 as well.

The season is 8 episodes, so Ive watched 25% of season 1, and almost nothing has happened, and what little has happened is just boring and confusing.

A troll got killed in some remote freezing mountain (and then, even more bizarre, the troops apparenly mutinied, and then a minute later everyone was back in some orchard as if nothing happened).

Some bloke landed inside a meteor (yep !) and was found by the local irish gipsy girl. We have no clue who (what) he is, or why weird things happen. In another bizarre twist, Lenny Henry appears as (the only ?) black gipsy, gazing at the sky.

Some sea serpant randomly attacked a boat, killed a few people, and then randomly vanished just as quickly, and some dwarves (dwarfs ?) had a rock smashing competition (seriously) - thats about it.

All this took over 2 hours. It can only improve. :erm:

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Sauron killed Galadriels brother. She wanted revenge so spent centuries hunting. The Elf King called them back but she insisted they continue. Galadriel found evidence that Sauron had been there and wanted to continue. The troll attacked and this was enough for her men to decide to go back

Meteor man is most likely a Maia spirit the same species as Gandalf. He was found by Harfoots who are one of 3 breeds of Hobbits

Not sure in lore about the serpent but the main point was Galadriel refused to go back to the elven "home" kinda like their heaven where Bilbo and Frodo went at the end of LOTR

Durin was the Dwarf King who wore the Dwarf Ring of Power I believe the cave city was the same one visited in Fellowship I believe where it was taken over by goblins and Gandalf died and become The White

Hope that helps hahahaha

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Bear in mind I basically know nothing about LOTR.
I dont recall anything about the film now (I watched most of the first one, didnt bother with the others).
No idea what a "Maia spirit" is, or who Gandalf is, I vaguely remember Bilbo and Frodo were characters in the film.
I dont even know what rings of power are, and nothing about rings has been mentioned at any point in an episode yet.

I starting to think this will only make sense to an LOTR fan (and the general view seems to be they hate it anyway).

Expensivley disappointing so far.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Yeah I think you are right. About it only really being for Tolkien fans. I love it tbh. I find it surprising you do not know who Gandalf is but it just goes to show people are different

Sauron had the rings crafted and passed out to dwarfs elves and men to turn them to the dark side as it were. He kept the one ring to rule them all so basically had control but it all backfired. This series is set before all that

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Well I've read both the Hobbit and the LOR novel as well as seeing all the films and this misses by a mile.

Just a load of woke nonsense: No dwarf was ever black and the village seems to be of the first born (Clock the Elven ears) who should have violet eyes, be white skinned with white or blond hair.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

They are Harfoots they even call themselves that

heero remember this is a work of fiction no Dwarf was ever anything. I assume you are referring to Lenny Henry ? I can see past colour and do not care in a work of fiction so much when a black actor plays what is seen as a white role. I do however care when it is a real person ie Anne Boleyn

Tolkien's description of a Hobbit notice the slightly pointed ears ;)

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

https://screenrant.com/lotr-rings-of...its-explained/

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Harfeet

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I just linked to Hobbits as it covers all three. Nice link though Hugh as it does show the browner skin

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I was incorrect with this point. This place was Khazad-dûm which is also known by the name Moria. It is actually under the Misty Mountains and the residence of Smaug in The Hobbit

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Does anybody on here get when watching The Rings of Power a dark PQ where is is hard to see what is going on?.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

See it all fine here

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Ummm ... whats a PQ ?

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Picture Quality or it could be to do with HDR which also could leave a dark picture

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

I’ve not had a problem with LotR yet (that I’ve noticed) but I do often find that programmes made in 4K with HDR (High Dynamic Range) do not always come out very well on my mid-range Samsung tellybox. In such instances the pictures often are full of deep shade, with any brighter areas too bright. The effect can leave some scenes looking like they’ve been backlit by an amateur who doesn’t know you’re meant to light your subject from behind the camera, not behind their head.

I’ve alleviated it to some extent by very carefully altering my picture settings, but for the most part it seems to come down to the way the film maker has composed their scenes and I suspect may also be something to do with the way HDR is implemented in post production.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

can you not just turn HDR off

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

Bizarrely enough on my TV you can’t. If the stream is HDR, you get HDR. TBH it isn’t as much of an issue for me now as it was when I first got this TV. I suspect the general level of competence in using it has improved as it has become more widespread, which is what has made me think that the problem was at least partly in the implementation rather than in my TV.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

I actually enjoyed the show. I know it took many liberties and we had the unavoidable and ubiquitous WOKE stuff but it had good production values and a decent cast. IMO it beats all of the reality TV dross and the endless comic book shows.

Re: Lord of the Rings Series
 

The final episode will lead nicely into series two and the battles to come.