The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "A Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
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The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "A Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
8 episode 1st season. Premieres Thursday at 9pm ET. Just getting this going a little early.
2 episodes will drop. I only went with The Rings of Power as the title because the full title is way too long for a thread.
If you saw the early Cinemark theatrical screening, please hold off on talking detailed spoilers at least until 11pm ET tomorrow just to give some here time to watch it in one sitting.
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From: Grazing in a field somewhere...
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
We went to the Cinemark premier tonight and it did feel theater quality. They took our cell phones going in, wasn't expecting that, but whatever. And they did give a $10 concession voucher for each ticket.
I won't spoil anything with the details. As expected a lot of character buildup/introduction the first hour. Some decent suspense throughout the second episode, and dwarf city looks like a fun place.
The casting seems pretty solid, no complaints.
I'm not a big LOTR follower, but liked it well enough. My wife is really into the books/movies/world, and she thought it was good also. I'm sure the internet will pick it apart, but we are in for the series, I think.
I won't spoil anything with the details. As expected a lot of character buildup/introduction the first hour. Some decent suspense throughout the second episode, and dwarf city looks like a fun place.

The casting seems pretty solid, no complaints.
I'm not a big LOTR follower, but liked it well enough. My wife is really into the books/movies/world, and she thought it was good also. I'm sure the internet will pick it apart, but we are in for the series, I think.
#3
DVD Talk Hero
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
All the whining in the YT comments under the trailer makes me want to see this even more. The Tolkienites and their "canon" can suck it.
#4
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Is the series as "family friendly" as the movies are? Various articles seem to indicate as much, but I haven't found any detailed content advisories on IMDb or elsewhere yet. My 11-year-old is interested, and he was fine with everything that could be considered violent or scary in the movies when we watched them a couple of years back.
#5
DVD Talk Legend
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Counting the minutes until 8pm
#6
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Dan Murrell didn't care for it. He said it looks great, but the dialogue and characters are very uninteresting.
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
I can’t watch all tonight, but I’ll watch the beginning at least. Just hope it’s not another GoT: House of the Dragon. In that it stinks.
Last edited by OldBoy; 09-01-22 at 08:14 PM.
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From: "Are any of us really anywhere?"
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Is this an adaptation from a Tolkien book? Or all new entity?
#9
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Did Peter Jackson have any input, maybe is a consultant on the series?
#10
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
I'm on the fence, despite being a Tolkien fan. The trailers didn't do anything for me and I hated Amazon's last fantasy adaptation, The Wheel of Time (and that despite thinking the Robert Jordan books weren't that great and could easily be improved -- boy was I wrong).
I'll likely wait until more episodes are out and check out reviews regarding how this shapes up beyond the initial two episodes.
I'll likely wait until more episodes are out and check out reviews regarding how this shapes up beyond the initial two episodes.
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GoldenJCJ (09-01-22)
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From: Grazing in a field somewhere...
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Is the series as "family friendly" as the movies are? Various articles seem to indicate as much, but I haven't found any detailed content advisories on IMDb or elsewhere yet. My 11-year-old is interested, and he was fine with everything that could be considered violent or scary in the movies when we watched them a couple of years back.
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printerati (09-01-22)
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
What’s the difference? I posted the title and that I hoped this series in this thread is not like it. It’s not like I ranted on and on about it.
#14
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
A bit of both. It's not based on a novel, but it is based on Tolkien's other writings, such as the Appendix from LOTR, The Lost Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth, The Silmarillion, and The History of Middle Earth.
It's a unique work, but heavily inspired by things Tolkien wrote about the history of Middle Earth.
From what I understand, he had no (or very little) input.
It's a unique work, but heavily inspired by things Tolkien wrote about the history of Middle Earth.
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
#16
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
A+ for me! There really isn't anything I disliked about these episodes (maybe the Rings of Power title looks a little cheap in the series opening sequence?) I have been very critical of the cast/crew comments in the marketing campaign, but so far none of that has really shown in the finished product yet - it appears Tolkien's traditional storytelling truths seem to be showing through.(as I suspected it would) I like all the casting, characters, and music (men's chorus putting in some work!) Can't wait for more!
#17
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
So both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes seem to have user reviews turned off for this. Is Amazon that afraid of bad word of mouth?
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DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
I only had time to watch the 1st episode and I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was that slow and dull as some made it out to be. It didn't grab me right away like House of the Dragon as I was still familiar with that world and I hadn't seen the LOTR movies in at least 12-13 years. I think I last watched them when the extended edition DVD sets came out. It was cool to hear the name Sauron come up. Galadriel seems to be the main protagonist and I had no issues following her plot. And it wasn't an all talk 66 minutes. There was some action bits and a battle sequence where her brother died.
The special effects and production design looked incredible. This looked like a theatrical production on TV.
The special effects and production design looked incredible. This looked like a theatrical production on TV.
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
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#22
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
This was nice to look at. That is all. Need a flowchart on the characters. And black + white = Asian??? SMH 

#23
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re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
Loved it. It was pure rock n roll during the action scenes. That Galdriel scene of her and the
was something out of Elden Ring in that I've done moves just like she did in that game. It was pretty fucking sweet!
Spoiler:
was something out of Elden Ring in that I've done moves just like she did in that game. It was pretty fucking sweet!
#24
DVD Talk Hero
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
If YOU don't know the difference then I can't help you. You've been here LONG enough to know. Fuck spoon-feeding you. Why are you afraid to bitch about a show in ITS own thread that has existed for a while?
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Dr. DVD (09-05-22)
#25
re: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (S1E01&E02) -- "Shadow of the Past" & "Adrift" -- 9/1/22
I am not the biggest LOTR fan but I thought this was pretty terrific. I loved it. I am not some LOTR purist so I am not going to get all pissy about dwarf women not having beards or some minor discrepancy to some note Tolkien wrote on a footnote to something in an appendix.
Easily the best looking TV show ever. It probably looks better than the movies. I actually found the characters pretty interesting and it did not seem slow at all.
It is IMO maybe a little more hardcore high fantasy than the LOTR movies so far, and much more than something like GOT which is more medieval drama with dragons.
A+ for me.
Easily the best looking TV show ever. It probably looks better than the movies. I actually found the characters pretty interesting and it did not seem slow at all.
It is IMO maybe a little more hardcore high fantasy than the LOTR movies so far, and much more than something like GOT which is more medieval drama with dragons.
A+ for me.




...damn