QuoteI like the one where Elrond sends in his quick bowlers against the Mordor XI.

Damned unsportsmanlike behaviour, don'cha know! You'll cause a diplomatic incident. Or a war that will last thousands of years.

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I just think they look a bit similar

Aye, and the guy playing Elrond reminded me of Michael Sheen doing his Tony Blair impression.

Being old and set in my ways I was determined not to like it. I watched episode one and was impressed by the production values but with several eye-rolls over story, character and dialog.

After episode 2, however, I might actually like it. It is developing some interesting story arcs and I am slowing becoming invested in some of characters. The question I would pose anyone is how did Galadriel of the 3rd age become who she is? Maybe the adolescent we see in the 2nd age is necessary to her final form.

I could never wade through the Silmarillion so I am not blinded by orthodoxy.

It MAY turn out to be good story telling and worth the watch. So far it is better than the Hobbit "Trilogy".

I've got this on my 'To Watch' list but with House of the Dragon starting as well I can only manage one expansive Fantasy series at a time without my brain merging storylines/characters.

The thing is, this is post Silmarillion, it's been written to fill one of the many (probably deliberate) gaps that Tolkien appears to have left in the saga's.
We get references to the Silmarillions in the 2nd episode and also more about Morgoth, but this is not Tolkien, as he makes very little (if any) reference to the story around the creation of the Rings of Power.
In that way it is a very clever piece of film and franchise making, as Tolkien hints at many such important side stories with no real detail.

Personally I'd be up for a major movie covering the Silmarillion - all those various Balrogs, cold worms, werewolves etc.
I also suspect we can probably expect a series covering the wars between the Dwarves & Elves.

Quote from: Raider4 on 04 September 2022, 10:15:19 AMAye, and the country-living humans we've seen so far all have northern (English) accents, and the elves all use received pronunciation.

Seems also to be a lot of rural Irish accents as well.

We thought the Harfoots sounded Irish rather than West Country.

I was also a big fan of the first couple of Hellboy films - shame the 3rd was so truly terrible.
I'd like to see more of that sort of 'Lovecraft inspired' fantasy - could never remember if Hellboy was DC or Marvel - never really cared, if truth be told 

Quote from: Leon on 04 September 2022, 09:39:26 PMI've got this on my 'To Watch' list but with House of the Dragon starting as well I can only manage one expansive Fantasy series at a time without my brain merging storylines/characters.

I might be one of the very few (on this forum anyway) who hasn't watched GoT. I saw part of one episode on a plane journey (remember those - back in the olden days) but found it a bit dull. I had the same problem with Harry Potter. I read a couple of books to the children but found the plagiarism of J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis and others too much to cope with. Whilst Tolkien borrows heavily from old Saxon, German and Norse legends, you do get a feel that he is at least trying to create something new-new. The argument that J.K.Rowling used Harry Potter to make fantasy more accessible is a bit thin IMHO. I suspect that if I settled down and actually made an effort to watch GoT I might enjoy it - but maybe that's a project for my retirement 

Quote from: Big Insect on 05 September 2022, 07:54:39 AMI might be one of the very few (on this forum anyway) who hasn't watched GoT.

My wife and I watched the entire series over a month during the first lockdown while self-isolating.  The Chinese and their wretched COVID have a lot to answer for.  It was OK and passed the time until the last series where it was almost as if they ran out of ideas.  The ending was the biggest anti-climax imaginable.  The first episode of House of the Dragon was replete with gratuitous violence and sex and not much else.  I'll persevere as the characters may develop but at this stage I'm not too hopeful.
I agree about Harry Potter. I've seen several of the films on TV but haven't read any of the books.  I thought it was just a second-rate Tolkien/Lewis knock-off aimed at children. 
I read all Tolkien's stuff years ago and thought the films were more entertaining.  I am not persuaded by a look-alike 'Tolkien' series, seems a bit unoriginal to me but the entire movie industry seems terminally repetitive and bereft of ideas at the moment.

I've never watched/read any Harry Potter either, just doesn't float my boat.  I have a weird issue with child actors and rarely find them believable in their roles.  I loved the Narnia books as a kid but can't watch the films as most of the main actors annoy me!

I agree Leon - it's probably why I cannot engage with any of the teen vampire/werewolf stuff either.

Quote from: Big Insect on 05 September 2022, 02:07:18 PMI agree Leon - it's probably why I cannot engage with any of the teen vampire/werewolf stuff either.

Yep, no time for any of that!  Twilight and the endless vampire TV series just don't do it for me.  Buffy was OK for a few years as it seemed to understand it's own cheese level. 

I found it relatively watchable and much better than those execrable Jackson films; I am not horrified at the black proto-Hobbits and Elves and can have a non-aggression pact with Lenny Henry if necessary.

"What we were trying to do was to analyze what was important to Tolkien and to try to honor that. In a way, we were trying to make these films for him, not for ourselves. The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself. The worst type is dictated by demographics or what is hip or what kids are into." - Peter Jackson

"But that was then, this is now and we're telling the story now." - Lenny Henry.

C'est magnifique mais ce n'est pas Tolkein.