TV series set in Middle Earth may be coming

[Rich H]

On balance, anything that dilutes the legacy of those awful Peter Jackson movies is probably a good thing.

I would expect the TV show to try to replicate the style of the Jackson films.

They could go with a feel similar to the Shannara Chronicles.

[Glorelendil]

I get nothing out of this except having to tell yet more people people that Balrogs don't look like lava-dinosaurs and the correct quote is a non-shouted "You cannot pass" and dwarves do not have Scottish accents.

Why do you “have to” tell people this? That might be worth considering. Sure, as a Tolkien fan much of the creative license taken irks me, too. But if we start worrying about what other people enjoy...well, that’s not a problem with the movies.

[Indur Dawndeath]

On balance, anything that dilutes the legacy of those awful Peter Jackson movies is probably a good thing.

I would expect the TV show to try to replicate the style of the Jackson films.

They could go with a feel similar to the Shannara Chronicles.

That would be pretty bad...
Really, I’m chocked to hear so much greef about Oscar winning top rated blockbusters, that millions enjoy watching.
I for one hope that the cinematics from Lotr will be the foundation for a TV series.

[DavetheLost]

Shanara Chronicles makes me worry about the quality of this production. Game of Thrones suggests what is possible in a made for tv production.

I am very much in a wait and see about this one.

[torus]

I dunno, torus; I doubt that anyone else could have done a much better job adapting The Lord of the Rings into a film-trilogy. It is not like any studio was going to back an adaptation that would have adapted each of the six separate books of the novel into six individual films. Though, even with Jackson's time compression, I wish he had at least gotten the year of Bilbo's farewell party correct.

I wouldn't have expected or even wanted six separate movies, or some kind of 100% literal conversion of the books to film. I'm quite happy to watch an adaptation in which things have been altered, cut, moved, whatever if it makes a good film!

In other words what I would have liked is a sensitive adaptation by a talented and intelligent director, not Peter Jackson's cliche-ridden fan fiction, and his unimaginative and literal-minded interpretation of characters and events. (Things like Bilbo's transformation into a monster when he sees the ring, or Theoden literally being covered in cobwebs when under Wormtongue's influence.) Almost all subtlety was removed; so many characters were reduced to 1-dimensional stereotypes (e.g. Faramir and Denethor possibly the worst). The movies had positive points, such as the casting, costumes and design, but Jackson's pedigree is as a director of second-rate horror flicks, with no sense of pacing or dialogue, as witnessed by any of his other work.

I only saw the first Hobbit movie; after a reasonably good opening it descended into Star Wars prequel levels of badness, dominated by tedious SFX-driven action sequences. Anything I've heard about the others suggests they are even worse.

[Otaku-sempai]

I will agree that subtlety is not Jackson's forte, Saruman's control over Theoden being a particularly good example.

[Glorelendil]

Oh, yay! Yet another thread turns into a critique of the films....

:-/

[torus]

Oh, yay! Yet another thread turns into a critique of the films....

:-/

Apologies for going over old territory. However it's fairly relevant to this thread, which was about the TV series, and what we would/wouldn't like to see in it. The movies are clearly a reference point.

[DavetheLost]

I agree the 9 films are what we have for screen treatments of Tolkien. Their merits and flaws are a natural benchmark for discussion of Amazon's proposal.

Personally I would love to see a well done animated production of "Farmer Giles of Ham".

[Glorelendil]

I agree the 9 films are what we have for screen treatments of Tolkien. Their merits and flaws are a natural benchmark for discussion of Amazon's proposal.

Jar Jar Binks totally ruined the Lorien scene.