Lord of the Rings TV series gets multi-season order at Amazon

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I really hope this thing tanks. I hate to say that about anything associated with Tolkien, but maybe that would at least ensure less outrageous treatment of his world, from the point of view of "enraged die-hards" such as I.

I have a more nuanced approach.

If a miracle happens and it is good I hope it succeeds.

If, as is most likely, it is a porn fest or otherwise terrible, I hope it fails so hard as to eliminate any desire by anybody in pop culture to ever touch Tolkien again with a ten foot pole.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

If a miracle happens and it is good I hope it succeeds.

I guess my only comment there is to wonder what constitutes "good"? That'll be up to the individual.

My belief is that they won't be able to stop themselves "modernizing" the story universe in the name of political correctness, or adding/subtracting characters undreamt of by Tolkien in order to "appeal to everyone". Movie Arwen, Tauriel, shield-surfing teen-idol Legolas, "funny", "eccentric' old Radagast- none of that gives hope for anything I'm going to be able to look at without rolling my eyes and switching off.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

My belief is that they won't be able to stop themselves "modernizing" the story universe in the name of political correctness, or adding/subtracting characters undreamt of by Tolkien in order to "appeal to everyone". Movie Arwen, Tauriel, shield-surfing teen-idol Legolas, "funny", "eccentric' old Radagast- none of that gives hope for anything I'm going to be able to look at without rolling my eyes and switching off.

It will be good if these things don't happen.

I agree that it is unlikely to happen, and indeed I expect much worse out of this than those listed failings, but at least we can define success for them.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I guess my only comment there is to wonder what constitutes "good"? That'll be up to the individual.

My belief is that they won't be able to stop themselves "modernizing" the story universe in the name of political correctness, or adding/subtracting characters undreamt of by Tolkien in order to "appeal to everyone". Movie Arwen, Tauriel, shield-surfing teen-idol Legolas, "funny", "eccentric' old Radagast- none of that gives hope for anything I'm going to be able to look at without rolling my eyes and switching off.

Thing is, if they just take Tolkien elements and go off to spin their own story, like the Sherlock series, I probably wouldn't mind. It would be separate enough to be "based on" rather than a "true film adaptation" of Tolkien. And then sure, spin whatever you want as long as it's a good story and you admit it's not following the book. The thing that bugs me most is the compensated version, where they feel they have to change something, but not significantly enough to make it its own independent story, so the story ends up being stupid and they frantically vow it's all true Tolkien appendices.

[Inziladun]

I found this wish list of things wanted in the new series. I'm at odds with a good deal of it, but I guess that's just more evidence (as if it were needed) that I'm out of step with the masses.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I found this wish list of things wanted in the new series. I'm at odds with a good deal of it, but I guess that's just more evidence (as if it were needed) that I'm out of step with the masses.

Okay, how about we establish an ongoing Non-wish Wish List of things we would find abhorrent in a Middle-earth presentation, but which may well end up being in the show in some form or another (and whether we like it or not). I'll start:

1. Doggone it, Dwarves are going to have sex whether they want it or not!

2. Elves are actually corrupted Orcs (we got it back side round all this time).

3. Boromir is the love child of Finduilas and Aragorn (in his guise as Thorongil while he fought for Gondor under the steward Echtelion II). Because the new show needs a Jon Snow moment.

4. A story line that involves the sham marriage of Galadriel and Celeborn, due to Celeborn's flagrant proclivities with young male Elves. Title the episode "A Faery Story".

5. Sauron is a bloated, narcissistic red-haired huckster who likes to raise tall buildings with his name on them and uses adverbs like "bigly".

[Michael Murry]

Many thanks to Inziladun and Morthoron for the respective Wish- and Non-Wish lists of prospective "LOTR" television/movie ideas. I don't know which to fear the most. Probably the former, because its proposals seem so lame, shop-worn, and predictable. To take just two examples from the Wish-list:

#6. The original cast appearing in cameos
"The Return of the King and even The Battle of Five Armies left virtually everyone on the right note."

#5. More female characters.

"With their adaptations, Jackson and company made an effort to give the female characters more to do. For example, it's Arwen who rescues the hobbits in the first movie.”

"In The Desolation of Smaug, the film makers introduced a strong-willed female elf named Tauriel. While this character wasn't in any of the books, she was a welcome addition to an otherwise male dominated tale. Amazon could do something similar, although any original characters would have to be well-written to fit into the middle earth canon. We don't just want a token character.”

Oh, please! The transparent cameo appearances of Elija Wood and Ian Holm as departed ring-bearers Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, respectively (back from the Undying Lands for a long-delayed curtain call?) most certainly did not leave "virtually everyone" on the right note at the end of the Hobbit films, unless one considers a sour note the "right" one.

Furthermore, Arwyn does not "rescue the hobbits in the first movie." She only shoves the elf Glorfindel aside and takes his horse to rescue Frodo from pursuing Black Riders. Details from Wikipedia:

As told in the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Glorfindel was sent by Elrond of Rivendell to help the hobbit Frodo reach Rivendell as he is pursued by the Nazgûl. He set Frodo on his horse, Asfaloth, and Frodo rode ahead to the other side of the Ford of Bruinen, where he defied his pursuers. He was nearly captured, but Glorfindel, Strider and Frodo's hobbit companions drove the Nazgûl into the water, where they were swept away by a wave of water resembling charging horses (an enchantment created by Elrond and Gandalf). Glorfindel revealed himself as a mighty Elf-lord terrible in his wrath; Frodo saw him as a shining figure.

So much for Frodo, Asfaloth the horse, Glorfindel, Strider, Frodo's hobbit companions, Elrond and Gandalf getting their own recognition for courage and ingenuity when truly needed. PJ and Co. just had to give Arwyn something to do, since Tolkien could never find much need of her presence throughout the principal narrative of his long tale.

And as for the "strong willed" Elf-chick security guard Tauriel who deserted her King's defense in order to chase after a dwarf with "nothing" in his pants: if she constitutes a "well-written" and "welcome" addition to the Middle Earth canon -- and not "just a token character" pandering to the pre- and post-pubescent mall-maiden demographic -- then the English language, as I understand it, has dissolved into incoherent gibberish.

So much for only two items on the so-called "wish list." I don't have time to go into the other eight, but no doubt others can easily dispense with those.

As for the "No-wish" list, I think it has possibilities, something along the lines of what Young Frankenstein and Love at First Bite did for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the New Prometheus, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, respectively. J. R. R. Tolkien already did his thing. Nothing can change that. Peter Jackson has lready done his thing. Nothing can change that, either. Time for someone else to do other things with Middle Earth history. I really don't care what as long as it makes sense and they do it with style and a little panache. Not that I expect this, of course, but as the stand-up comedienne Judy Tanuda likes to say about the highly improbable: "It could happen!"

[William Cloud Hicklin]

What I still can't get my head around is the Tolkien family (less Christopher) selling out like this, letting their birthright be turned to crap for a mess of 200 million pottages. Certainly Adam's interviews from a few years ago suggested an attitude like his father's.