The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

:

Season 1
Season #: 3, 2, 1
User Score
3.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2938 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 711 out of 2938
  2. Mixed: 141 out of 2938
  3. Negative: 2,086 out of 2938

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User Reviews

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  1. Tsoni07
    Sep 5, 2022
    10
    so far very good, good actors and the story is convincing and interesting. !
  2. Leodafonseca
    Sep 5, 2022
    9
    Promising. First episodes had a lot of ground to cover, expect things to pick up as season goes.
  3. Nicknevets
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    Absolute Disaster. From poor acting to poor choice in storytelling, it’s not worth your time and money.
  4. romelbaptista
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. No le doy un cero solo por destruir el legado de Tolkien sino porque la serie es simplemente mala, actores horribles, terribles diálogos, mal guío, historia aburrida (más parece un fan fic) vestuarios y efectos tan sobrecargados que no parecen reales, ojalá cancelen esta basura ultraprogresista.… Expand
  5. HaronCobr
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    Политика, феминизм, неуместно разукрасили. Про следование канону говорить неуместно ввиду его отсутствия.
  6. PlacidDragon
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    To keep it spoiler free..well.. nobody is ever likely to read this, so i'll just sum it up by the show being an absolute abomination, there is nothing Tolkien'esque about this.. nothing.. I'll give it an extra point for its effects, which are (mostly) very good, but everything else about the show.. the cast, the story, the dialogue (massive cringe) is catastrophically bad...
  7. Ranzgnom
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    It has nothing to do with LotR at all. I'm glad. Tolkien doesn't need to see his life's work ruined.
  8. Timacek
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    An insult to Tolkien as a Tolkien life fan iam feeling very betrayed. In a crusade for a wokeness and other politics they have absolutely bastardized proffessors work. Be ashamed amazon, i wont pity you when the shi-storm will get you. you deserve it full stop. they could not even get the prolog right when it was the ungoliath what sucked the light from the trees and it would have been soAn insult to Tolkien as a Tolkien life fan iam feeling very betrayed. In a crusade for a wokeness and other politics they have absolutely bastardized proffessors work. Be ashamed amazon, i wont pity you when the shi-storm will get you. you deserve it full stop. they could not even get the prolog right when it was the ungoliath what sucked the light from the trees and it would have been so epic scene. Shame on you amazon… Expand
  9. SoulReaper13
    Sep 5, 2022
    10
    Don't listen to the brigade of toxic purists who have made a cottage industry out of hating and dismantling anything they think is "too woke." This show delivers on many levels. It's easily better than any of the Hobbit films. Amazing scenery, cinematography, score, visual effects, costume design, and world-building. The first couple episodes are laying the ground work for what isDon't listen to the brigade of toxic purists who have made a cottage industry out of hating and dismantling anything they think is "too woke." This show delivers on many levels. It's easily better than any of the Hobbit films. Amazing scenery, cinematography, score, visual effects, costume design, and world-building. The first couple episodes are laying the ground work for what is certainly going to be an epic adventure that captures the spirit of Tolkien. I enjoyed this rendition of Galadriel. She may seem angry and snappy at times but there are good reasons for her behavior. Every actor did an excellent job here. This is well worth watching and I can't wait to see the rest of the season.… Expand
  10. Jaimeaza
    Sep 5, 2022
    3
    Photograph and bso are fantastic but the narrativo is boring , i hope Up tbe Level in next episodes
  11. KeithON1979
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    Embarrassing & boring! What a farce! The writing is terrible and the acting is awful. I was praying this would turn out to something I could enjoy, I found myself cringing. This is not Galadriel from the books, it’s a joke!
  12. mastershay
    Sep 5, 2022
    4
    This makes the Lord of the Rings cartoons look like Gone with the Wind. Mediocre directors + mediocre writers + mediocre actors = mediocre show. Feels like it was written by kids in middle school. Why did they not hire veterans with proven track records? Also throw in the fad politics that permeates TV and movies these days for extra annoyance, along with characters that constantly makeThis makes the Lord of the Rings cartoons look like Gone with the Wind. Mediocre directors + mediocre writers + mediocre actors = mediocre show. Feels like it was written by kids in middle school. Why did they not hire veterans with proven track records? Also throw in the fad politics that permeates TV and movies these days for extra annoyance, along with characters that constantly make dumb decisions. All the money in the world means nothing if there's no soul. I want this to succeed and be good because I like LOTR, but so far it does not. Please upgrade the team for season 2, if it's not too late.… Expand
  13. DanielMonc
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    Let this be a lesson to everyone in the entertainment industry that the pendulum has swung. We don't want your leftist garbage here.
  14. DanielMoncada
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    God awful. When will get back to entertainment just being entertainment instead of mixing a bunch of modern-day politics into it.
  15. SanderV815
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    Lets start with the positive:
    Rings of power has amazing landscape scenes, and the elven cities look fairly good as well.
    Unfortunately, this pales in comparison with it's problems. Let's start with the main problems. The dialogue is about as bad as it can get. This is very noticeable in parts where the writers try to be deep and pseudo-philosophical. The characters act like petulant    Lets start with the positive:
    Rings of power has amazing landscape scenes, and the elven cities look fairly good as well.

    Unfortunately, this pales in comparison with it's problems. Let's start with the main problems. The dialogue is about as bad as it can get. This is very noticeable in parts where the writers try to be deep and pseudo-philosophical. The characters act like petulant (and dumb) children, especially Galadriel and Durin. The lore is also clearly ignored, I don't want to include spoilers, but there's a lot of things that are not just minor deviations or additions to Tolkiens work, but major and problematic contradictions to the events of the second age.
    The fight scenes are marvel superhero level of unbelievable.
    Remember seeing Legolas riding that shield down the stairs at helmsdeep and thinking "that's a bit ridiculous". This is that times ten.
    The Harfoot scenes are entirely unnecessary and boring.

    While I think the show mostly looks as good as you expect from a high budget show, there are some places where the props and cgi looks very fake. This is mostly the case with the very cheap and plastic looking elven plate armor, as well some clearly styrofoam or plastic parts in khazad-dûm. In general, the swords, armor, clothes, etc, also look a lot less believable. It's all a bit generic fantasy looking. Visually It's all more on the level of the Hobbit movies then LOTR.    … Expand
  16. weasel11889
    Sep 5, 2022
    1
    A clear cut example of a soulless company taking a beloved IP and trying to squeeze some money out of it. Not worth your time.
  17. Adm2324
    Sep 5, 2022
    1
    As a fan of the original source, I expected that the series would respect this very original source. This did not happen.
  18. Gojeonpa
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    The only thing remotely good in this series is the first 7,5 minutes of the first episode, the rest of the show was a complete bore. Meh visuals, awful CGI, ridiculous character interpretations, too many made up storylines. The only other positvie qualities were in my opinion the new characters, but only because you can't butcher the interpretation of a new character as you can an alreadyThe only thing remotely good in this series is the first 7,5 minutes of the first episode, the rest of the show was a complete bore. Meh visuals, awful CGI, ridiculous character interpretations, too many made up storylines. The only other positvie qualities were in my opinion the new characters, but only because you can't butcher the interpretation of a new character as you can an already established character. The only people who in their right mind can rate this higher than 6 have a): Never read anything the professor has written, or b): Have something personal to gain by pandering to the shows agenda.… Expand
  19. 20comer70correr
    Sep 5, 2022
    5
    Review in Portuguese and English.
    Resenha em português e Inglês.
    Eu vi algumas coisas que não me agradam muito, eu vejo que progressismo está acima de tudo na série, eles querem enfiar as suas ideologias políticas nas nossas cabeças a todo custo. E, eu não duvido que o LGBTQHFGFGFGHW (todo ano há um novo tipo de sexo) apareça a qualquer momento. Todavia, em contraponto, eu gostei dos    Review in Portuguese and English.
    Resenha em português e Inglês.

    Eu vi algumas coisas que não me agradam muito, eu vejo que progressismo está acima de tudo na série, eles querem enfiar as suas ideologias políticas nas nossas cabeças a todo custo. E, eu não duvido que o LGBTQHFGFGFGHW (todo ano há um novo tipo de sexo) apareça a qualquer momento. Todavia, em contraponto, eu gostei dos gráficos e a nostalgia de ver o universo que eu gosto nas telas, mas disto apenas, por isso o meu 5; pois, se a minha avaliação dependesse de roteiro e fidelidade à obra original, eu avaliaria em 2.


    I saw some things that I don't like very much, I see that progressivism is above everything in the serie, they want to get their political ideologies in our heads at all costs. And, I do not doubt that the LGBTQHFGFGFGHW (every year there is a new type of sex) will appear at any moment. However, in contrast, I liked the graphics and the nostalgia of seeing the universe that I like on the screens, but I only liked that, that's why my 5; because, if my rating depended on the script and fidelity to the original work, I would rate it at 2.    … Expand
  20. ObjectiveKD
    Sep 5, 2022
    6
    Y'all hardcore haters need to be real: the show is not THAT bad. Now, it's definitely not perfect.

    Galadriel is an entire issue on her own, but no intellectually honest person can claim she's a true Mary Sue (it's like calling a cat a cheetah just because it has spots). There are pacing issues, which are somewhat alleviated in Ep. 2. The plot is slow so far, but we're only TWO episodes    Y'all hardcore haters need to be real: the show is not THAT bad. Now, it's definitely not perfect.

    Galadriel is an entire issue on her own, but no intellectually honest person can claim she's a true Mary Sue (it's like calling a cat a cheetah just because it has spots). There are pacing issues, which are somewhat alleviated in Ep. 2. The plot is slow so far, but we're only TWO episodes in. There is a lot of wasted screen time on awkward stares as well as pointless high-stakes situations.

    Again, this show has many issues. No show or movie is perfect. But those issues don't make it unwatchable or incapable of being improved.    … Expand
  21. Kyslar
    Sep 5, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The scenery is amazing, with epic panoramic views and landscapes. Which is great....if I were at the Louvre. Pretty pictures, however, do not make a great tv show. Corny lines that try to be 'epic' but are just straight up foolish when you think about them; repeating story points or character behaviour patterns right after you literally showed them is poor writing skills; and making your main character utterly unlikeable in the first 2 episodes is a cardinal sin. Some acting is good, some is wooden as heck, so that is a wash. However, the biggest sin of the show is making your main character suicidal. Jumping out of a boat to swim across the sea is quite literally suicidal. This is not Marvel, we do not have super heroes in Middle Earth. Tolkien's statement that elves are immortal does not mean they can't be killed. They can be stabbed, they can be poisoned, they can drown, they can be run over by a cart and bleed out. So jumping into the ocean with no actual hope of survival is indeed suicidal, regardless if it was a 'spur of the moment' decision or not. Fans of Tolkien know Galadriel lives, characters who can break the 4th wall know they will live (but this isn't Deadpool, She-hulk, or Gwenpool); Galadriel the character does not know she lives. So then the writer has to use one of the weakest of writing forms, the '1 in a Million coincidence' of finding a raft in the middle of 100's of miles to save her. The actor herself should have refused to act out this part, it is completely insulting to the character she is playing.… Expand
  22. ZeldasChampion
    Sep 5, 2022
    1
    First off. I don't get why race appears to be getting brought up as an issue as there were black people in the Tolkien books like the Harfoots and certain elves.

    With that being said and from what I have seen, they're taking way too many liberties with the book's history. I came in this hoping to see a thorough representation of the lore established both in the main books and the    First off. I don't get why race appears to be getting brought up as an issue as there were black people in the Tolkien books like the Harfoots and certain elves.

    With that being said and from what I have seen, they're taking way too many liberties with the book's history. I came in this hoping to see a thorough representation of the lore established both in the main books and the Silmarillion. Instead, I am getting some loose interpretation with the writers saying this show is "not for purest". Well, then I guess this show is not for a "purest" fan like me.    … Expand
  23. InfiniteGnosis
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Frodo did I ever mention the time I fought a snow troll? We had spent weeks scaling icy mountains and the rest of my team had frostbite even though elves barely feel the cold and can walk on snow. When we arrived at the top they wanted to immediately climb back down again. Our elf eyes saw nothing until a moment later we saw a huge palace that was clearly visible.

    On making our way inside we found a red symbol, resembling the sign of the Crimson King from Stephen King's Dark Tower series, haha yes Frodo, I stopped reading after book 4 too. An Ice Troll attacked without warning and threw my elite elf team against the walls like dolls while I watched expressionlessly for several seconds. I executed sword jump slash (Triangle Triangle Square Cross, Right Left Right) and killed it instantly, after another couple of stabs because I forgot to finish with another Triangle.

    My team was so impressed they mutinied and insisted I be court-martialed and returned to Valinor immediately once we had spent months climbing back down. Fortunately all were uninjured and fully capable of making the trip. They were all good friends.    … Expand
  24. ClayLamm
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    I have a deep hatred of how disrespectful this team has been to those who simply genuinely love the source material, just this arrogant flippant idea they are going to improve the source material and make it more relevant today by modernizing it. I repeat, the way Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and so forth, do not need to be modernized because they are written to be timeless. To say thisI have a deep hatred of how disrespectful this team has been to those who simply genuinely love the source material, just this arrogant flippant idea they are going to improve the source material and make it more relevant today by modernizing it. I repeat, the way Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and so forth, do not need to be modernized because they are written to be timeless. To say this even simpler, if you make a period piece it's jarring to shoehorn modern ideas into it because anyone who knows that ancient culture will be brought out of the suspension of disbelief. I could not be more disappointed, and for the record, my personal complaints have zero to do with diversity casting, it has to do with a shameless disregard for source material and a general hostility to those who do. Remember, Lord of the Rings was considered for ages an un-filmable series of books. Even Tolkien was against it, to be fair. Regardless, Peter Jackson did an admirable job, and was asked to give notes on this series, was sent a pilot script, sent notes, and in his own words, was ghosted. Pure hubris and the only answer I can conceive of is, Pride!… Expand
  25. ZingersBaobab
    Sep 3, 2022
    0
    You would probably enjoy reading a teenager’s Tolkien fanfiction more than this travesty. They had the money, the IP and the chance to make something truly great but, yet again, the box tickers put story second and pushing The Message above all else and what results is dreadful, nonsensical guff that they should be ashamed of. Just avoid it.
  26. asm1991
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    Feminism + men are like idiots and no good.... Amazon : bad . And the serie IS boring. Men deserve respect. Unsuscribe of Amazon here.
  27. PasiMetaAho
    Sep 5, 2022
    8
    Story seemed a bit basic but it had very good visuals and soundtrack at least.
  28. AnderzL7
    Sep 5, 2022
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In the span of two episodes this show already seams to have ruined all the characters from the original stories by making them into something they never were. They have added new meaningless shallow characters just to make the show politically correct or to make it «similar» to the characters in the original works (for example female sam&frodo). If you just wanted to make a story about a strong female warrior protagonist with all the nuances of the people of the world today you should have done so with a new IP, but don’t market it as something in J.R.R Tolkien’s universe because it obviously does not fit in and shows no respect for the source material.… Expand
  29. interlider
    Sep 5, 2022
    0
    I have two main criticisms against this show that make it unwatchable to me: firstly, they bought the name of the universe and its characters and then created their own characters with those names (therefore they butchered the story and lore of the IP they bought to begin with); secondly, they made it clear they wanted to make a political show and proceeded to step on the toes of theI have two main criticisms against this show that make it unwatchable to me: firstly, they bought the name of the universe and its characters and then created their own characters with those names (therefore they butchered the story and lore of the IP they bought to begin with); secondly, they made it clear they wanted to make a political show and proceeded to step on the toes of the community they bought into (from which I am a part of). The show itself is bland and deserves no praises; that, allied to the complete and utter disrespect the show runners had for their audience made it lose the few points it could've had. It's a Zero for me.… Expand
  30. DaisyDuke
    Sep 4, 2022
    0
    Terribly boring, non-canonical fan fiction. Visuals and music are passable. Costumes, writing, dialogue, pacing, lore-keeping, and virtue signaling at its worst. Acting is vapid and passionless. It's a steaming pile of garbage with Tolkien's name slapped on top. A Soulless cash grab. A stain on Tolkiens name. This should have been aborted at conception. These show runners couldn’t writeTerribly boring, non-canonical fan fiction. Visuals and music are passable. Costumes, writing, dialogue, pacing, lore-keeping, and virtue signaling at its worst. Acting is vapid and passionless. It's a steaming pile of garbage with Tolkien's name slapped on top. A Soulless cash grab. A stain on Tolkiens name. This should have been aborted at conception. These show runners couldn’t write their way out of a high school critical thinking class. How dare they claim it’s their time to write this beloved ip. Amazon sucks.

    Also, it’s not review bombing to voice criticisms and displeasure with a show. In contrast, all you people positively reviewing this dumpster fire to counteract this supposed negative review bombing are taking part in your own review bombing. Bunch of hypocritical bootlickers. Get your tongues out of Bezos’ chocolate starfish.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed TV Season of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 40
  3. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Jo Livingstone
    Sep 16, 2022
    80
    Adar’s début drips with signifiers. ... When Adar informs Arondir in Episode 4 that he has been told many lies, some that “run so deep even the rocks and roads now believe them,” it is still a thrill. Tolkien succeeded in creating a mythic world, one that has now grown vast enough through acts of typological repetition and imitation to conquer television, too.
    Read full review
  2. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Chris Barsanti
    Sep 16, 2022
    63
    With war brewing and the forging of the rings seemingly still far off, the first half of The Rings of Power’s first season constitutes little more than stage-setting for the struggle to come. Given the lack of quests and central commanding figures, it often makes for less-than-gripping drama. However, given that there are four more seasons already planned, and potentially dozens of new characters to be introduced, the slow and throat-clearing build is possibly a good sign.
    Read full review
  3. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Sep 9, 2022
    90
    The Rings of Power is a reminder of what drew many of us to epic fantasy in the first place: wonder. ... This series set in an ancient realm displays one dazzling and painterly landscape after another. Power also doesn't skimp on action. [12 - 25 Sep 2022, p.10]
    Read full review
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