IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power • Hacker News Board

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#311

Post by matwood » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

auggierose wrote: post #138

throw0101c wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The show covers A LOT more time than LOtR did, there's plenty of space for character development. The first two episodes of TRoP are 90 minutes each, for a total run time of three hours. Three hours is about the run time of the first LoTR movie (Fellowship): how much story were they able to tell in those three hours? Further, the other epic fantasy series, House of Dragons , also has released two episodes: how much…

Watched only the first episode of Dragons, but I am not convinced. What is the point of this show? We know that the real fight between dead and living is happening 200 years later. We know that all of the dragons will be dead at some point. The characters itself are pretty boring, compared to what Thrones had to offer. It is technically well made, but it is boring.

For me, I like the political intrigue. It's also a reminder that the quest for power is never ending, and even when one wins, it's never lasting.

But, to your point, it's not that dissimilar from other quest for power dramas. I told a friend the new GoT is a bit like Succession with dragons. The quest for power is part of the human condition, which is why I think so many enjoy the stories in whatever form they are told.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#312

Post by Cpoll » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

danaris wrote: post #229

fmajid wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Galadriel took part in the kinslaying at Alqualondë, she is totally a dick. The LOTR movies portrayed her in a much more positive light than the books. True heroes as you describe them exist only in your imagination and in fairy tales.

Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings books shows none of that. You only learn about it if you read the Silmarillion (and the other History of Middle-Earth books). It's not at all unreasonable for her portrayal in the movies based on the LotR books to be...based on her portrayal in the LotR books, and not attempting to incorporate largely irrelevant details of her backstory from Tolkien's other writings.

In other words, ignore the writer's understanding of and intent for for the character because they didn't put it in the right book?

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#313

Post by GordonS » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

tjpnz wrote: post #84

I think people with legitimate criticisms are starting to get really tired being called a racist or a misogynist. 99% of the reviews aren't about wokeness at all. They're about the writing, the pacing and the how unbelievably dull the show is.

I've only watched the first episode so far, and... I'm not very impressed.

The narrative is really awful - it feels like the characters are reading verbatim from a book, rather than reciting a screenplay adaption. The acting and behaviour of characters is very wooden, stiff, amateurish and unrealistic - maybe that's just what happens when actors have to recite such "formal" narrative, or maybe it's the actors' ability. The narrative and acting are totally unconvincing.

Thus far, the set, lighting CGI have been pretty disappointing too - I don't really understand why everything has to look like it's straight out of a cartoon, with eye-popping saturation levels. Or why all the CGI looks too "smooth" and strangely lit to look authentic. Or why so many of the buildings etc just look so... improbable.

All the characters look like they just came out of a salon - obviously brand new, pristine clothing, make up absolutely plastered on with a trowel, not a hair out of place etc. It looks very silly, and adds to the overall amateurish vibe.

And what on earth was that nonsense with the elves all standing in formation, perfectly upright and perfectly still, on the deck of a small boat sailing across an ocean?!

Overall, I felt like I was watching a theatre play, rather than a TV series. I think I read Amazon spent half a billion dollars on it, which is true sounds basically fraudulent.

I also want to add that I've been using IMDB for something like 20 years, and have rated over 1,000 movies and TV shows - what Amazon have done here is totally destroy my trust in IMDB ratings :(

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#314

Post by quelltext » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

topspin wrote: post #151

Say something nice about TRoP. The thing that's got me interested is the entrance of Gandalf (I presume.) Dropped in from the heavens like an alien, found in a smoldering crater, clearly baffled by up-close Arda, can't speak "the" language, mystified by corporeal-ness, almost simian. The writers had enough of a clue to see the opportunity in making Gandalf's backstory a meaningful subplot, so they're developing it wi…

Do we need spoilers here? Didn't know that was Gandalf.

Aside from that I agree, so far TRoP has been close to or better than expected. I'm not sure what people expected here but at any rate it's too early. You would't want to judge LotR based only on the initial chapter either.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#315

Post by Rant423 » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

LudwigNagasena wrote: post #281

Rant423 wrote: post #210

I choose to ignore user reviews/ratings altogether. On IMDB right now 60% of the ratings (not reviews) are either 1 or 10 [1], and that's completely ridicolous. I much prefer the critics' scores - and right now they're 84% on RT [2] and 71 on Metacritics [3]. Which are reasonable numbers. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7631058/ratings/?ref_=tt_ov_rt [2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lord_of_the_rings_the_..…

How is RT better? 100% of RT scores are either 1 or 10.

That's not how it works.

Yes, RT scores are binary, but that's not the same as saying that "rotten" means 1/10 and "fresh" means 10/10.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#316

Post by peoplefromibiza » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

flarg wrote: post #226

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Contrast Galadriel who acts like a self righteous dickhead with Aragorn who was reluctant to accept his calling spent and three movies proving himself to be worthy of honor and love You mean three books, right? The difference here is that Aragorn was written by Tolkien, this show wasn't and has completely betrayed the original material. Race or gender swaps are not a big issue, but they become one if the purpose is…

Isn't it the case that race is acceptably mutable if it isn't germain to the story and that making all audiences feel more accepted and therefore happier is a laudable goal. Nothing woke about greater non white representation. Plenty snowflake about not wanting this.

> if it isn't germain to the story and that making all audiences feel more accepted and therefore happier is a laudable goal.

why not come up with new stories then, instead of trying to make them fit in something written decades if not centuries ago?

> Nothing woke about greater non white representation.

the World is full of non white mythology, I would love to see something inspired by African.mythologies for example.

why they keep using white (western to be precise) mythology to represent non western cultures?

It's like making a new Rambo movie were everything is the same except Rambo is Vietnamese.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#317

Post by brokenkebab2 » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #186

farleykr wrote: post #61

My issue with the show has nothing to do with the “woke” stuff mentioned here. I don’t like it because none of the heroes are likable. All of them have some form of sticking it to the man and doing what they want as their story line. True heroes are self-sacrificial and reluctant. Contrast Galadriel who acts like a self righteous dickhead with Aragorn who was reluctant to accept his calling spent and three movies pro…

Galadriel took part in the kinslaying at Alqualondë, she is totally a dick. The LOTR movies portrayed her in a much more positive light than the books. True heroes as you describe them exist only in your imagination and in fairy tales.

> exist only in your imagination and in fairy tales.

I'm afraid, this argument is both wrong (maybe you just haven't been lucky with people around you), and inapplicable (the talk is imaginarium).

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#318

Post by wubbert » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:23 PM UTC

danskeren wrote: post #2

Not sure if IMDb has a history of deleting negative user reviews made in good faith, but worth noting that IMDb and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV series) are both owned by Amazon.

IMDb deleted their message boards several years ago because "trolls" were giving movies bad reviews.[1]

1. https://www.thewrap.com/imdb-shut-troll-infested-message-boa...

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#319

Post by woofyman » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:23 PM UTC

Ekaros wrote: post #178

smcl wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People were up in arms before a single episode aired, because they saw a fictional species (dwarf) had dark skin. many of those people have now pivoted their arguments against the show to being about pacing, writing (note: I’m in no way implying this is you, I haven’t seen any LotR series opinions on HN) - but the racist stuff has already occurred

I wonder how well it would go down if someone made a show about slavery in USA with all of the black people being played by non-blacks... For inclusivity you know? Get some Asians there. Maybe gender swap the historical big figures to boot and have them speak Chinese or something.

Let’s make a movie about Jesus where he is blond and blue eyed. Oh wait.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#320

Post by samatman » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 1:24 PM UTC

ubercore wrote: post #272

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> she's a fairy, not a human .. what does her skin have to do with the time period or place in which she appeared? I mean, why can't we have a viking Black Panther and put Wakanda near Iceland? > The real problem is getting upset over the skin color of the actors and actresses playing fairies No one is upset for that, I, as Italian, am upset that some writer thinks that Collodi's story needed to be changed in ways th…

I want the best actor for a role, not one with the right skin color. You can hedge around the skincolor issue all you want, but that's the basis for your complaint.

Colorblind casting is the right approach to theatre, I firmly agree with this. The world might not be ready for Raisin in the Sun to be translated to Vietnamese and performed entirely by Vietnamese people, I say go for it.

This works so well because theatre is a practice. Any play, even if it's performed once by one company (surely the mode for plays) is of the ages. Merry is black in your stage adaptation of the Fellowship, you say? Of course he is, everyone knew Isaac was going to get that role, he's a natural for it.

Cinema is a product, not a practice or a process. Like it or not, it makes a single, definitive statement about a story. It's fair to dislike it when those choices differ dramatically from those made by the author, including in matters of appearance.

If you think rabid fans won't be put off by 'trivial' things like an eye color mismatch, think again. You singling out skin color is your special pleading, reflecting your interests. I reject it. It is one of many aspects of casting in film which differs from the stage, for good reason.