The Rings of Power Review
Have you ever wondered what you would get with 1 billion dollars? Perhaps 55 Bugatti la Voiture noire if they even exist, the only one ever made is reported to be around $18.5million.
Alternatively, a small cluster of private islands off the coast of Mexico, or you could buy the television rights to “The Lord of The Rings” and create a visual masterpiece in the form of an 8 episode series called THE RINGS OF POWER.
With J.R.R Tolkien’s fan, Jeff Bezos backing Amazon did exactly that. Amazon paid nearly $250 million to the estate of J.R.R Tolkien and the executives of Warner Bros. who were shopping the television rights to the Lord of the Rings back in 2017.
The original Lord of the Rings trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and sweeping 11 academy awards including best picture in its wake, it reshaped the cinematic landscape for years to come.
Amazon is attempting to create a prequel series to the LOTR to pull in subscribers, spawn spinoffs, merch and cultural conversation the same way Game of Thrones did before it. And they are paying an astounding $715 million for the production of 1,8 episode season, pledging more seasons to come.
However, the much-anticipated series aroused much controversy among its die-hard fan base, due to the fact that it is based on the appendices of J.R.R Tolkien’s LOTR books and not a direct adaptation of one of the books.
The $1 Billion Series: The Rings of Power
The double premier of the series on Thursday gave us a glimpse of what awaits us in the upcoming weeks, and they definitely show how the budget was spent with their gigantic sets, amazing performances from the cast and the magical scenery of New Zealand.
The series is definitely a visual masterpiece; you can take any frame from the episodes and it will essentially serve as a visually astonishing wallpaper.
First look at Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'
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The story takes place thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s adaptation back in the early 2000’s, during the second age and we get to see the elvish kingdoms at their height.
The first episode gives us more exposition pointing us at where we are in this new world, or technically old world and where does middle earth stand.
While the second episode dives into the relationships of the characters, and beautifully shows us a glimpse of the complex relationships between the characters introduced in the first episode. Eventually leaving you wanting more.
The series is definitely worth checking out not only because the quality of the production, but also because it shows us the universe that J.R.R Tolkien laid out in broad strokes giving the screenwriters the ability to give a fresh take on the characters and the opportunity to build new character arcs and plotlines.
What is more, the fact that The Rings of Power will most likely span 5 seasons will give us more time to dive deep into each character and better understand the universe we grew up knowing.
Written by Munir Abumuhor
