Gold Without Glitter

Why do some adaptations work and others do not? Peter Jackson’s accomplishment on The Lord of the Rings movies and the first season of the recent TV-Series adaptation named The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power of John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) Tolkien’s books allow us to discuss this issue.

By Bora Sezer

Image: Via Pixabay, CC0

The issue at hand will be discussed through what did go right for the movies and what did go wrong for the TV-Series in terms of adaptation rather than a direct comparison in content except for a few examples. It is not expected from The Rings of Power to be as good as The Lord of the Rings as the latter was developed into a book by Tolkien himself whereas The Rings of Power focuses on a period that was only mentioned in the writings of the writer. However, this does not justify the poor writing of The Rings of Power and the caricaturized feeling of the characters.

The World is Changed

Even before The Lord of the Rings movies between 2001-2003, there was an animated movie (1978) about Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Famously, The Beatles wanted to turn the book into a live action movie in which they would take part which was not realized. Despite the interest and fame of the books, Peter Jackson’s attempt in making The Lord of the Rings was a huge undertaking because the scale of the production and the technology required were unprecedented. All three movies were shot simultaneously with massive sets crafted in different sizes by crews. The labour required thousands of people who worked day and night when necessary. This aspect of The Lord of the Rings is almost impossible to replicate as most productions use cheaper options since computer technology became more available. The authentic feeling of Shire combined with the grandeur of Minas Tirith provide a serious shift in perception, thus outshines the computationally generated image of The Rings of Power.

The audience who watched the first season of The Rings of Power was disappointed which is evident by the ratings of the show and this is not the best result for the billion-dollar spent by Amazon. Although The Lord of the Rings had more authentic visuals, The Rings of Power could still rely heavily on its visual effects, as they were the strongest aspect of the show, thanks to advancements in modern technology. However, the reliance on new technology also diminished the authenticity of the show, making it feel more like a video game – visually impressive but lacking a compelling storyline. The expectation from The Rings of Power did not reach the level that The Lord of the Rings reached and it does not look better in the 2^nd season of the show. These are all results of putting all the eggs in one basket. The show-runners seem to think that throwing names around and providing picturesque places from Middle Earth would capture the audience. Yet, it only shows that, the show could have been great if enough time and effort was spent to writing.

One of the biggest mistakes of the showrunners was producing an old, fan-favourite work for the modern audience. There are many adaptations of fantasy books right now such as House of the Dragon, Dune and The Wheel of Time. This was not the case for The Lord of the Rings, as it was one of the first and perhaps the best adaptation ever made from a fantasy book. The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne did something different than the movies which could be commendable if they took the example of a show like Game of Thrones. These shows miss the mark when they aim away from their actual target; the fans of the books or great movies.

The Pen is Mightier Than the Camera

The Rings of Power as a TV-series had the potential to be better than even Game of Thrones which is one of the book series that is compared with Tolkien’s work the most. However, even G.R.R. Martin’s involvement in Game of Thrones did not save its final seasons because the show runners thought they could skip good writing and just show »cool things«. This approach could never work for either show because the audience watches these shows to visualize what they actually read in the books or if they never read the books, they still want to see a logically sound story. It is always best to give time for development but, since the comparison revolves around The Lord of the Rings and The Rings of Power, their run times are almost identical with The Rings of Power Season 1 being around 9 hours long. This highlights a key issue with The Rings of Power: the development of the story and characters feels sluggish and lacks resolution.

The Rings of Power tries to tell the story of powerful rings being made by Dark Lord Sauron in order to dominate their wearers and by extension, controlling Middle Earth. However, the writers are telling the story from too many perspectives. There are always two to three different character groups and their sub-plots in an hour-long episode without any conclusions. The audience cannot find likeable characters because they are neither fantasy characters nor they are real. The elves are ancient beings who are thousands of years old, yet they act as if they are mere human children. Actors portray the characters as highly Hollywoodized caricatures which renders their ability to make the audience believe in them.

Throughout the 1^st season, there are meaningless attempts to be mysterious such as not telling the name of a character when it is obvious as in the example of The Stranger or portraying Elendil as a normal person. Elendil is the future high king of Gondor however, he can be seen as a guard, captain, news bearer and more as if he is the errand boy of Numenor. Using the names of these characters to create intrigue does not work because they appear only in short-clip like scenes, therefore denying likeability.  As for the comparison with The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power is at its weakest in terms of grandeur of these characters. Peter Jackson’s work is a masterpiece in every category and outshines The Rings of Power in writing the most.

One Show to Rule Them All

It is no surprise that The Rings of Power faces significant criticism, especially considering Amazon invested 1 billion dollars in the series. The announcement of its focus on the creation of the rings raised expectations, as this topic serves as the central storyline for The Lord of the Rings, which revolves around the destruction of the One Ring created by Sauron to dominate others. The Rings of Power showrunners decided to deal with this grand idea yet they cannot capture the magnitude of it. The three Elven Rings were made in the last five minutes of an entire season while the characters’ movements had no effect on the main story. This results in the artificiality of the show which was supposed to be grounded in the reality of the universe that is in.

The problematic time management also hurts the coherence of the universe because fantastic literature is built unlike other fictions that are imagined in the real world. The writer makes the reader believe in things that are not real such as Elves and Dwarves and their fights against giants and dragons. Tolkien even drew maps and gave detailed explanations regarding the journeys of characters in the books. Peter Jackson also followed this recipe and succeeded.

Illogical Details

However, the showrunners of The Rings of Power seem to have no problem with altering the distances between locations at will. For instance, Celebrimbor, the mastermind behind forging the rings, is seen traveling on foot to a Dwarven Kingdom within the same episode, while Hobbits struggle to change locations simultaneously because their subplot lacks sufficient material to advance. The bad choreography is visible in the unsavoury scene in which Galadriel who is unarmed escapes from prison against four heavily armed guards with ease. This kind of illogical details damage the universe because it shatters the reality that exists within fantasy universes.

Even without the comparison with The Lord of the Rings, as a stand-alone TV series, The Rings of Power fails to be consistent within itself. Pursuit of profit makes the show unbearable even for the biggest fans of Tolkien’s universe with its illogical and uneventful scenes. The show tries to capture a new audience by engaging in popular culture. It is fair to claim that the show is a major failure because it already lost quite a big audience after its first season. If the showrunners do not take the criticism seriously, it will be a sad ending both for the show and the fans of the original work. Going against what worked previously is rarely successful and in the case of The Rings of Power, it is nowhere near the quality of The Lord of the Rings and it does not look promising in the new season which will be concluded on 3^rd of October 2024.