'Looks Like Utter Cr*p': Netizens Livid at Amazon’s Prequel to Lord of the Rings
14:27 GMT 14.02.2022 (Updated: 15:52 GMT 14.02.2022)
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Anybody in the industry will tell you that turning a book into a film is a path fraught with pitfalls and will earn anyone who tries nothing but censure from the book's fans. They maintain that something essential has been lost in translation. Even Peter Jackson’s widely praised Lord of The Rings was not free of the wrath of Tolkien nuts.
Amazon Prime has released a trailer for its highly anticipated prequel of the Lord of the Rings, which has made waves on social media. The one-minute clip was packed with dynamic scenes, showing dwarves, elves, horrifying monsters and intense battles. But judging by netizens' reactions, it left many seriously unimpressed.
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Many users blasted Amazon Prime for failing to recreate the atmosphere of Middle Earth.
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Others accused the streaming service of "wokeness" for casting black actors in the roles of elves and dwarves.
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Many netizens criticised the series, which thanks to production costs reportedly in the region of $1 billion, will be the most expensive in the world, for its poor computer graphic effects.
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And still others felt the series had ventured a long way from Tolkien's books and the Lord of The Rings trilogy.
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Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, who is a big fan of Tolkien and took part in talks to buy the rights for the series from Warner Bros - the studio behind the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies - has not been spared the wrath of movie fans too.
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However, there were those who enjoyed the trailer.
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The events in the series, which will be premiered on 2 September, are set in the Second Age of Middle Earth, thousands of years before the events described in the Lord of the Rings saga. According to media reports, the new show will feature new characters, but it will bring back some iconic characters who appeared in the Rings. Last August, Amazon announced that the filming of the second season is expected to begin in the middle of 2022.