🐴 The Lord of the Rings: The ⚔️War of the Rohirrim

[CirdanLinweilin]

One review on RT.com:



Ouch.

Snap.


CL

 

[herlig9]

I recently saw it. I actually thought the movie wasnt that bad honestly. But i would rather dub the film for "Princess Zelda and her almighty kingdom"... or would queendom be a better word?

Either case. I wouldnt call it great Tolkien stuff, since i had nitpick issues with it some parts of it. But i overall didnt hate the film. Was actually a cool movie.

And i may have fallen for anime crush for the main character now. A spell you might say. And i dont mean the horse

Ooh -- here's a clip!

Best anime is Bleach. Bleach for life!

btw. How old is Hera in the movie "War of Rohirrim" anime?

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

btw. How old is Hera in the movie "War of Rohirrim" anime?

Early Adulthood, late teens?
Does the one or two pages in the book even specify?

CL

 

[herlig9]

Early Adulthood, late teens?
Does the one or two pages in the book even specify?

CL

I am not too familiar with all of Tolkiens work is all. But ty!

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

I am not too familiar with all of Tolkiens work is all. But ty!

Or, due to Helm's visible age, she could be in her thirties! Not sure myself. Welcome!

CL

 

[Vorondil]

Or, due to Helm's visible age,

Helm is 67-68 at the time of the film.

Does the one or two pages in the book even specify?

No, Tolkien never specified Hera's age.

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

Helm is 67-68 at the time of the film.

No, Tolkien never specified Hera's age.

Oh.

CL

 

[Annatar]

I saw five (German) reviews on Youtube lately - they were between relatively and very negative.

 

[herlig9]

People still watching Rings of Power? I quit at Episode 6.

 

[Annatar]

People still watching Rings of Power? I quit at Episode 6.

No, of course not. Except for hate-watchers like me. But RoP has given rise to some funny memes, like this one. Of course, you can only laugh about it if you've bitten the bullet first.

But back to the topic: So far, my motto is: “I have NOT seen what you have seen” (to tie in with the meme.) So I'm looking forward to your reviews. I'm still thinking about whether I should spend money on it or wait until it's on TV for free.

Unfortunately, the negative reviews on YouTube are now dominant.

What I have filtered out so far:
- The animations are bad.
- It's mainly fan fiction because the daughter of Helm, who is not described in detail by Tolkien, is in the foreground and has some adventures that don't fit the lore.
- Themes from Tolkien's appendices to LotR could have been worked out better.
- Contradictory: Some say: Too much girl-boss; others say: It's okay.
- The movie is too long because it's boring at times.
- The movie is redundant because it's a worse version of LotR The Two Towers

 

[Halasían]

Early Adulthood, late teens?
Does the one or two pages in the book even specify?

CL

Third-born of three children. No birth dates were given for any of them. Tolkien didn't even give Helm's daughter a name. I'd guess Hèra would be in the 20-27 range at the time of Helm's death at age 68. I'd lean towards the younger 20s from what I've seen of her portrayal in the movie. Off to watch it tomorrow.

Here is a balanced 'spoiler-free' review.

 

[Annatar]

Hera's age doesn't really matter as long as she's somewhere between 18 and 40, does it?

 

[Radaghast]

Wait, so the filmmakers chose the name Héra? Why would they choose the name of a Greek goddess?

 

[Laurë]

People still watching Rings of Power? I quit at Episode 6.

No, of course not. Except for hate-watchers like me. But RoP has given rise to some funny memes, like this one. Of course, you can only laugh about it if you've bitten the bullet first.

I'll admit while I hated all of s1, I did genuinely like parts of s2. I think it's improving, though the bar is very very very low. I mostly watch it because it's fun to laugh at, and sometimes there are actually enjoyable parts--for example, I really disliked the lotr trilogy's portrayal of Elrond, and so I like seeing him on the screen in a new story.
(I also, regrettably, tend to get the little fomo itch in my brain whenever there's something new in a franchise I like and I haven't engaged with it yet 😅, thus I subject myself to that nightmare of show)

But yes, back to the topic at hand:

But back to the topic: So far, my motto is: “I have NOT seen what you have seen” (to tie in with the meme.) So I'm looking forward to your reviews. I'm still thinking about whether I should spend money on it or wait until it's on TV for free.

Unfortunately, the negative reviews on YouTube are now dominant.

I will be certain to post my own review of it once I've seen it and have had some time to think on it! I'm really not surprised that most youtube reviews are negative though, while I do love watching media reviews and criticism on youtube, it feels like a lot of the niche lacks nuance and critical analysis. (That and a negative, extreme opinion will generate more attention, and sometimes it feels like people hate on things for the headline, if you get what I'm saying). That said, I have several people I frequently watch because I like how they review and analyze things and I don't know which people you've seen talking about it.

Going along with what you said, with something as unique as this, I'm hesitant to take the review of just anyone online because 1-there's already a stigma against anime and animation outside of it's own space, and 2-the general bias against adaptations that a fandom can have because of messy adaptation history.

Not that I have watched any reviews myself, I want to see the film first, but I have had similar experiences with new releases. Hopefully there are some people out there willing to come at it from a genuine analysis perspective instead of 'ew anime gross' and 'ew they made an oc protagonist.'

Edit: (sorry, I didn't want to double post)

Tolkien didn't even give Helm's daughter a name. I'd guess Hèra would be in the 20-27 range at the time of Helm's death at age 68. I'd lean towards the younger 20s from what I've seen of her portrayal in the movie. Off to watch it tomorrow.

Hera's age doesn't really matter as long as she's somewhere between 18 and 40, does it?

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if she were in the 15-18 range . . . guessing her age off of her appearance alone might not be the best idea, especially with anime. Due to the extreme stylization in the medium (and of course the tendency to want all your characters to look 'young and pretty' whether they realistically would be or not) a character can often look much younger or older then they are.

Of course, this movie has pretty tame stylization, it's generally realistic with toned-down anime features, so I don't think we'd see her turn out to be 13 or 40 (if they ever release a canon age), but it's worth noting that she may be a little younger or older then she looks.

Just my thoughts as someone who does regularly watch anime, I've seen plenty of shows with female protagonists who look just like Hera, but are 15-18.

 

[Annatar]

I really disliked the lotr trilogy's portrayal of Elrond

Yes, I also found it quite inappropriate. Hugo Weaving doesn't fit at all from my point of view either.

Going along with what you said, with something as unique as this, I'm hesitant to take the review of just anyone online because 1-there's already a stigma against anime and animation outside of it's own space, and 2-the general bias against adaptations that a fandom can have because of messy adaptation history.

Not that I have watched any reviews myself, I want to see the film first, but I have had similar experiences with new releases. Hopefully there are some people out there willing to come at it from a genuine analysis perspective instead of 'ew anime gross' and 'ew they made an oc protagonist.'

I think that's good.
I don't have any particularly positive or negative reservations about anime myself.
Although it's obviously more of a cost-saving measure than a real-life adaptation, it can still theoretically serve its purpose and be artistically valuable.
Is that the case here? I'm looking forward to your reviews! I stopped paying attention to official reviews a long time ago because corruption is worse than people generally think.

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

I found this particularly funny. “The Middle-earth”.


CL

 

[Annatar]

I found this particularly funny. “The Middle-earth”

There are probably at least five Middle-earths in total:
- Tolkien's
- the one by PJ
- the one from various computer games
- the one from Amazon
- and now new: the one by Philippa Boyens

 

[Laurë]

Yes, I also found it quite inappropriate. Hugo Weaving doesn't fit at all from my point of view either.

I don't necessarily dislike the actor--I think he did a fine enough job, and while he doesn't look right to me, I can understand wanting to have a more mature-looking man play Elrond so it doesn't seem weird that Arwen's dad looks near the same age as her to people who are newer to the franchise and fantasy elves and all that.

My main gripe is with the writing (it's always the writing . . . 😅). I love the idea of giving Arwen a bigger role in the story, especially since the adaptation was trying to shift the story in a direction that would better suit the theatre-going audience. That said, I hate the fact that they felt the need to sacrifice Elrond as a wonderful and complex character to do so. He's boiled down to the horrible and shallow father figure who stands in the way of romance, and when the movie-only audience dares to google Elrond to learn more about him, they see he's half-elven and declare him a terrible hypocrite.

I'm not even opposed to Elrond being an antagonist in the love plot-line (though it directly contradicts his standpoint in the books), but the movies grab the worst reasons for him to do so. They could have had him tell Arwen that he doesn't want her to stay in ME because Celebrian has already gone to Valinor, and if Arwen stays then his family will never all be together again. They could have explained why keeping his family together is important to him by even throwing in some of his backstory. Elrond not wanting her to die because he's her father and that's it is fine, but it feels very shallow without the further context you could draw from his life.

On top of that, his distrust of Men without much context comes off as pretentious and shallow as well, yes we get to see Isulder betray him, which is great, but the line delivery and the way the scene comes off is just so out of character for him.

Out of anyone from the books that the movies could've portrayed as the typical pompous and biased elf, Elrond is probably the worst choice and yet that is what he is devolved into. In the books Elrond is one of the most openminded elves . . .

I think that's good.
I don't have any particularly positive or negative reservations about anime myself.
Although it's obviously more of a cost-saving measure than a real-life adaptation, it can still theoretically serve its purpose and be artistically valuable.
Is that the case here? I'm looking forward to your reviews! I stopped paying attention to official reviews a long time ago because corruption is worse than people generally think.

Personally, I love the fact that it's animated . . . Of course I am very biased as an artist myself and a general enjoyer of anime, but 2d animation is a dying art (because it's simply more expensive then cgi these days), so to see something like this is really important to me. I love 2d animation, and I think it's one of the most beautiful ways to tell a story.

I personally find it really hard to take fantasy and sci fi live action films seriously, something about is just off (though I do have a few favorite exceptions). Psychologically, when we watch animation of any kind the point to which we can suspend our disbelief is actually greater, because we know the animated pictures aren't real in the first place (the idea being that LA more easily 'tricks' viewers into thinking it could be real), so over-the top fight scenes and magical powers feel more at home in animation, to me at least.

Once again though, I am very biased.

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

I don't necessarily dislike the actor--I think he did a fine enough job, and while he doesn't look right to me, I can understand wanting to have a more mature-looking man play Elrond so it doesn't seem weird that Arwen's dad looks near the same age as her to people who are newer to the franchise and fantasy elves and all that.

My main gripe is with the writing (it's always the writing . . . 😅). I love the idea of giving Arwen a bigger role in the story, especially since the adaptation was trying to shift the story in a direction that would better suit the theatre-going audience. That said, I hate the fact that they felt the need to sacrifice Elrond as a wonderful and complex character to do so. He's boiled down to the horrible and shallow father figure who stands in the way of romance, and when the movie-only audience dares to google Elrond to learn more about him, they see he's half-elven and declare him a terrible hypocrite.

I'm not even opposed to Elrond being an antagonist in the love plot-line (though it directly contradicts his standpoint in the books), but the movies grab the worst reasons for him to do so. They could have had him tell Arwen that he doesn't want her to stay in ME because Celebrian has already gone to Valinor, and if Arwen stays then his family will never all be together again. They could have explained why keeping his family together is important to him by even throwing in some of his backstory. Elrond not wanting her to die because he's her father and that's it is fine, but it feels very shallow without the further context you could draw from his life.

On top of that, his distrust of Men without much context comes off as pretentious and shallow as well, yes we get to see Isulder betray him, which is great, but the line delivery and the way the scene comes off is just so out of character for him.

Out of anyone from the books that the movies could've portrayed as the typical pompous and biased elf, Elrond is probably the worst choice and yet that is what he is devolved into. In the books Elrond is one of the most openminded elves . . .

Personally, I love the fact that it's animated . . . Of course I am very biased as an artist myself and a general enjoyer of anime, but 2d animation is a dying art (because it's simply more expensive then cgi these days), so to see something like this is really important to me. I love 2d animation, and I think it's one of the most beautiful ways to tell a story.

I personally find it really hard to take fantasy and sci fi live action films seriously, something about is just off (though I do have a few favorite exceptions). Psychologically, when we watch animation of any kind the point to which we can suspend our disbelief is actually greater, because we know the animated pictures aren't real in the first place (the idea being that LA more easily 'tricks' viewers into thinking it could be real), so over-the top fight scenes and magical powers feel more at home in animation, to me at least.

Once again though, I am very biased.

Good points.

CL

 

[Eldacar]

I can't find the post right now, but there was mention of how AI played a part in the making of this movie, which is probably an explanation for why it is so incredibly shallow and uninspired. If you put the scripts of the Jackson adaptations into a blender and fed the pieces into an early version of ChatGPT, asking it to write a movie about Helm, it would probably look something like this.

In the end, my girlfriend and I still had a blast, but only because we could laugh about how much of a nonsensical, nostalgia-baiting dumpster fire this was. If you really cared about this movie, you could, and in my eyes even should, feel insulted as a fan, because this was a gigantic, two-hour-long display of Warner Bros.' middle fingers.