Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
“Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, […]
“Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.”
Directors: Wayne Yup, J.A. Bayona, Charlotte Brändström
Writers: J.R.R Tolkien, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble, Gennifer Hutchinson, Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, Bryan Cogman, Stephany Folsom, Glenise Mullins, Helen Shang
Staring: Peter Mullan, Nazanin Boniadi, Benjamin Walker, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Maxim Baldry
Release Date: September 2, 2022
A much, MUCH, better teaser than the last one. Amazon knows that we are less than two months away from their attempt a culture-shaking television premieres, and this is their first mega marketing mega-dump.
Very smart move by the trailer editors to put in the classic elven music at the start of the trailer. Get the nostalgia feelings going.
It comes out of that music into a crescendo and the sun shining over a mountain with a city in the distance as the narrator is talking about how there was a time where there was only light, and no sunrise.
“Come to me, come to me. Lands for away”
The next thing we see is a serious of landscape shots showing the world of Middle Earth and the different environments that this story will take us too. We have snowy peaks, wooded mountain ranges, deep dark mines and grainy fields. The majority of these postcard shots are associated with a race living within Middle Earth, all except for the Harfoots. This race, very reminiscent of hobbits it would seem, talk about how they have one another. They deem themselves safe.
Guess what folks. They aren’t safe.
The second half of the the trailer focuses on Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). She has the reputation of a warrior searching for an enemy, but folks (including Elrond, who is played by Robert Aramayo) are telling her to stop her fleeting chase for an evil that does not exist. Galadriel is insistent that whatever it is she is hunting is still out there. She tells Elrond: “You have not seen what I have seen.”
Safe to say that when Galadriel is talking to Elrond about seeing things…she is talking about intangible things. She is talking about visions and premonitions. Obviously we know she can have this sort of power and talent when she is with Frodo when he looks into the Mirror of Galadriel in Lothlórien in The Fellowship Of The Ring. This is a much young Galadriel, but it would appear she is still one power Elf.
Seeing this vision and the rather visceral evil of it has me excited. My biggest problem with the last trailer was that we learned nothing at all about the evil that the heroes will be fighting against. In this full trailer, we get a glimpse as to what horror Galadriel is chasing. She knows the stakes are high, and she has me believing in them as well.
We move onto Elrond getting a lecture about how this evil will be the end of not only their kind, but of all kind. Elrond is then scene being escorted through a mine, which should be tenuous based off the relationship of dwarves and elves. It doesn’t look like the dwarves are willing to change when an elder says: “I’m sorry, but their time has come.” I am willing to guess this is in terms of being asked to join the fight and the dwarves being like “Nah, we good.”
The last third of the trailer focuses on the idea of the past. Everyone living with it, but needing to grow beyond it. Characters speaking in platitudes on how the past is dead and there can be nothing gained from it. I don’t think that is the best way to go about it. That is how history repeats itself.
Oh, and the name of the first episode is “Shadow of the Past”. It’s all…part of the plan.
This sequence here in the trailer invokes HEAVY feelings towards the start of The Fellowship Of The Ring, where Galadriel herself (in an awesome voiceover performance by Cate Blanchett) is speaking about how it all began with The Rings Of Power that were created for the different races. In that we are explained about how rings were made for the elves, the dwarves and for men. When I first show the shot of the swords being raced as the dwarf talked about a new era, I thought of the realm of men and how all they want is power. And how do you get power. Through the sword.
We get some creature battles. It looks like a Warg and a Troll. That will be exciting standard action fare. I have a strong sneaky suspicion that the troll battle, Galadriel climbing the rock face, the first lecture for her to lay down her sword, the overhead tracking shot in the show; I think all of those things are going to be in the first episode. Amazon and the makers of Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power don’t want to share too much of what is to come.
And the trailer ends invoking the classic start to any grand adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s encyclopedia. The Hobbits marching together, one small hairy foot at a time, into a vast world that which they are about to learn a lot about.
Safe to say that once the calendar turns to August and we get into the beginning of college football and NFL season, there are going to be an absurd amount of commercials promoting Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. Don’t show me too much Amazon. This here, this trailer, was a really good dose.
Let’s all get excited for September 2nd when Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power premieres on Amazon Prime.
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