Cień przeszłości (S01E01)

Self-centered assholes like the sociopathic and "biggest horror expert" Psycho are wanking again, the rest of us, for whom FilmBooster is not the only way to make ourselves visible, can enjoy very decent craftsmanship and well above average production values. Admittedly, I don't see the pop culture event of the year, we're still within the confines of TV, but if every TV product looked as professional as this, it would be great for series watchers. I attribute the lousy reviews here to people's disgust with today's violently pushed political correctness, and I get it, I also don't picture a black curly-haired boy as an elf, sometimes things don’t make much sense in that regard, but this is just a sign of the times, we move from one extreme to the other, while, as the classic saying goes, "the truth is always in the middle, as in the sting of the bee", and unfortunately this is not the case today. But I won't let that sway my judgment. PS: I like the lead actress very much, they chose well. (03.09.2022)

No one there is the least bit likeable and it's so terribly cheesy. (07.09.2022)

The first few minutes are truly gripping, unfortunately, in the worst sense of the word. Because when you get two elves philosophising under a tree about why a rock doesn't float and a boat does, the level of screenwriting is somewhere near primary school. Fortunately, after a few minutes, the LoTR series, at least as far as visual and aesthetic qualities go, gets off to a fairly solid start and makes us remember the old days of the most successful fantasy films ever, which did several times better for barely half the money. The actors are a big question mark so far, technically it’s OK, but lacks ingenuity, directorial skill and a sense of cinematic epic. So far, at least the first episode, looks rather like a polished version of medieval Indiana Jones. (11.04.2023)

Honestly, I was quite skeptical because I couldn't fathom how the creators would adapt Tolkien's Silmarillion under the current conditions. By "current conditions," I mean the prioritization of quotas and political correctness over the story itself. After watching the first episode, it's clear that the creators only loosely drew inspiration from the rich source material. Instead of the originally ethereal Galadriel, we got a mix of Xena and Geralt. Rather than delving into the nuances of different species, the production seemed more focused on races. The whole concept felt rather strange. However, I was expecting much worse, so I surprised myself with a three-star rating. / Lesson learned: When building a ship, rely more on science than on its desire for light. 3*- (19.08.2023)