Bernard Hill (Théoden): Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show isn’t “the real thing”

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power aired on Amazon earlier this year, and it inspired a lot of talk. Did it live up to the standard set by Peter Jackson decades ago in his own Lord of the Rings adaptation? How about the standard set by J.R.R. Tolkien’s books?

There’s one guy who would answer both of those questions with a flat, “No.” Bernard Hill played King Théoden of Rohan in the Peter Jackson movies. Speaking to Metro, he said that while he loved making those films, he was “not interested” in Amazon’s prequel series.

"It’s a money-making venture and I’m not interested in watching that or being in it. Good luck to them and all that stuff but it’s not like the real thing."

In fact, Hill goes further and opines that The Lord of the Rings as a franchise would have been better off had nothing been made after the original movie trilogy. “I think they were pushing it when they made The Hobbit. The Hobbit’s a tiny book,” he said.

"They did it well – they did it really, really well. They expanded it [but] I think you can only stretch a piece of elastic so far. I think they managed it in The Hobbit because there were some really good things in The Hobbit without a doubt."

Why it’s not fair to write off The Rings of Power as “a money-making venture”

Personally, I don’t disagree with the general opinion that no Lord of the Rings movie or TV show since the original trilogy has measured up. And I agree that The Rings of Power is a “money-making venture”; Amazon made it in the hope of getting tons of new subscribers. They want to make bank on this.

But The Hobbit movies were also a money-making venture; that’s why the studio stretched them out unnecessarily over three movies rather than making the one movie the story needed. Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was a money-making venture; it just happened to be a money-making venture that was really entertaining and even moving. When it comes to tentpole Hollywood products, that’s really the best anyone can hope for. At a certain level, all movies and TV shows are money-making ventures; studios don’t do anything unless they think they can turn a profit. But if we’re lucky, some of them are also good.

The Rings of Power will return for a second season, probably in 2024. And the conversation about art vs commerce, book vs show, and elf vs dwarf will continue.

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