Why The New 'Lord Of The Rings' TV Show Should Be Less Like The Movies, And More Like 'Game Of Thrones'

Amazon has announced that it's bought the rights to Lord of the Rings and plans to adapt Tolkien's trilogy into a TV series. The response has been a bit mixed, though, some fans are excited by the prospect, while others are adamant that Peter Jackson's epic three movies are definitive and beyond improvement. As a fan of the books, I was disappointed by the movies and think we should give the TV show a chance.

#GameOfThrones is one of the biggest TV shows around and shares the fantasy genre with LOTR. It also succeeds in satisfying fans of George R.R Martin's books as well as appealing to a wider audience. These are both things that the LOTR movies didn't quite hit the mark on. The upcoming adaptation should take inspiration from GoT, with regard to several things, structure and character development to name a few. Here they are:

Battle Scenes Should Be Shorter And Less Frequent

Lord Of The Rings boasted exhilarating battle scenes, skilfully constructed with state of the art special effects, absorbing cinematography and impressive choreography. But there were arguably several flaws: they lasted too long, they were too frequent, and not all of them even existed in the books. And as soon as things start to get tiresome in an epic, lapses in attention can lead to confusion - who's fighting who? From here interest is easily lost.

Of course, Lord of the Rings is about Middle Earth at war - battles are one of the most exciting parts of the story. Amazon could do with taking some inspiration from Game Of Thrones here, which has always managed to get the balance right. Intermittent fight scenes have kept the show exciting, while epic, episode-long battle sequences - such as Blackwater, The Watchers on the Wall, Hardhome, and Battle of the Bastards, are solid fan favourites, all achieving over 9.7 star ratings on IMBD. By incorporating shorter, intermittent battle scenes, similar to GoT, the LOTR TV series can keep viewers' attention. The positioning of action sequences within the greater structure of GoT has always been well thought out too - which brings me to a second point.

'Lord Of The Rings' Needs To Avoid Too Much Dialogue

Quotable lines that are well-delivered can hold a show, but the complexities that make Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones such masterpieces can lead to tedious dialogue in an attempt to explain everything. The LOTR movies sometimes felt like a combination of over-long battle scenes and arduous dialogue sequences. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh here - Tolkien did bestow the books with complex monologues, and adding extra action may have been the movies' solution to this. But, as someone with an all-or-nothing attention span, it's always frustrating when such promising material becomes hard to engage with.

Hopefully LOTR will take a leaf out of Game of Thrones here. The interplay between dialogue and action has always been on-point in GoT, with things happening at that perfect moment just before it's expected. A perfect example of this was The Spoils of War, which proved a huge hit with fans when it ended with an unexpected, epic action sequence. With the fascinating content Tolkien produced in Lord of the Rings, the entire series could be riveting stuff.

Character Authenticity Should Be Celebrated

From the start, it was evident that in Game of Thrones, author George R R Martin had essentially created an assemble of misfits. From Daenerys - a female leader in a male dominant culture, Jon and Tyrion - outcasts in their own families, and Arya and Brienne - characters who refuse to conform to limiting social etiquette, we were given characters made lovably relatable by their insecurities and sense of not belonging. These were counteracted by less likable characters that were no less complex or riveting to watch. Sadistic Ramsey was mesmerizingly despicable, while 'remember-when-we-used-to-hate-them?' Jamie and Theon have experienced awesome character trajectories.

And this fearlessness, this resistance to playing it safe in the writing of characters, made the show stand out for all the best reasons. Lord of the Rings has loads of potential to do the same - Gandalf is an absent protector, Baggins almost an anti-hero under the influence of the ring - but the movies erred on the side of caution and there was something a bit 'vanilla' about their portrayals. The character of Gollum, however, after being in the hands of the outstanding Andy Serkis, has a high standard to match with its new portrayal.

'Lord Of The Rings' Should Appeal To An Adult Audience

The Lord of the Rings books have a universal appeal, but the movies felt like their makers were trying too hard produce action films for kids - hopefully something the show doesn't intend to repeat.

Game Of Thrones deliberately caused a stir when it first hit our screens with its abundance of shock tactics. From 'the most violent show on TV' to 'rape fest', comments about the show succeeded in attracting attention. But fans always knew that GoT was more than this, and it's been good to see the show continue to grow in popularity since it's become less preoccupied with being outrageous. This also proves that there's no need for LotR to alienate younger fans by aiming for an 18 rating, but there could be a more 'grown up feel' to the show - without making it too serious.

The Adaptation Should Stay Close To The Books

For readers, this is an important one. It's also possibly the area where the two works most differ. George R.R Martin was involved in the production of Game Of Thrones series to ensure the original vision extended into the adaptation. Lord of the Rings, of course, does not have a living author. Tolkien's son, Christopher criticised the LotR movies, saying, "They gutted the book".

GoT also boasts a hefty seven tomes (so far), a big difference from LotR's, comparably slight, three volumes. And after the single novel The Hobbit got stretched into three movies, a more faithful adaptation of Tolkien's work would be refreshing. A deciding factor in this, however, is just how many seasons of Lord of the Rings are on the cards. But by sticking closer to the original source material, Amazon can produce a riveting TV show that's packed with content.

A Final Note

Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are both exceptional and unique creations by incredible authors. However, both are works of dark fantasy set in times of war, and are essentially symbolic of the timeless 'good vs evil/ light vs dark' conflict. But what's possibly most significant about these works is how they make the issue anything but clear cut - the light in the dark, the dark in the light, and the beauty that they create together. Maybe this is the real reason for their timeless, universal appeal. And truth within their fiction.

"But in the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass" - J.R.R Tolkien

Hopefully Amazon will look to HBO's success with Game of Thrones and make some notes. Daring to be authentic with structure and characters while remaining true to it's author's vision are some of GoT's strong points. By following suit, a Lord of the Rings TV show could be a huge hit with both existing fans and a new audience.