Rohan Rides Again! But Did It Fail? | An Honest Review of The War of the Rohirrim

I do like your reviews because even though you ultimately didn't like a movie or the rings of power, you give credit where credit is due. So I respect that a lot!

Im mexican and i grew up with lord of the rings in mexico. Ive always believed that the lore of master tolkien should be honored. Ill just stick to the books and original trilogy.

TBS getting a little too incel beta for me.

Yeah, just saw this in theater. It felt like the show runners watched the Peter Jackson Trilogy and then said lets make a movie with just this... It felt like almost every other line was just callback dialog from the Peter Jackson films and there was little to no new or inspired writing.

Sounds like most of your opinions are positive… I don’t understand why you seem overall negative about it. Seems like you just pre-made up your mind not to like it, but you’re scared you actually did.

I just don't understand who decided to focus the story around his daughter thats not even important in the books its just pathetic why couldn't we just get a helm Hammerhead movie his daughter isxsoo not a good or important character mak it make sense lol

Man :( I'm really disappointed. I thought you guys would like it. I really enjoyed it.

The tunnel collapsed in the fight vs the troll. That's why they couldnt get back and they would freeze to death before they could clear the tunnel.

As a very long fan of The Lord of the Rings and the lore behind it, I appreciate these reviews. While I don't agree with everything you guys say (things like the speech of Helm before the charge, or the female leads making decisions "without" reason) I do think most of the criticism was valid.
In my take they wanted to tell the story of Helm Hammerhand through the eyes of the unnamed daughter of Helm from the books. It gave them a way to tell the story from the perspective of a character that is estabilished without having a specific end or story already there which gave them more freedom. It gave them a character with connections to both Helm and the antagonist Wulf. Also in my opinion its one of the few characters that could be present at all the major events of the story from start to finish.

Things I think are maybe misunderstood: Olwyn was said (in the movie) to be the last of the shieldmaidens so she would have been one of the most battle experienced characters in the story.

I think Hera actually clearly is shown as a not battle experienced young woman. Even in the fight at the stables in Edoras she would have lost if it wasn't for her horse. The only reason I believe they showed her fighting on almost equal terms with Wulf is because he was mentally not in the right mind (which they indicate multiple times when it comes to dealing with Hera).

Helm and Hera couldn't go back because the fight with the snow troll caused a collapse of the tunnel (which they also mention later that they have to clear the rubble out of the passage).

In terms of the references to the original triology. I think the movie would have been a lot better with less nods for sure but things like the speech of helm before the charge imo was actually a good choice for example. It makes sense that certain things mentioned before a charge remain the same across time (think the term Forth Eorlingas which has based on the structure of the Rohan millitary).

When it comes to the animation there I think it will heavily be personal preference whether people enjoy it or not. I am unsure of how much you both are aware of the japanese anime styles but this was as far as I am aware intended to follow the style of very traditional japanese animation so it is mostly likely that which causes it to not feel like a modern animated movie.

I personally enjoyed the movie but I can definitely see the flows and problems it has. I think all fans of Tolkiens work and adaptation of Peter Jacksons first 3 movies, will always have a hard time finding new pieces of film that can live up to what we will always compare it to. If they dont mess with the lore like they did in Rings of Power I'm already decently pleased.

Note: For anyone saying they were not faithful to the lore in War of the Rohirrim, then you clearly have not read the Lord of the Rings as the changes in the adaptation by Peter Jackson were also quite severe (Elves at Helms Deep, Frodo and Sam in Osgiliath, the entire change to the army of the Dead, ...). This movie was as faithful as those movies if not more.

Keep bashing everything so they stop making anymore Tolkien stuff

It's rubbish, total disrespect for the author and it's nothing new today, as the industry is doing, I put it next to the rings of power, because evil doesn't create anything new, and as a bed I wasn't satisfied with changes to the script, and damn if peter jackson loved it, tolkien would hate it like me.

One thing I said to my partner at the end of the movie was that I'm far more okay with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philipa Boyans doing callbacks to the original LOTR trilogy vs RoP doing callbacks because they actually wrote the material, Amazon studios and the RoP writers did not.

I just came back from seeing the flick, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. There were a few unintentional laughs and some needless yet somewhat minor changes to the lore, but nothing blood-boiling.

I've never watched this channel before, but my husband and I just got back from watching this movie, and I had to find a review to see if others shared my feelings, and you guys summed up my thoughts and gripes about the movie damn near verbatim. I rolled my eyes at the same parts ya'll did (*especially* upon hearing "DEATH!"), wished the brothers were the main characters because Helm's daughter is literally just mentioned once (not even named) in the appendices, and felt that the movie was stretched a bit thin for what was there. Oh, and that random old lady that takes care of the hold was hysterically unnecessary. I had to stifle laughter in the theater, lol.

They really should have just utilized the source material fully (it's like, maybe two pages in the RotK appendices, come on) and added to it. At least Helm was the BA he was meant to be! There was so much potential. Overall, I just felt very meh about it once the credits began. :\ I did really love bits and pieces, but the bleh bits were too much to make the movie great. I agree with the 6/10 rating.

As a female fan, I don't need all these strong independent women to feel like women are awesome, just give me the original lore in its unadulterated form. All the new media for Tolkien's work always hearkens back to the movie trilogy, too, and it gets old. It's just so frustrating!

Again, you guys share my sentiments on the film verbatim- even down to the comment on not wanting to rewatch this. I told my husband the same thing! I wanted this to be something I could come back to, like with the trilogy, but it just didn't make the cut. ):

This was one of the absolute worst movies I’ve seen in a long time. I honestly can’t remember a movie that was this disappointing. Unless Peter Jackson is carefully spoon fed a story to tell he really can’t make a movie.

SPOILER

6 out of 10 was surprised to see some really sloppy animation. And definitely felt undercooked and needed some more time in development. The voice acting was great and had some good battle scenes. Some of the fan service lines are a bit on the nose. But at the end of the day I enjoyed it. and most importantly forever thankful for this film because of the new gorgeous plastic kits we've got from it.

It really is getting to the point where having Philippa Boyens associated with a Tolkien project is a huge red flag.

It looked like rocks blocked the cave during the troll fight.

Short stories Animatrix style would be cool.

I purposely looked for this reveiw before deciding if I go see it.

I think your critiques of Hera are a bit off base. She actually isn't overpowered. The story tells us that she's always been a "tomboy" essentially. We see her combat training with Wulf when she is a kid. The movie even states that Helm was proud of his daughter's nature so it can be inferred that he encouraged and saw to her combat training. So I take away that she is as strong of a female combatant that can exist while still being untested by actual war. The double-crossing lord beat her in the fight in the horse stables but she only won with help from her horse. She is relatively evenly matched with Wulf because they trained together but she only beats him because his sword gets caught in her shield. If Helm is one punch k*lling suckas and fighting snow trolls with his bare hands, I can suspend a little disbelief for Hera being a competent fighter. You guys even point out that she gets carried off in the woods without a fight, so they balanced her "unlimited power" with a good damsel in distress moment too. What more do you want? "Is there no one else!?" - (Achilles - Troy)

I really liked the movie. The length didn’t bother me at all. I want to take my family with me to see it again.

The movie was made Not for LOTR fans but for future fans.

There is a lot to think about. Will they do an extended edition when released on Blu-Ray? From what I heard, 60 animation companies worked on this. I wonder if they'll do what they did with the home release of Dragon Ball Super and reanimate certain scenes lacking quality animation?

The cringe moment where they do the "close-up" to the old lady protecting the dress and the storage. Terrible, I have no idea what they were wanting from the viewers...

I really love how raw and real your reviews are. There was much to be desired for this movie and you guys really laid out it’s pros and cons very fairly. I think the Lotr fandom is split in this movie. I feel like half are trying too hard to enjoy it and others aren’t giving credit where it’s due. It’s not an abomination like RoP, but they definitely could’ve tried harder to make it it’s own story in a Lore accurate manner without forcing the “remember” moments. I just hate that I saw this resulting in feeling like imagine how much better it could’ve been had they not decided they could write Lotr better than the creator. I felt very dissatisfied but not wholeheartedly angry like with RoP.

We can take on Gondor? Does Helm seem like a man who would contravene the Oath of Cirion and Eorl? Oh, who am I kidding, the director and writers don't care about any of that. For me The Oath was one of the high points of the History of Men in the 3rd Age.

How is the current King of Gondor Freca's king? Certainly Helm would be his king. Gondor is a powerful and friendly neighbor with its own king.

Your integrity is admirable lads, got to be careful with Lord of the Rings content creators after the ROP debacle but after watching this I think you get what The Lord of the Rings should be about, so have a sub from me.

"I saw a woman and was immediately triggered.."

The environments were beautifully done, so artful. And you are right, the animation of characters was choppy and not nearly as good as the background art.

And and and the music was good but forgetable.

“I’m not against strong female leads,” continues to bash everything the female character does

Answering Your question about Helm holding his hammer in final stand i interpret is as a part of a fairy tail. He never acctualy fought with bare hands and more over he never bested a troll in one v one. Its a legend of him not a true story and we see a glimpse of true events like one with a hammer

Hera was like Leonidas when climbing the mountain because of the jump being choppy 😅

Something that was pointed out to me, was Héra had Anime eyes and about everyone else had more realistic eyes.

It didn't feel like a girl boss movie for one second. I will happily sit down in a Livestream and debate both of you at the same time why this film is totally in line and the spirit of Tolkien. Best regards a Tolkienist who has every book and letter Tolkien ever wrote at his fingertips.

Hera wasn't excessively girl bossy but she took too much screen time/story role from Frealaf

1. I like a good female lead, but I don’t like it when writers ignore “show, don’t tell.” Don’t TELL me that Hera is wild and free and amazing, just show me! We don’t need a narrator to tell us that Princess Mononoke is wild and untamed, Miyazaki just shows her being wild and untamed! That’s why everyone loves his female leads!

2. Why did Helm decide to die? That was pointless and idiotic.

3. Why does Helm think his daughter can rule Rohan? She has no desire to rule Rohan, and there is no evidence that she has been groomed and trained to succeed her father. Everything in this movie is just shallow memberberries.

4. WHY do Peter, Fran and Philippa hate Gondor so much? It’s not just that they ruined Faramir and Denethor, they barely ever let Gondor do anything cool. God forbid that we see Gondor helping Rohan in any way…

5. If they had any guts they would have killed Hera. Her line about being pledged to death was great, but it had no weight and no consequences.

6. I hope this doesn’t kill the concept of animated Tolkien films. I still dream of turning the Silmarillion into an epic anime series, along the lines of Avatar or Fullmetal Alchemist. The Hobbit is still waiting for a definitive animated version, as well.

Honestly 6.5 out of 10 for me. Basically it's just kind of felt like all the characters were not flushed out. Do to creative choices and plot in general special tours the ending 10 minutes of film I was like really? However, I did enjoy the amine. Gust my local theater had a great picture to it because, I don't recall watching a choppy film. Plus, I think the music didn't help the film for felt like too much of call backs like; remember when you first saw this from two towers? However, if to be honest, I didn't like ending credits music making me glad there wasn't new music throughout watching or, I might got up and, left. Then tell the shaft it's ok shut her down for I was the only one in the theater watching opening first night showing.

They didn't change any lore. This is the most lore accurate Tolkien adaptation yet. LOTR trilogy changed more lore than the Hobbit trilogy. ROP is so bad it can't even be part of a discussion on Tolkien lore.

You are not being negative if it is total junk.

Should have been called "Hera the Horse Princess of (Insert fantasy land here)". They slapped the Lord of the Rings title on and some characters from the lore to fill seats.

Should use my money to buy shiba. Movie was trash

Apart from the girlboss thing, i feel this is a good stand alone movie. Even for people who have no clue about Middle Earth, i think they will enjoy it. 7 on 10 for me.

I envisioned the siege tower just breaking when it hits the hornburg and started laughing. Then i was like wait, we know they have fire arrows, and they do eventually light it up, why wouldn't do that like 2 months ago

Tolkien himself set the bar so high and it's refreshing to see a channel like you refuse mediocrity which is what this movie is at best

Just saw it and quite enjoyed it. Perfect, no but enjoyable.

By far the best thing to come out in a long time, even if that's a low bar.

SPOILER WARNING
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