Which Movie was best overall?

[Rikae]

I really don't think I could answer because I see the movies (as I do the books) as the beginning, middle and end of one story. They don't stand alone: FOTR is too heavy on exposition and has no closure, while ROTK is basically all closure, and TTT, while it comes closest to being a complete story in itself because of the Rohan/Saruman/Helm's Deep situation, lacks the emotional highs of the other two. The scenes I really despise are Galadriel's transformation in FOTR, the riduculous CGI ghosts in ROTK and the infamous "orgy" scene, also in ROTK. On the other hand, the scenes that delighted me the most were in the same two movies: the Shire, birthday party and Rivendell scenes from FOTR and the finding of the ring, collapse of Barad Dur, coronation and Gray Havens scenes from ROTK. So to sum up, it's really impossible to answer.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

I consider FOTR by far the best, and closest adaptation
of PJ's three films. Especially smart was the prologue
(even better in the extended dvd). The Other two had
moments but there were exasperating digressions/
alterations/mistakes. For example, the warping of Faramir
and Denethor, the inexplicable reshrinking of Merry and
Pippin in ROTK after they grew in TTT, the overuse of the green
slime [Army of the Dead], and, to my mind, the bungling
of the charge of the Rohirrim, which, like the book,
should have begun in relative darkness, then had a
weather change and the sun coming out onto Theoden and
his shield and horse. And Eowyn's battle with the Witchking
and her speech was just too truncated.
My overall grades were:
FOTR--- A-
TTT--- C+
ROTK--- B-

But, frankly, PJ did much better then I had expected.


Oh, yeah, and the Easter Eggs in FOTR and TTT were hilarious,
not so much for ROTK.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

This question is like asking, "Which did you like best - the appetizer, the main meal, or the dessert?" Not that there's a one-to-one correspondence there...

[CSteefel]

Yes, apples and oranges to some extent, but to me, The Fellowship of the Ring mostly did a brilliant job of capturing the spirit and excitement and the historical setting of the book. As a book, even, I prefer this one, but the contrast was even clearer in the case of the movies. The flight from the Shire might have been handled a bit better (it was flat out brilliant in the book), but the flight from Bree with Aragorn was quite good. And the scenes in Moria were great...

I thought that The Two Towers spent too long getting to Helm's Deep and then in the battle, especially with those frequent cuts to the women and children huddling in the caves. And the gratuitous fall of Aragorn over the cliff (although I did like the battle scene with the Wargs).

Return of the King did have some great scenes as well, but also way too many ridiculous ones, as pointed out above (the cascading skulls, the complete failure to capture Faramir as a character, the descent of Frodo into a Gollum like creature too early in the book, essentially robbing him of most of his nobility, and the garbled treatment of Gandalf, who is the all-powerful White Wizard in one scene, a de-staffed has been in the next).

[ArathorofBarahir]

Personally, I think that all three of the movies were great. But if I had to choose which was the best overall it would be Fellowship of the Ring, followed by the Return of the King and then the Two Towers.

[The Might]

ROTK definitely...
I mean, I know the others were nice as well...but the Battle of the Pelennor alone makes me chose ROTK
The Two Towers is interesting since you have 3 storylines going on - Merry, Pippin and the Ents vs. Isengard, The Three Hunters and the Rohirrim against the armies from Isengard and Dunland, and Frodo, Sam and Gollum continuing the quest...but overall I would definitely choose ROTK where is all ends

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Tough choice. All three have their merits. Fellowship of the Ring is unique in that its tone is noticeably lighter than the tone in either of the two later movies. It's not all fun and games, but over all, it's a much happier, relaxed movie. I like it a lot for just that reason. That's not to say I don't like intensity (the complete opposite is true, but sometimes, it can get relentless, and it's nice to take a break). I think that in Fellowship, the characters were all much truer to their book selves, another merit. I don't necessarily mind that they change a little, but it's just another nice thing about FOTR. The material added in the EE just serves to make it a better, stronger, more complete movie.

The Two Towers, while still an excellent movie, is perhaps the weakest of the three, if you look at it with the eye of a movie critic. It's bound to be like that, though, since it's the middle piece of the trilogy. It has no definition in terms of beginning and end, unfortunately. They did the best they could with it, and the emotional arc follows a good path. But I feel like after seeing the EE, both versions could have been stronger. The scenes with Boromir, Faramir, and Denethor were critical to the plot and to audiences' understanding of Faramir and his changed motives, but were left out of the theatrical edition. And there was a lot of fluff that could have been left out of the TTTEE...they effectively messed up the emotional arc of the story (at least, for me) by lengthening battles and adding things in after Sam's monologue instead of letting the movie end the way it did in the theaters. Not to mention, there were a couple distinctly terrible scenes, particularly the infamous "nervous system" courtesy of Gimli. In fact, now that I mention it, I think much of the problem with TTT is the change in character for Gimli. In Fellowship, he was the gruff, serious dwarf we all know and love...but by TTT, he had completely lost that role, and was instead made into comic relief. It's just one character out of several, but the change is remarkably significant to my enjoyment of the movie overall.

Now that's not to say I don't like TTT, because I do...It's still a very good movie, and it has a lot of emotional worth.

Return of the King EE is the only extended edition that I have never seen, mainly because of my feelings about the TTT EE. I didn't want to risk the disappointment in what was an excellent theatrical release (and after reading about some of the scenes here, I think I made the right choice). The comment I made before about relentless intensity really applies here. That's not a bad thing at all...ROTK is an excellent movie, both cinematically and from the point of view of someone with real interest in LOTR. It is intense--it doesn't really let you recover much in between big emotional scenes, particularly as the end approaches. It is my favorite of the three, though I watch Fellowship more frequently.

[Elfchick7]

Originally Posted by Rikae

I really don't think I could answer because I see the movies (as I do the books) as the beginning, middle and end of one story. They don't stand alone

I totally agree with Rikae. Of course it drives all of my friends when I say that. They always come back, "If you had to choose one, which would it be?" hehe I never answer.

[Precioussss]

I liked the Fellowship best. I don't think the others were all they could have been. Those were great books; they didn't need a whole lot of rearranging. I was turned off of them when I saw Elves at Helm's Deep. I know, it's artistic license, and they have to make movies that appeal to the most people, and therefore make the most money. It's too bad, really. They are all good movies, and I suppose they are the closest anyone will ever get to recreating the books.

I vote the Fellowship, because it was closest to the events in the book.

[ninja91]

I like FOTR just a tad bit more than the others. It has more of a Tolkienesque feeling to it all, and the Shire scenes and all the places they go are just fantastic.

[Boo Radley]

I have to echo those who refused to choose.
To me, it was one grand movie... split by two very, very long intermissions.

[Snowdog]

Fellowship, because it was a new and exciting glimpse of how P.J. saw Middle Earth. It started to go south about the time Arwen "caught a ranger in the wild off his guard" The other two movies, while having their moments of brilliance in scenery and acting of specific scenes, really just amplified the digressions. TTT was a big attempt to band-aid it all together, and RotK was too hurried where it shouldn't be, while time was wasted on too many anti-climatic false endings.

[the phantom]

Fellowship was the best. Hands down.

Fellowship was more focused on the variety of landscapes, peoples, and locations found in Middle Earth. It's more about danger and adventure. TTT and ROTK on the other hand seem to be driven more by huge battles, plot, and characters.

And frankly, PJ (with help from the art team and tech team) is far better at shooting amazing landscape shots and bringing to life different cities/environments than he is at story telling and character creation. Not that he didn't have his moments, of course. There were times that he did a great job. The end of FOTR, for instance, is spectacular. Though it isn't an exact reproduction of the book, the spirit is perfectly in line.

But for the most part, when it comes to creating enjoyable, Middle-Earthian, coherent storylines and beautiful dialogue PJ falls far short of the source material.

When it comes to bringing Middle Earth to life, however, PJ is amazing. Fellowship plays more to this strength.