FOTR - AFI #50 best of all time

[Beanamir of Gondor]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

ummm....Bergman was in Casablanca. Perhaps you meant somebody else?

Whoops. Er... I swear I said Lauren Bacall.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

It makes very little sense to me to exclude TTT and ROTK from the list. I realize that FOTR is often the most popular of the three on this board because it supposedly has less deviation from the book, but from my experience, the other two films (particularly ROTK) exceeded it in popularity and critical acclaim. I personally think they at least match FOTR's quality, if not exceed it.

The sequel rule is stupid if it excludes them. As others have said, TTT and ROTK are not sequels in the traditional Hollywood sense; one might as well have said that FOTR was a prequel.

[radagastly]

Originally posted by Elladan and Elrohir

It makes very little sense to me to exclude TTT and ROTK from the list. I realize that FOTR is often the most popular of the three on this board because it supposedly has less deviation from the book, but from my experience, the other two films (particularly ROTK) exceeded it in popularity and critical acclaim. I personally think they at least match FOTR's quality, if not exceed it.

I believe all three LotR films were eligible to make the list. After all, both The Godfather and The Godfather, part 2 were on the list. All eligible films were voted on by AFI members, and the top one hundred vote getters are the ones listed. The Two Towers and The Return of the King simply did not make the top one hundred in votes.

[Diamond18]

There ought to be some sort of distinction between the Most Entertaining and the Most Important movies.

Citizen Kane may be the most important, but it is hardly the most entertaining. The term "Best" is very vague and doesn't really say what is being used to judge... it leads one to ask "best at what?"

Glad FotR is on there, of course. I like to think it sort of stands for all three movies.

And Casablanca is a stupid movie.

[Mister Underhill]

The original ballot that was sent out to the folks asked to vote lists the criteria:

AFI asks jurors to consider the following in their selection process:

CRITERIA

FEATURE-LENGTH FICTION FILM
Narrative format, typically over 60 minutes in length.

AMERICAN FILM
Motion picture with significant creative and/or production elements from
the United States.

CRITICAL RECOGNITION
Formal commendation in print, television and digital media.

MAJOR AWARD WINNER
Recognition from competitive events including awards from peer groups,
critics, guilds and major film festivals.

POPULARITY OVER TIME
Including success at the box office, television and cable airings, and
DVD/VHS sales and rentals.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
A film's mark on the history of the moving image through visionary
narrative devices, technical innovation, or other groundbreaking
achievements.

CULTURAL IMPACT
A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.