The best and the worst of The Lord of the Rings

[Strider]

Which Lord of the Rings film did you consider to be the best? Which did you consider to be the most lacking?

Discuss.

[Kirobaito]

I thought they got better as they went along. Minus the psycho-drawn out ending, RotK was the best.

[Mr. Graves]

Fellowship of the Ring is the most well-done, as well as the most memorable.

[Lord Chainsaw]

I didn't really care for any of the movies. They just don't have the fantasy elements in them that I enjoy.

The only movie I liked was the first one, the Fellowship. It focused more on adventure than war. I was not a fan of those giant battles in the other two movies.

If I had to put the other two in order, I'd say:

2. Return of the King
3. Two Towers (Helm's Deep really killed this movie for me)

[fire_of_avalon]

I'm one of the ones who can't decide. Your poll hurts my head, with the indecision.

[Casey]

I think all of them are equally good. I also think there way all better then the books.

[Calliope]

The one where that guy lights himself on fire and runs down the road and off that cliff

[-N-]

The first movie was definitely the most beautifully made. The third is comparable, but relies more on plot than dialogue to create its magic. And since this was originally a book, isn't dialogue where the magic lies? It's much easier - and much better - to quote a person than a picture.

[Rainecloud]

I) The Fellowship of the Ring. 5/5
II) The Two Towers. 4/5
III) The Return of the King. 3/5

The Fellowship of the Ring:
What can I say that I haven't already said in the past about this movie? I was totally astounded when I first saw this at the cinema, and from that day onward, I was hooked. I'd never seen a movie like it. The environments were beautiful and incredibly realistic, the characters seemed real and lovable, the music was fantastic, the storyline was enthralling, and the dialogue was simply amazing. True, it does take a while for the movie to really "get going", but once the Fellowship starts its journey into Middle Earth, things really start heating up. I enjoyed the movie so much, I saw it a further six times in the cinema (with different friends each time, obviously), and I didn't get bored at all.

The Two Towers:
Great, but not as good as the first one - those were my initial thoughts on this movie. After I came out of the cinema in December of 2002, I was a little disappointed. A lot of the beautiful environments that I came to love in the first film were gone, and the characters seemed like shadows from their previous personalities. Too much fighting and not enough talk? Perhaps. Am I being too picky? Probably. Having said all this, when the special extended version of the movie was released, I bought it and watched it almost straight away. Guess what - loved it. It was so much more enjoyable than the cinema version, and more of it made sense! After viewing the extended version, I can't believe they left some of the extra scenes out of the movie. Yeah, I know they had to do it due to time constraits and whatnot, but these special extra bits make the movie ten times as good. Honestly!

The Return of the King:
I was impressed (again), but I was expecting more. The hype had been building up inside me for two years, so I guess I knew I was going to be disappointed no matter what the movie was like. However, I did enjoy the movie greatly, and certain scenes stick out in my mind as being excellent - such as the final battle at Minas Tirith and the (SPOILER)Orodruin scene with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. The ending was excellent, too. Lots of people complained when the movie was first released. I heard comments like: "Oh man, the ending was too damn long" amongst other nasty things, but I believe that the ending needed to be that long. After about nine and a half hours of storytelling (that's the extended versions), Jackson needed to wrap up all the "loose ends" in order to finish the job properly, and I think he did an excellent job. Now I'm looking forward to the extended version, which I'm sure will blow the cinema release of The Return of the King completely out of the water.

[Del Murder]

Part two is the best because it had plenty of action to go with the plot development, and Gollum is one of the best movie characters ever.

Part one is the 'worst' (in quotes cause none of them were bad) because it took a while to get started and establish all the characters. After Rivendell it was ace though.

[Felldoh]

Part two is the best because it had plenty of action to go with the plot development, and Gollum is one of the best movie characters ever.

Part one is the 'worst' (in quotes cause none of them were bad) because it took a while to get started and establish all the characters. After Rivendell it was ace though.

What he said.

[Breine]

It's the first for me. It just has something special about it... I don't know what it is though.

[Bernhard]

I wasn't really incredibly impressed by them. I've seen The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. The first one was good, the second one wasn't. I never bothered going to see the third.

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

THEY'RE ALL OVERRATED!

Good but overrated. You heard it here first folks.

[RSL]

If I had to rank them, I would do it like so:

1. Return of the King
2. Fellowship of the Ring
3. The Two Towers