The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The first one, I guess, because it stays pretty close to the book. The second one was definitely the worst. And honestly, I can’t even really remember the third one that well.

quietdriver3 said:The first one—mostly because it actually sticks to the book... the second was pretty bad. I can't even really remember the third one clearly anymore...

Just a little refresher for you: green slime all over the Midwest... 🙂

Morgan Rodriguez57 said:just a little reminder: all that green slime over Minas Tirith... 🙂

It’s starting to come back to me now. I also just remembered this one—Return of the King—it was like a movie with a thousand different endings, I guess. 😁

I voted for the first one. Personally, I’m leaning toward the third—though what was it that quietdriver3 said? Something about a movie with a thousand different locations. And then there’s that scene where Frodo wakes up and all the other hobbits are jumping around his bed in pure excitement—I'm trying my best to forget 😬
I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of the trilogy; the whole fantasy genre just feels a bit meh to me

quietdriver3 said:It’s all starting to come back to me now. I also remembered this one—Return of the King. That movie felt like it went on forever. 😁

I have to admit, during my last viewing on Blu-ray, I decided to sit through the entire credits. The crew truly earned it. 😁

David Price5 said:I have to admit, during my last viewing on Blu-ray, I made a point to sit through the entire end credits. Honestly, the crew truly earned every bit of 😁

I really respect you for that, especially since they included all those fans from the various LOTR clubs and forums in the credits. 😁

Morgan Rodriguez57 said:the first one is hands down the best because it actually sticks to the book... those other two are just pure horror shows fueled by Jackson's imagination and whatever those two women were thinking...

I am right there with you. I was so obsessed with the first movie that I went to the theater three times (plus another five times on Blu-ray), but man, things went downhill fast with "The Two Towers," and then "The Return of the King" was just a total gut punch. I honestly don't think I can ever forgive Jackson for what he did to Faramir and that whole Battle for Minas Tirith (you hit the nail on the head regarding that mess on the Pelennor Fields). Okay, fine, maybe things get slightly better if you watch the extended editions—I've sat through all of them at least 3 or 4 times myself—but seriously, PJ, give us a break...

It’s not even really three separate movies; it’s just one massive epic chopped into three parts to match the novel structure.
Honestly, if you aren't watching the extended versions, you aren't even seeing the real film. Those are the definitive cuts, and it’s pretty obvious why they had to trim them down for the theatrical run in the first place.

And I don't get why people are out here claiming The Two Towers is bad. Just total nonsense.

Samuel Roberts said:It’s not three separate movies; it’s one single epic story split into three parts, just like the book.
If you actually want to talk about the films, you have to look at the extended editions. Those are the definitive versions, and it’s pretty obvious why they had to cut stuff out for the theatrical releases in the first place.

And I don't get why people are calling The Two Towers bad here. It's honestly nonsense.

Look, everyone’s entitled to their own take, and personally, I also felt like the second installment was just okay—actually, even looking at the whole trilogy as a single unit, it’s a really good series, sure, but is it "masterpiece" level? Not quite.👍

Samuel Roberts said:It’s not really three separate movies—it's more like one massive epic split into three parts, just like the book was.
Anyway, if you want the real experience, only the extended versions actually matter. Those are the true versions, and it's pretty obvious why they had to trim things down for the theatrical releases...

And I don't get why people are calling The Two Towers bad here. That's just nonsense.

they function as three distinct films because the post-production and editing happened across different timeframes, plus Jackson used three entirely different editing teams to pull it all together...

If everything had been shot, processed, and cut in one single go and then just sliced up later, sure, you could argue it's one movie—but that's not how it went...

For a better grasp of the process, you should probably check out the bonus DVDs that come with the extended editions...

The Return of the King is fine, but The Two Towers was actually quite disappointing

In any other case, everyone else would have received a perfect 10 from me...👍

quietdriver3 said:It’s all coming back to me now. I just remembered this too: Return of the King—that movie has about a thousand different endings. 😁

I don't quite get your logic here—you're saying the first one is better because it sticks to the book, but then you complain about the extra endings even though there probably would've been another 3 or 4 if they actually followed the book to the letter...

Personally, those endings are killer precisely because they capture the actual soul of the book. It’s not some sugar-coated, euphoric "happily ever after." It’s heavy. We're talking grief, PTSD, the reality that once you've been changed by war, you can never truly go home again... and yeah, death. That's just how it is.

Morgan Rodriguez57 said:they’re three distinct movies because they were post-produced and edited during three different eras, plus Peter Jackson used three different editing teams for the cuts...

if everything was shot, post-produced, and edited in one massive burst and just split into three parts later, you could call it one movie. But that's not what happened...

If you want to actually get it, just watch the bonus DVDs on the extended version...

Yeah, technically they’re three films, but in terms of the experience, the story (obviously), and the overall vibe, I definitely see them as one single work.
Take *The Wire*, for example. One season might have 10 to 13 episodes, but I view the whole series as one cohesive unit. So, these movies are basically just three episodes (that aren't "episodic" 🙂) of one long series. They can't really exist on their own
.

Drew Wright5 said:I've watched the theatrical versions over 60 times... I'm not kidding, I actually counted up to 50!

Same here—definitely over 60 times! Though I did catch the first movie in theaters about 7 times...👍

Drew Wright5 said:I make sure to watch the extended editions at least once every two months since they came out.

Me too... every three months we have a full marathon at home—watching all three films, and in the extended versions, obviously!👍

Drew Wright5 said:...you even got a sentence from the first movie tattooed in Tengwar...

Well, I didn't get a whole sentence tattooed—just the number 9 in Tengwar... (I mean, it's on my neck, so a full sentence would be a bit too painful! 🙂)👍

I own all the books, both in American and English, and every single movie—the theatrical cuts plus those limited editions that come with 5 DVDs and sculptures. I also have all the soundtracks, both the standard ones and "The complete recordings" for all three films (absolute perfection!), an original replica of Arwen's necklace... and I even had my wedding dress made as a replica of Eowyn's dress!😍

@ Olivia Alvarez

😲

Seriously, you are an absolute fanatic when it comes to TLOTR 👍
But I have to ask—do you even watch anything else, or is your entire life just centered around the lord of the ring?! 🤣

And here I was thinking I was some kind of hardcore superfan just because I've sat through all three movies nine times already 😂

Olivia Alvarez said:Even my wedding dress was a replica of Eowyn's dress....😍

Does your husband even look remotely like Aragorn or Vigg? Come on, just admit it...🙂

Olivia Alvarez

Hey, where did you manage to track down those complete recordings? I’ve already downloaded my own set, obviously, but I’m really aiming to get my hands on the full original versions somewhere. 😍

I always say, if any ring is ever going to end up on my finger, it’ll be the lord of the ring. 😁

So, what are we doing now—bragging about whose collection of cinematic devotion is more massive? Honestly, I went to the theater to see every single installment twice. Back then, before I even owned a 😂 , I made sure to snag all three parts on VHS. Then, once the technology caught up and I finally got a DVD, I had to have the whole trilogy on DVD too. And because I clearly don't know when to stop, I hunted down the extended editions as well. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the one series I’ve amassed most aggressively in my little home library 😬 . I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sat through them all... And, naturally, I even have the white tree of Gondor tattooed on me. Of course I do... 😍
I’m casting my vote for the second film. There’s just something about it that hits the spot perfectly for me. You have Aragorn returning from the dead, then the elves riding in to save the day, and then, oh, the sheer brilliance of Eomer arriving... For a sensitive woman's heart like mine, there really isn't anything more beautiful 😬 😍. Plus, if I'm being honest, it was the one that resonated with me most deeply as a kid.

The Two Towers is easily the best one. It wanders away from the book just enough to build this incredible tension—you're actually left wondering what’s going to happen next.

The first movie holds its own against the second, mostly because it does such a stellar job capturing the vibe and setting the stage from the first book. Plus, it’s the original.

The third one? Total disaster. It’s the only Lord of the Rings film where I actually started feeling physical pain in my seat halfway through—right around the time we dealt with Sheloba—and there was still over half an hour left to go. It felt incredibly rushed, honestly. They really should have split that third film into two separate movies.

Michael Ortiz68 said:Does her guy look even remotely like Aragorn or Vigg? Come on, just admit it...!🙂

I should probably post a picture, because you guys won't believe this... Seriously, it looks exactly like Aragorn! I didn't even realize it myself until everyone else started pointing it out—it's wild how the subconscious works sometimes!👍