Poll: Of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies which is your favorite?

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Exactly what the title says and for me.....its a tough call but, The Two Towers.

The Battle of Helm's Deep, Rohan and King Theoden, Gollum, The fucking music:

 

[Hawki]

For me, Fellowship>Return>Two Towers.

Really though, it's like asking me to choose a favorite child. They're all great, and all form one overall story.

 

[Faaip]

I have to go with Fellowship. I think it does the best job of realizing the books and I think its aged a bit better than the others due to less of a reliance on cgi. I love all three though

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I have to go with Fellowship. I think it does the best job of realizing the books and I think its aged a bit better than the others due to less of a reliance on cgi. I love all three though

Less Reliance of CGI?

Balrog scene.

Scene with the entire armies of Orcs.

The Troll.

Any scene in more fantastical places like the mines within Orthanc or Moria.

 

[Faaip]

I have to go with Fellowship. I think it does the best job of realizing the books and I think its aged a bit better than the others due to less of a reliance on cgi. I love all three though

Less Reliance of CGI?

Balrog scene.

Scene with the entire armies of Orcs.

The Troll.

Any scene in more fantastical places like the mines within Orthanc or Moria.

Yes there are cg effects in Fellowship, but not to the extent of the other two.. that's all I meant. They didn't have the means when the first was filmed and had to use it more sparingly.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Can I just say that I find the design of Sauron in Armor to look a bit too....goofy?

Spoiler: Sauron in movie

I think its the Helmet, Its too Big compared to the rest that it makes me think he has a giant head.

I mean the Lich King of Warcraft is better proportioned than Movie Sauron.

Spoiler: Lich King

 

[Thaluikhain]

Fellowship>Return>Two Towers.

I believe that's common amongst people who've read the books first. The Battle for Helm's Deep got very silly, which spoiled that film for me.

 

[Hawki]

Can I just say that I find the design of Sauron in Armor to look a bit too....goofy?

You can, but I disagree. Comparing him with Arthas is a moot point, since Arthas is/was human, while Sauron is a maiar, and post-Numenor, stuck in his fiery form.

Fellowship>Return>Two Towers.

I believe that's common amongst people who've read the books first. The Battle for Helm's Deep got very silly, which spoiled that film for me.

I'm kind of weird as far as books-films go, in that I'd tried reading the books before the films, failed, but then fully read all the books between Two Towers and Return.

Further weird is that I think the siege is much better in the film. In the books, Theoden and co. simply fall back after learning that the Fords of Isen had fallen IIRC, and simply outlast Saruman's army. Film siege is much more desparate, far more a last stand, far more resounding at the end. And despite it being a book deviation, I think the elves being there works well, especially on the thematic level.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I too think Fellowship is the best. The movie was beautiful to watch, followed the book nicely, and I've always liked the beginning of the story. Before everyone was changed and became hardened to certain things. I like the innocent feeling that comes with the Hobbits, the sense of wise wisdom but still human Gandalf, and the feeling of hope that everyone has throughout the first movie.
All of this is slowly worn away as the story goes on--as it should be, make no mistake--and I always find it sad. It's like how I like Luke Skywalker better in A New Hope than Return of the Jedi, because he still has that brash farm-boy attitude.

The whole series is amazing however, and I will always watch them whenever they're on TV. And when I have the time, I'll pop in the special edition.

 

[King Billi]

Fellowship of the Ring is best.

After an absolute blast of an intro showing the fall of Sauron and the history of the ring it suddenly slows to a much more leisurely pace introducing the main Hobbit characters and their home, spending so much time here at the beginning really makes the journey later seem so much more epic as the world of Middle Earth seems to expand infinitely and the Hobbits humble home is juxtaposed with those of the other races, the regal beauty if the elves at Rivendell and Lothlorien and the claustrophobic depths of Moria.

The evil of Sauron is still far away at this stage and future storylines such as those involving Gandalf and Gollum are only hinted at here, which leads to arguably the best part of this film, we're still just at the beginning with so much more adventure yet to come.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I am sorry but the Fellowship of the Ring is the most boring of the Trilogy even in the books.

Its the first half that makes it increadibly dull to read through. It gets interesting when the Fellowship actually forms and we meet the other characters like Gimli and Boromir, the whole Nazgul chase is just dull to sit through.

 

[MrBoBo]

The Two Towers, the movie does a very good job of building up the threat and the scene with the Ents is very much in line with the books.

I think it tries to hard to have a sense comradely, particularly between Gimli and Legolas, it feels very forced and them swinging around like it's abit of fun (at one point he surfs a shield down a flight of stairs) undermines what's going on.

The opening shot over the mountains and the final scene with Gollum are also great, I love the way the camera pans up and we see the Nazgul flapping in the distance.

It goes without saying that Return Of The Kings ending was all over the place.

 

[Recusant]

Another vote for Fellowship. The beginning of things is where they seem most full of promise; it's why the first part of a trilogy is usually the best. For a variety of reasons, it felt less... video-gamey, which I realize is an odd complaint on this site of all places, but recall the massed CGI battles and you'll see what I mean.

And the moment I saw the elves at Helm's Deep, I knew we were descending into a pit of lore-wrecking stupidity (it's why I wasn't surprised at all when Legolas showed up in the Hobbit).

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Fellowship. It feels like the movie where the most happens, and it feels the most like fantasy adventure. The other two are in comparison more like war movies. While the battle scenes in Towers and Return are spectacular (though Helm's Deep overdoes it a bit), I find the skirmish in Amon Hen and the escape from Moria far more engaging, since the protagonists don't have armies of disposable redshirts or fortresses to back them up, and as a result the scenes have more tension. The later films also feature less travel to different locations. For comparison, in terms of visited locations:

- Fellowship plays out like Shire -> Bree -> Weathertop -> Rivendell -> Caradhras -> Moria -> Lothlorien -> Amon Hen
- The Two Towers plays out like Emyn Mul/Early Rohan -> Marshes/Fangorn/Edoras -> Ithilien/Helm's Deep/Isengard -> Osgiliath
- Return of the King plays out like Edoras/Outskirts of Mordor -> Minas Tirith/Paths of the Dead/Minas Morgul -> Shelob's Lair -> Cirith Ungol -> The Black Gate/Mordor -> Crack of Doom -> Back to Minas Tirith

While we do see way more locations in the later two, the character's don't transit as much between them, since the plotlines separate at the end of Fellowship. Thus it feels like the story isn't moving as much.

 

[Zhukov]

Two Towers I guess?

*shrug*

Never really occurred to me to separate them. As far as I'm concerned they one long film cut into three parts. None of them would work without the others.

 

[madwarper]

None.

The movies were shit. Well, the Bilbo's Birthday party was okay... But, everything went downhill from there and never looked back.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Two Towers. Its the Empire Strikes Back of LOTR.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

The Two Towers would be my favorite. But the Fellowship would be the best one. Maybe it'll replace TTT after i rewatch the Trilogy again.