Lord of the Rings - Which was Really the Best?

chinney · March 1, 2004 12:57PM

O.K. now it?s official ? The Return of the King is the best movie in the LOTR film trilogy, as it, and not the others, won the Oscar.

Or is it the best? Everyone knows that Oscar often goofs in picking the best film and, in any case, the award to The Return of the King was really a joint award to all three films. Lots of people thought that The Fellowship of the Ring or The Two Towers could also have won in their years, but the Academy wanted to wait until the last one before bestowing its favours.

What do you think? Which LOTR film was the best of the three and really deserved the Oscar?

cosmonut · March 1, 2004 1:02PM

They're all equally good in my eyes...since I haven't seen any of them.

brussell · March 1, 2004 1:18PM

I loved Return but the ending came pretty close to ruining it for me. I think my favorite will always be Fellowship, though because that's when you realize what an incredible world Jackson created.

torifile · March 1, 2004 1:22PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chinney

O.K. now it?s official ? The Return of the King is the best movie in the LOTR film trilogy, as it, and not the others, won the Oscar.

I didn't realize they were all nominated in the same year.

The Oscar is given to the best of the among a particular group. If they were all released in the same year, you'd have a point.

agent302 · March 1, 2004 1:32PM

In my personal opinion, I liked the book ROTK the best, but the film Fellowship the best. I think I need to see ROTK again, because I've only seen it once, it for some reason it didn't do it for me like the first two did.

ganondorf · March 1, 2004 1:36PM

Gonna have to go with 'King, cause obviously the climax is inherently the best part of a story but in terms of quality, they were all pretty equal. I mean it was essentially one movie broken into three parts.

kickaha · March 1, 2004 1:46PM

As far as I'm concerned, none of the theatrical releases were nearly as good as the extended versions. They gave the little pieces of backstory and 'flow' that made them just that much better.

So I'll abstain until the extended versions are placed in the poll.

agent302 · March 1, 2004 1:49PM

Kickaha, I have to agree on Two Towers, but not for Fellowship. The Fellowship extended version just felt too long to me, the pacing was all off. The added Lothlorien bits were excellent, I'll admit, but a lot of the earlier stuff made me almost fall asleep.

The Two Towers extended, however, was excellent.

I pray that the extended version of ROTK has Gandalf breaking Saruman's staff at the beginning. That would kick-ass.

chinney · March 1, 2004 2:11PM

Quote:

Originally posted by torifile

I didn't realize they were all nominated in the same year.

The Oscar is given to the best of the among a particular group. If they were all released in the same year, you'd have a point.

I think that you misunderstood my first post - you took the first paragraph of my post out of context. Read the next paragraph. I agree with what you are saying, that's why I posed the question in the poll!

chinney · March 1, 2004 2:14PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

As far as I'm concerned, none of the theatrical releases were nearly as good as the extended versions. They gave the little pieces of backstory and 'flow' that made them just that much better.

I agree that the extended versions of the first two are better - and I am eagerly awaiting the third. That being said, the extended versions have a major flaw - I am watching them on my television, not in the theatre. The battle scene in The Two Towers, for example, loses a fair bit of its impact on the small screen.

In any case, as we can't compare all three extended versions yet, I should clarify that my poll asks the question as between the standard theatrical release of each of the three movies.

kickaha · March 1, 2004 2:16PM

Step 1: Get a projector

Step 2: Find a large blank wall

Step 3: Make profit

agent302 · March 1, 2004 2:17PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

Step 1: Get a projector

Step 2: Find a large blank wall

Step 3: Make profit

Alternatively, lie on bed, place Powerbook on stomach, and appreciate it filling your field of vision. Seems to work well for me.

chinney · March 1, 2004 2:27PM

It's just not the same thing: theatre is still better.

concord · March 1, 2004 2:51PM

For me, the Fellowship of the Ring still just edges out Return of the King as my favorite. RotK had a few moments that detracted a little from the movie overall. Legolas doing his Fred Flinstone thing, the very fake looking signal fires, the multiple endings, golum falling into the lava looking a little "fakish"... especially in light of how ominous they made Mount Doom feel in the movie.

Cheers,

C.

whisper · March 1, 2004 3:17PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

As far as I'm concerned, none of the theatrical releases were nearly as good as the extended versions. They gave the little pieces of backstory and 'flow' that made them just that much better.

So I'll abstain until the extended versions are placed in the poll.

Same here.

daver · March 1, 2004 4:06PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Whisper

Same here.

Ditto.

As far as the theatrical releases are concerned, I'd say FOTR was my favourite by far. It was the most magical viewing experience of the three for me; we had no idea just how good these movies would turn out to be. Of the three films, FOTR most resembled a revelatory journey.

dviant · March 1, 2004 4:24PM

They were all great films in one way or another, but I think the first one seems to provoke a bit more feeling for me. Remember the first time you saw Boromir's final stand in the theatre? Damn that was a good scene.

At the end of Fellowship I was ready for part two then and there. I was all "YEAH LETS GO HUNT SOME ORC!! Oh wait... the movie is over. Shit."

And yeah ExtendedVersions++

moogs · March 1, 2004 4:29PM

I think overall the first was the best, since it did not rely on special effects to the same extent the third did. Also, had the first been mediocre or only "pretty good", I don't think the other two would've had nearly as much success. Everything hinged upon the impact of the first movie, and that impact was huge. Everyone wondered whether they could pull it off and the first film was the litmus test. Everything was well-told, visually convincing and generally faithful to the original storyline (other than the omission of Tom B.).

But all three were excellent IMO. I think they won 11 oscars last night because the Academy did not want to appear biased by giving lots of awards to each film. They sort of waited until the end and then were very generous. I see these 11 awards going to all three of the films in a way, other than the Best Picture category which the second probably should not have qualified for even if it did in reality (don't recall, just making a point).

brussell · March 1, 2004 4:34PM

BTW, they'll announce plans for the DVDs on March 8.

dviant · March 1, 2004 4:50PM

When are they going to announce plans for the 10-part HBO Mini-Series "The Hobbit" ?

(well a guy can hope right?)

moogs · March 1, 2004 4:53PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BRussell

BTW, they'll announce plans for the DVDs on March 8.

I believe they are due on May 25th of this year. A little hobbit told me.

Lord of the Rings - Which was Really the Best?

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