re: Favorite Tolkien film

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There was less emphasis on costumes and makeup and a heavier emphasis on cgi

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I suppose that Jackson will have time to think about this for the final editing of the second one (and certainly for the 3rd movie), but if he'd just cut about 5 to 10 minutes of the insane underground scene - that's the only place the movie looked "Star Wars prequels" fake - I think that would have been an addition by subtraction.

Fellowship
Return of the King
The Two Towers
An Unexpected Journey

I think its a bit early to judge An Unexpected Journey, since I haven't seen the full picture, while I have with LotR. Like LotR, I think that when viewed as a whole, I think each film will get better as a result.

That said, I think An Unexpected Journey contains my favorite scene, where Bilbo spares Gollum: LINK

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With that said the hobbit was waaaay unfairly trashed

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Not really. It was cartoonish. The Goblin scene was a total mess. Plus, I didn't see that many people trashing it. They trashed the frame rate which I actually loved.

I didn't dislike the movie but I also don't have the same drive to see it again like I did with the LOTR movies. Having said that, I will give it a repear viewing but Jackson is not infallible, see King King or Lovely Bones for proof.

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I suppose that Jackson will have time to think about this for the final editing of the second one (and certainly for the 3rd movie), but if he'd just cut about 5 to 10 minutes of the insane underground scene - that's the only place the movie looked "Star Wars prequels" fake - I think that would have been an addition by subtraction.

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Something tells me Jackson was pulling his hair out by not killing a few of the dwarves. No fricking way they'd all survive that. I liked the Cracked article that talks about this:

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MARTIN FREEMAN
There you are, Ian! Did everybody get out safely?

IAN MCKELLEN
(shakes head)
Alas, we have paid a high price for our freedom. Prepare thy tears as I relate the noble sacrifice of ... wait a minute ...
(looks around)
... holy frick, ALL the dwarfs are still alive. All goddamn 12 of them. Do I have to start putting red shirts on these assholes?

KEN STOTT
Ian, thank God you only show up exactly when we need you.

IAN MCKELLEN
I am a Knight of the fricking Realm, and if I want to sit out all the parts where you're just walking to places, I will sit those parts out, dammit.

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Not really. It was cartoonish. The Goblin scene was a total mess. Plus, I didn't see that many people trashing it. They trashed the frame rate which I actually loved.

I didn't dislike the movie but I also don't have the same drive to see it again like I did with the LOTR movies. Having said that, I will give it a repear viewing but Jackson is not infallible, see King King or Lovely Bones for proof.

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First of all King Kong was great, and yes the Lovely Bones was just awful.

Secondly, yeah it was. Sure the Goblin scene was a bit of a mess, but I also think that has something to do with the source material, to where I'm not sure if at the time Tolkien really knew what he was doing.

When I was reading the reviews, I was a little stunned by the ratings, since the reviews themselves pretty much confirmed that I was getting everything that I asked for. Time Magazine said it was the worst film of the year, which is a knee jerk reaction if I've ever seen one. There's really two reasons why it unfairly treated:

1) A format that 90% of the audience isn't going to see, and was universally hated.
2) They decided to split a 300 page book into 3 films.

And that's really it. I lost alot of respect for certain critics over how they responded to it. It was a fine film that people got their panties in a bun over some "behind the scenes" and details that 90% of the audience isn't going to experience or care about.

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Love the battle for Helms Deep)

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My favorite scene in the Trilogy but it does not make up for the rest of the movie being an overall lesser work than the other two. IMO

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Not really. It was cartoonish. The Goblin scene was a total mess. Plus, I didn't see that many people trashing it. They trashed the frame rate which I actually loved.

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It wasn't cartoonish at all. The scene where they were singing maybe but i loved that part.

Fellowship of the Ring - it had a magic about it that was never really recaptured 100% in any of the subsequent films. The depection of the Shire. The menance of the Nazgul. Strider/Aragon developing characterwise. Liv Tyler adding some sex appeal. The tension at the council. Galadriel. Moria. All pretty much home runs to me.

Return of the King - there were some great moments. The battle of Pelenor fields was impressive (except for the scrubbing bubbles army of the dead). The quiet moment between Gandalf and Pippin(?) on the eve of battle was a great scene. The Sam/Frodo/Gollum last leg to Mount Doom was good.

The Two Towers - Loved Helms Deep. Otherwise I found it kind of flat. Particularly did not like the characterization of Faramir. Whether it was the acting, writing or directing, he was not fleshed out nearly as well as Boramir was in the Fellowship.

Unexpected Journey[- Not much to add besides what's already been said in this thread. Thought it was ok. But nothing spectacular.

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The Two Towers - Loved Helms Deep. Otherwise I found it kind of flat. Particularly did not like the characterization of Faramir. Whether it was the acting, writing or directing, he was not fleshed out nearly as well as Boramir was in the Fellowship.

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This isn't an issue in Extended Edition. I really don't know what Jackson was thinking by removing that scene, since it completely explains Faramir's motives and actions throughout the film and makes him very sympathetic instead of detestable like he is in the theatrical version.

The hobbit certainly has a more kid-friendly tone, but that is in keeping with the source material. The Lord of the rings is a straightforward description of what happened at the end of the third age. The hobbit, on the other hand, is a memoir of bilbo and more prone to his exaggeration as the storyteller. It is pointed out in the lord of the rings that the part of bilbos story in the book "there and back again" (The Hobbit) about the finding of the ring was originally wrong. The movie as well can be viewed as his tale, and some of the more exaggerated scenes fit better in this context.