atari2600

i know some might disagree but i felt #2 was far far better than #1 and a lot of that was due to the final scene (PURELY AMAZING) even though #1 was great.

now since all 3 were basically made at the same time, how can they top #2? its not like this is 5 years later and there is new technology or anything. i hope they can top the 2nd but i think its going to be very difficult to do.

Jackskeleton

uh.. what? the only reason you feel 2 is better then 1 is because the amount they could do with special effects in post. since that is the one main thing they can change and isn't done at the same time.

Also the second had more action then the first. the third will have as much action as the second.

Most of all.. ENJOY THEM AS A WHOLE. they are one story. this is like saying "The second half hour of star wars was soooo much better then the first ten minutes"

atari2600

it just seemed to me that LOTR 2 was on a new better level than LOTR 1. i hope LOTR 3 can go up yet another level.

mwj

The easy answer is, I don't know. I am withholding my judgement about the quality of The Fellowship of the Ring versus The Two Towers until the upcoming TT EE is released. I just hope The Return of the King will be a fitting ending to a fantastic trio of movies.

Jackskeleton

Technology did change between Fellowship and Tower. Look at the difference in gollum. in the first they tried to hide a lot of him simply not to shoot themselves in the foot with it. Not to mention the FX crew has grown in wisdom with the years. either way, the third should look clean and good. the story is all their and the action will be there in full effect. it will be just as good, if not better.

caiman

Assuming the same quality of filmmaking goes into ROTK as it did the first two (and I see no reason why it wouldn't), then ROTK will indeed be the best of the three. Because it's the climax of a big story, it will be the most exciting, suspenseful, and emotional in the series. In a way, FOTR and TTT are a buildup to ROTK. This is where it all comes together. I can't wait.

Giles

I remember reading I think in Entertainment Weekly, that after completing the rough cut of ROTK, Jackson commented on saying that the third film is his most definate favourite.

mdc3000

well, I think ROTK is the best book...so therefore, I have faith this movie will be the ultimate capper to this amazing movie series... seriously, December can't come quick enough... I **** my pants just thinking about this movie.... DAMN.

MATT

atari2600

hope you guys are right.

Jepthah

I know they're biased because they...ahem...worked on the film themselves, but the general consensus from the cast + filmmakers seems to be 'better than the Fellowship and Towers combined.'

With my foreknowledge of the story, I can believe it.

Chew

No matter the outcome of how good it is, I can't wait for it to be released.

Jason

I thought they kept Gollum hidden because he isn't a major character until TTT and they wanted to keep his appearance a surprise?

chess

agree with the above that RotK will be the best of the three...but i don't think that TTT was as good as FotR.

their quality is a relative function of the books. FotR had a nice coming of age arc for Frodo and was a "journey" in the heart of darkness sort of way. Admittedly, I only saw TTT once, but I couldn't help but think that some of the characters were shortchanged considering their role in the next film. I also hated Gimli being used just for comic releif. overall, TTT just felt like the middle part of the story, which is difficult to make compelling...just ask the wachowski brothers.

i think it's safe to say that RotK will be the best of the three.

ArchibaldTuttle

am I the only one who hopes they tone down the action in ROTK, I think the reason I enjoyed FOTR more than TTT is because it seemed to be more story, dialogue, and emotionally driven, I never read the books so when it really hit hard and made the movie a much more emotionally satisfying experience for me, even if it some how manages to be the worst of the three movies for me in preference, I have no doubt it will be an excellent movie

majorjoe23

I'm waiting for LOTR 4: Hobbits in the Hood, LOTR 5: The Fellowship in Space and LOTR vs. Harry Potter.

jekbrown

well, HE may think that the only reason TT is better than FotR because of sfx... but I dont think it has anything to do with it. I dont have time to write a book analyzing the two films, but IMO FotR was a 8.0 of 10... and TT was a 10 of 10. It was just a better movie, and NOT because of the special effects. If anything I thought the fx were cheesier in the TT... the legolas skateboarding part and the really fake looking orcs hurtling off the stairs/bridge as gimli/aragorn wade through them were almost painful to watch... and I still think the TT was the best film of the 2.

btw, these 3 flicks make up 1 complete story, but there is absolutely nothing inherantly wrong with judging it in its component parts. I know Ive read LOTS of movie/book reviews where the reviewer says "in the middle, the film really seems to drag on" or whatever. why shouldnt we be able to do this with LotR? Tolkien himself divided the story into 3 books and I see no reason why each cant be analyzed in its own right.

as to the topic of this thread... i think it will be tough indeed to top the TT... but at the same time I have faith in PJ...

j

Merrial

The Battle of Pellinor Field will be badass!

Geofferson

I am confident that it will. The capstone to a wonderful trilogy.

MasterCXtreme

Yeah probably.

wlmowery

Actually, no Tolkien didn't. His publisher did. Tolkien himself was very against the idea of dividing the story into seperate books but was told it was a necessity for publication purposes. Only with strongly expressed regret did he sign off on the division.

As for examining each component of the films seperately, by all means do so. While the films are in essence one complete long story arc, the individual components do need to stand on their own as independent works. I think that Peter Jackson has done a fine job of balancing the need for independent life with complete story arc development...

jekbrown

ok, change the word "himself" to begrudgingly. better?

j

neiname

Yes

LivingINClip

I think one reason people prefer LOTR: TTT over LOTR:FOTR is simply due to the action scenes, but people have to remember that LOTR:FOTR had to interduce so many characters and start such a complex plot. Honestly, there wasn't room for big action sequences in the story and there was no need for them.

gcribbs

I hope it is as good as either one of the others.

I am really looking forward to the extended of both and watching all three extended back to back to back in an huge LOTR fest next year

DaveNinja

I just hope the next movie has more sub plots fof aragorn getting knocked into a river by wargs. that part was the bomb