Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies helped to bring to life some of the greatest fantasy books ever written in breathtaking fashion with the Hobbit movies recapturing a lot of the same magic. His six movies into the world of elves, dwarves, and hobbits certainly proved to be popular, winning numerous Oscars and proving to be major box office successes along the way.
Each film has its positives and negatives, but on the whole, these Lord of the Rings movies and the Hobbit movies are incredibly enjoyable and very well put together. Everyone who is a fan has their own personal preference as to which films they prefer, but when it comes to critical reviews, what is the best Lord of the Rings movie and how do the Hobbit movies compare?
6 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) – 58
It may come as a shock to some fans to see this as the lowest-rated of the Hobbit movies but a lot of critics simply weren’t impressed with An Unexpected Journey when comparing it to the triumphant success of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The film is a lot more family-friendly than any of the Lord of the Rings movies with songs and crude jokes being staples. There also isn’t quite as much action in it as other films, with Bilbo just starting out on his adventure with the Dwarves to retake Erebor, and there is a strong reliance on CGI at points as well, which stood in stark contrast to the prominence of practical effects in The Fellowship of the Ring.
5 The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – 59 (2014)
Only just edging out the first Hobbit movie, The Battle of The Five Armies is the climax of Bilbo’s adventure, bringing things to an end for his story and leading onto the beginnings of Frodo’s journey as the ring-bearer in the LotR movies.
It’s the Hobbit movie with the most action as there is, as the title would suggest a major battle at the end as all of the plot threads, heroes, and villains converge at Erebor. However, the different characters at play in that battle aren’t nearly as developed as they should be, which means that a lot of the big dramatic moments fall slightly flat. While the film does a nice job with Thorin Oakenshield’s mental state and how things change for him overall, the movie also came up short for critics who had no real choice but to compare it to The Return of the King.
4 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug - 66 (2013)
The best of the three movies from the prequel trilogy, according to Metacritic, is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug which has the most satisfying balance between action and character development in the Hobbit movies as the main bulk of the adventure from the original book plays out. The build-up to Smaug causing terror and havoc was well done, with the scenes between the dragon and Bilbo Baggins, in particular, being very strong.
The film also introduced a new character, the elf Tauriel, as well as bringing back Orlando Bloom as Legolas, which proved to be a great decision. Nevertheless, the Hobbit movies never reached the same heights as the Lord of the Rings movies in terms of reviews.
3 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers – 87 (2002)
The weakest of the three movies from the original trilogy, according to Metacritic, is The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but with an 87 rating, it is clearly still a beloved film amongst critics. For many fans, this movie is their favorite, which showcases the strength of the trilogy with this chapter of the story really upping the adventure aspects of the franchise.
With the group all split up at the end of the first movie, this film has lots of different storylines running side by side which opens up the vast fictional world even more than before, introducing Rohan and the beginnings of the dark world of Mordor that Sam and Frodo must find a way into. It allowed more detail to be placed into each character and every aspect of the journey, immersing fans in the rich detail of the production.
2 The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring – 92 (2001)
The original Middle Earth movie, that catapulted Peter Jackson from a respected cult director to being one of the biggest names in directing, was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. This film had huge pressure on its shoulders to deliver in an engaging manner as world-building and character development were its primary jobs, establishing the high stakes of the story as well as the long history of the One Ring.
The movie does an amazing job at making each character compelling, developing their individual personalities all while setting up the epic quests that will be taking place throughout the rest of the trilogy. While it doesn’t have as much action as the two movies that followed it, The Fellowship of the Ring is still filled with scenes that live rent-free in every fan’s head.
1 The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King – 94 (2003)
There’s a reason that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King cleaned up at the Oscars. It is not only the biggest film from the franchise but one of the best movies of all time according to film fans voting on IMDb. It has a little–to a lot–of everything that audiences crave, with amazing action scenes, brilliant dialogue, and some really emotional goodbye scenes.
The film manages to scale everything up to make the final battles feel more important than what’s been seen before, all while keeping the movie grounded with a focus on the core characters throughout. Aragorn faces his destiny as he steps up to become a true leader and Frodo faces his final challenges on his quest to destroy the One Ring. It was an incredibly difficult task that the production team had, but they managed to wrap things up with the very best of the bunch.
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