Rank the Films of the Tolkien Cinematic Legendarium

[The_Manhunter]

I'll start:

1) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

 

[Abudefduf]

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Return of the King
The Two Towers
The Desolation of Smaug
An Unexpected Journey
The Battle of the Five Armies
The Lord of the Rings ('78)

Out of those, Fellowship is the only movie that I'd call a "good" adaptation of one of Tolkien's books. I love the other two chapters of the LotR trilogy but as adaptations they leave a lot to be desired.

Spoiler

IMHO!!!

The Hobbit movies are bloated messes and the less said about Bakshi's LotR, the better.

 

[Deck Rickard]

1. The Return of the King
2. The Two Towers
3. The Fellowship of the Ring


HUGE DROPOFF



4. An Unexpected Journey
5. The Desolation of Smaug
6. The Battle of the Five Armies

 

[Finarfiniel]

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (My favourite movie of all time)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

 

[sueb1863]

What, no 1979 Ralph Bakshi animated version?

 

[Fincher]

1. The Fellowship of the Ring 10/10
2. The Return of the King 10/10
3. The Two Towers 9/10
4. The Desolation of Smaug 8/10
5. An Unexpected Journey 7/10

I haven't gotten to The Battle of the Five Armies.

 

[Patchwork Man]

What, no 1979 Ralph Bakshi animated version?

Or the other two animated films, The Hobbit and Return of the King?

 

[Boom]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (10/10)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (10/10)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (9/10)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (6/10)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (5/10)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (4/10)

 

[Grootster]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (10/10)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (10/10)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (9/10)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (6/10)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (5/10)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (4/10)

This is my ranking also, even the scores pretty much match.

 

[Longuecarabine]

1) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 9/10
2) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 8.5/10
3) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 8/10
4) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 8/10
5) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 7/10
6) The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies 6/10

 

[TheDreamMaster]

1) Fellowship
2) Towers
3) King

I have them, but haven’t watched the Hobbit films. Will get around to it someday hopefully.

 

[Albright]

I might have a different taste, than the majority:

The Two Towers
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Desolation of Smaug
The Return of the King
An Unexpected Journey
The Battle of the Five Armies

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I find it hard to rate in these terms as they're just two huge films chopped into three chapters each. The only difference is the editors.

LotR is a masterpiece of blockbuster cinema, and The Hobbit has enough material for two good films stretched over three.

 

[Consona]

1., 2., 3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

 

[OutOfBoose]

1. Fellowship
2. Towers
3. King





4. Hobbit 1

5. Hobbit 2
6. Hobbit 3

Haven't seen Bakshi's animation and Soviet Hobbit film.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

1) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (10/10)
2) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (10/10)
3) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (10/10)
4) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (7/10)
5) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (6/10)
6) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (5/10)

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

1. Return of the King
2. Fellowship of the Ring
3. The Two Towers
4. An Unexpected Journey
5. Battle of the Five Armies
6. Desolation of Smaug

I think the middle film is the clear weakest installment in both trilogies, although I still like Two Towers better than any of The Hobbit films. Although even they have their moments. For example, while DoS is my least favorite film the big conversation between Bilbo and Smaug in the vault is fantastic and one of the best scenes in the entire franchise.

 

[Iceman]

They're 2 films to me. Suffice to say LOTR >>>>>>>>> Hobbit

But I think I can enjoy The Hobbit a lot more than many other LotR fans.

 

[DACrowe]

1. Fellowship of the Ring (Amazing!)
2. Return of the King (Spectacular!)
3. The Two Towers (Mesmerizing!)

4. An Unexpected Journey (Mostly Boring)
5. The Desolation of Smaug (Entirely Boring)
6. Battle of the Armies (I fell asleep. Really.)

 

[childeroland]

1. Fellowship
2. Towers
3. Return
4. Battle
5. Unexpected
6. Desolation (appropriate title)

 

[Rorschach2012]

Fellowship of the Ring
Two Towers
Return of the King
Unexpected Journey
Desolation of Smaug
Battle of the Five Armies

It's weird how my favorites line up with the release dates, but the first two Hobbit movies are pretty much tied.

I enjoyed all of them, but LOTR is obviously superior