I find it VERY difficult to separate them from one another given they're one story. But if I had to, The Fellowship of the Ring. You have this sense of loss and wonder at the mystery and danger. Even though I know the story very well, having read the book numerous times before the film was ever announced, I can still escape into the experience of the characters.
The Two Towers has a very fun battle, and the extended edition is a lot more than a simple "here's some more cool content" as it actually served to make the film better as a whole in a meaningful way, one of the few films I've seen to do that before (Blade Runner is the only other one that comes to mind). The theatrical edition was pretty much an action film and third out of three, but IMO it would rank second for me when considering extended editions.
As a note on the EE versions: The Return of the King had some scene enhancement. The encounter of Gandalf and the Witch King being added both made the scene more accurate to the book and better as a whole in the film.
The Return of the King is winning, predictably, but IMO it is the lowest of the three. Don't get me wrong, it has some great scenes, but it really botched a number of scenes that are SO much better in the book: Eowyn vs. the Witch King and The Mouth of Sauron in particular - FAR more climactic scenes in the book. While it has some of my favourite scenes, it's my least favourite film. I hated how the Battle of the Pelennor Fields went down with the ghost army being like a deus ex machina, that is NOT how it happened in the book. Gondor was WAY more powerful than what was depicted in the film; first, they made Gondor seem like it was just Minas Tirith and nothing else, there wasn't even a Dol Amroth.
As an adaptation, even with the controversial cuts, Fellowship of the Ring is easily the best. It comes, BY FAR, the closest to the pacing and feel of the books. The second and third films were WAY too actiony when in the books the character development and test of the human condition (or elf, dwarf, hobbit condition) were at the forefront. So in that regards, I didn't just like the Fellowship the best, but I felt it was by FAR the best. That said, all the films are great, IMO, and I have favourite parts across all three - Return of the King and Two Towers have some phenomenal scenes.
Also, in terms of the impact of the film on me, as a Lord of the Rings and Tolkien fan in general (my favourite book at the time, not just of Middle Earth, but of everything, was The Silmarillion, which I read as constantly as a religious person with their bible), The Fellowship of the Ring hit was indeed a special experience. I had tears in my eyes in the opening segment probably the first 2-3 times I saw it at the cinema just based on the emotional experience of seeing that come to the screen - which, prior to that time was said to be impossible to make into live-action... now people say, "Lord of the Rings is possible, but the Silmarillion isn't." But I am sure we'll be seeing a Silmarillion film sometime in the decade after the Amazon series is done.
TL;DR - The Fellowship of the Ring
Also, each film has exceptional scenes, probably my favourite from each - this one is a great adaptation of the equivalent scene in the book - the Extended Edition version, the theatrical cut the Gandalf and Witch King encounter (which was at the gate in the book) which hurt the scene significantly - glad to see it back and done well unlike Eowyn vs Witch King and the Mouth of Sauron:
The Elves show up at Helms Deep. When it comes to taking creative license, and even when this makes pretty much no sense in how the rest of the film goes down, and is inaccurate from the books... and I actually think this is a missed opportunity, in the books the Rangers joined up with Aragorn along with the sons of Elrond, calling themselves the Grey Company, and they travelled with Aragorn across the Paths of the Dead and went to the battle of the Pelennor Fields... They really could have made the Elves a meaningful part of the rest of the series. It's noteworthy that Jackson got the last alliance wrong, too. Lothlorien in the second age was a Kingdom of Silvan Elves, not involved in the last Alliance. Although, to his credit, Lothlorien did take part in the wars against Sauron later on, but not because of their duties to the last alliance... In fact, this occurred because Galadriel and Celeborn moved to Lothlorien and began to shift the culture away from the independent Silvan Elves - the princess (Nimrodel) was very unhappy with these turn of events, and Amroth (King of Lothlorien) decided to take her away. The two left in secret, separately, and Nimrodel was lost, Dol Amroth was killed in a storm while waiting for her on a ship at the Haven at Dol Amroth (which, while located in Gondor, was traditionally a colony of Lothlorien). Anyway, it actually makes no sense that Haldir would cite the last alliance as the reason he joined them since Haldir was a Silvan Elf, not a Noldor. Despite completely breaking canon, and being kind of independent from the rest of the plot, it was really awesome to see the Elves show up for battle: shades of the Silmarillion.
And then there are the two deaths of the Fellowship of the Ring. I thought the stuff after Gandalf's death was as close to real cinematic art as the Lord of the Rings ever got. The arrows firing through the air as the grief-stricken fellowship ride away. So I'll post that video, although Boromir's death was really good too. Not much to say, these two scenes were excellent. Of course, the Boromir death differs slightly from the book - the book is much darker as Boromir dies in complete despair, and is not calmed by Aragorn. In the book, he kills so many Orcs that they begin to pile into a hill (an echo of Hurin from the Silmarillion, who slew something like 80 trolls in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears/Nirnaeth Arnoediad - the largest battle in Middle Earth's history, next to the War of Wrath which ended the first age (literally millions took part in it, including thousands of Dragons, it was insanity)... Hurin was the greatest or second greatest warrior among humans in Middle Earth's history, his son Turin was arguably greater). But either way, I felt the Boromir scene was adapted excellently for a film that had to end shortly after... In the book, the narrative continues, and it wouldn't have made as much sense to end on that darker note in the film. Unfortunately, there's not a good clip on youtube of the death of Boromir, at least none I can find, just pieces cut out of the scene.
Last edited by Jumpin - on 25 August 2020I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
