Are all three Lord of the Rings films masterpieces?

No.

No, not even close. they are pretty average movies as like I always say a movies true worth boils down to whether you want to re-watch it from time-to-time as the years pass or not. the LOTR trilogy are not movies ill re-watch which makes them a Thumbs Down as that's my basic test to see whether a movie is a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down is whether I want to re-watch them here and there or not.

but anyways, I rarely use the word 'masterpiece' in relation to a movie as I think some people use that word too often and it loses it's intended effect because of it. NOTE: one movie ill call a masterpiece is... Road to Perdition (2002) as it blends visuals/score/moments very well.

with all of that said... sure, no one can question the LOTR trilogy being strong in the $$$ dept though (and I am sure they will be remembered for the foreseeable future) and from my best guesstimate of the general public is they think they are at least solid if not pretty strong movies and some people might praise them. but... I wonder how many who used to praise them back around the time they where new, still do praise them? ; because while nostalgia can be good and all, if they honestly still don't like those movies to a higher degree today, then they are not that great for them etc. because there used to be some movies I used to praise or semi-praise that no longer hold up and I no longer praise them as a result. because like I always say a movies true worth is whether it holds up on re-watches from time-to-time as the years pass or not as those that remain solid, my general praise of them stays solid. those that fail to hold up to a certain standard I no longer praise etc.


ck100



Personally I would not give too much weight to what Oscars (and the like) say is good as they often nominate based on politics more than anything else, especially lately. NOTE: in those particular movies (LOTR trilogy) case, it was probably not politics though. but it almost seems like every now and then they just toss in some big budget stuff to kiss up to the public.

but in general I think they are largely disconnected with the common-ish person, especially lately.

speaking for myself... every now and then they(Oscars etc) select solid movies among the 'Best Picture' types but it's not all that often and is getting worse lately as they are more concerned with politics than movie quality and ones enjoyment of watching it which should be paramount.

None are really masterpieces per se, but if they were I’d say more as a whole trilogy. Two Towers is very good but not quite on the same level as the 2 movies sandwiching it.

The whole thing is a masterpiece.

As for the individual films, Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King are top-level. The Two Towers falls a bit short of the others, but is still a great film.

FOTR is a masterpiece. The LOTR trilogy is a masterpiece.

No. Im not a fan.

None are masterpieces.

I only consider The Fellowship of the Ring to be a masterpiece.  The other two are just good movies to me.

To be honest, I hated "The Hobbit" cartoon from over 30 years ago, and nothing about the live action trailers made me interested in seeing the films...

But, I wanted to be able to join in on the discussions, that my friends and coworkers were having, because they thought they were great films... And I didn't want to be "left out".

About ten years ago, I bought the trilogy on DVD, and I eventually planned to watch them... But, I never get around to watching them... AND People quit talking about them too...



"Masterpieces"?

Since, after almost 10 years, I still have no desire to watch films that I have already paid for, which are still sitting on the bottom of my "To Watch" pile, and all I have to do is pop them into my DVD player to watch them...

Then I would have to say, in my opinion... NO, they are not "Masterpieces".