It's that time again! We've all had time to reflect...

[Quintus 5,399]

It's been a while since they have been directly compared by the way of a poll here, so perhaps now, nearly five years since The Return of the King arrived in cinemas, it is time for an updated comparison of the two respective trilogies (or saga blah blah blah...).

For me LotR is the better trilogy. People here probably think I default to that choice, simply as a result of my username in these parts (which I would actually change, if I could), but that isn't true. I prefer LotR simply because it is the superior trilogy in terms of story, cast, and overall sweep. I used to love the Star Wars trilogy as much your typical fan, but sadly the prequels have forever tainted the legend of Star Wars for me and it cannot be undone, which is a mighty shame. Having said that, I would STILL prefer LotR even if the prequels were never made.

The Rings films blew me away on the big screen. Perhaps I was too young for SW to have the same effect on me the first time I saw them, on the small screen. Thing is though, the LotR EE dvds further expand both on the films themselves and also my love for them. SW does not have this crucial element, in fact the suped up SE's of that trilogy only serve to point out just how perfect the original theatrical releases were in the first place. The sheer depth and scale of LotR is unmatched and that is why they shall remain untouchable for a very long time indeed, perhaps even forever.

Let the battle commence!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Star Wars (Original Trilogy). I'm not a fan of Lord of the Rings.

[Quintus 5,399]

For the sake of the debate, just stating 'Star Wars' should suffice for those who are referring to the OT and only the people who count the prequels as part of the comparison should state that they are referring to the whole SW saga.

[Ollie 1,059]

The original Star Wars trilogy, even though ROTJ brings it down somewhat. I have yet to experience anything as captivating as Star Wars was.

While I do love the LOTR films and Howard Shore's music, Williams was at the top of his game for the trilogy and nothing from LOTR comes close to the first three films.

The prequels cannot taint the original trilogy because they are completely seperate from the first three films.

[Quintus 5,399]

While I do love the LOTR films and Howard Shore's music, Williams was at the top of his game for the trilogy and nothing from LOTR comes close to the first three films.

I completely agree with that, to a point. Williams really was on fire when he wrote for SW, but sheer skill and technique aside, I think Shore quite possibly moved me even more than JW, with his LotR scores. Simply put, when it comes to raw emotion, Shore's LotR stirs me more even than Williams' magnificent SW ever did.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

While I do love the LOTR films and Howard Shore's music, Williams was at the top of his game for the trilogy and nothing from LOTR comes close to the first three films.

Can't really say much more than that. I love LOTR, but Star Wars just captures something inspirational in me, even with ROTJ's lesser parts. In terms of SE vs EE, some of the things done to the OT weren't great (although I do prefer the SE Victory Celebration music). The EEs are nice but there's not one of them I prefer over the theatrical cut (although how the scene with Boromir and Faramir at Osgilliath was left out of the theatrical TWO TOWERS is beyond me), and the ROTK EE is downright terrible.

But anyway, Star Wars without a doubt.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Star Wars is 6 movies, Lord Of The Rings is 3. Can't compare.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Star Wars.

I like LOTR the films, ROTK is really excellent

the scores are just ok, they don't move me. I'd say they are superb dust collectors like Terminal and Munich, except I never bought them.

As for the films I'd rate them like this

Star Wars-untouchable by anything LOTR

Empire Strikes Back and Return of the King, both fantastic films worthy of every bit of the praise they receive.

Fellowship of the Rings, a good film but slow.

Return of the Jedi and The Two Towers, two problematic films, one a very unsatisfying ending to the original trilogy, and the other an unsatisfactory middle, its one long boring battle.

EDIT FOR KORAY, STAR WARS IS ONE FILM.

[Quintus 5,399]

In terms of SE vs EE, some of the things done to the OT weren't great (although I do prefer the SE Victory Celebration music).

Really? God, I hate the way Return of the Jedi ends in the SE; the fun magic of a silly song called Yub Nub was totally lost, it's quite shameful.

Star Wars is 6 movies, Lord Of The Rings is 3. Can't compare.

Don't be silly, of course you can.

Fellowship of the Rings, a good film but slow.

That's the best part!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

FotR has a tremendous pace.

BTW, TGE, if you want your login name changed, send me a PM.

[MrScratch 294]

Overall, LOTR. Jedi really ruins the trilogy, ROTK is my least favorite LOTR but it is still a very good movie with a nice wrapup to the story.

Individually I rank them:

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

Return of the King

Return of the Jedi

[Quintus 5,399]

I like Return of the Jedi.

It has one of the greatest moments in the entire trilogy. If you will not be turned to the Darkside, then perhaps SHE will...

The Ewoks' don't bother me. At least they don't talk.

[Desplat13 1]

Star Wars. Prequels included, prequels discluded, or prequels on their own. Any way you want to look at it.

[Marian Schedenig 8,206]

What are we rating here? The movies only?

In any case, the original SW trilogy is the better trilogy. Because LOTR is no trilogy.

[Henry B 50]

Well, Lord of the Rings overall because of the terrible Jedi. Star Wars beats them all, and Fellowship goes head to head with Empire. But the other two Rings films aren't as good.

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

Why can't people accept it's the same thing for two different generations?

[Henry B 50]

This is sort of true, except (did I mention?) Jedi sucks.

[arathornion33 0]

LotR blows Star Wars (although I love star Wars too) out of the solar system, better yet the Milky Way Galaxy... But don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars and I love Jw's scores for them a ton, but LotR IMO is still much better, both from a movie point of view and musical aspect.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

LotR for me all the way. I'm not into the Star Wars movies at all, and therefore while I love the music, I've never really formed an emotional connection. I experienced the same reactions and feelings when the CRs came out that I'm sure many here did when the 2-disc OT sets came out in '97.

Slightly biased poll on this forum I have to say though, but I don't think it can be denied that the impact of both scores is similar in one respect - getting a generation of fans enthusiastic about film music.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

This is sort of true, except (did I mention?) Jedi sucks.

No it doesn't.

[Henry B 50]

You bet it does.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Never seen Jedi myself.

I've seen eps III and IV in full, and about half of V. That's it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

In any case, the original SW trilogy is the better trilogy. Because LOTR is no trilogy.

Neither is Star Wars.

[Vaderbait1 1]

Star Wars was a much tighter, memorable, and entertaing trilogy. I love LOTR, but there are just too many flaws that doomed it from the start. Both great trilogies, but come on, its' STAR WARS!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Fellowship and Two Towers blow Star Wars to hell and back thrice over before Return of the King comes in and blasts it out of existence.

Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings has so much more intellectual signifigance and social relevance than Star Wars ever can or will.

[Henry B 50]

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I'm sorry, but any of the Star Wars movies would be a cartoon against Lord of the Rings. It was an excercise in technical and production innovation woven together with elementary commercial fiction storylines and plots.

[Marian Schedenig 8,206]

In any case, the original SW trilogy is the better trilogy. Because LOTR is no trilogy.

Neither is Star Wars.

Star Wars is primarily a series of three separate movies, one of them quite separate from the others, and the other two still basically two quite different stories (one of them partly a rehash of the first), although much closer tied through the cliffhanger ending of ESB and the pickup of that storyline for Jedi. Still, when SW was first made, it wasn't even established that this was necessarily really going to be a trilogy. Plus not even of ESB can you say that the battle of Endor is really the climax of its main story.

On the other hand, LOTR is one story, which was split into three parts only because of pressure from the publisher.

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

Fellowship and Two Towers blow Star Wars to hell and back thrice over before Return of the King comes in and blasts it out of existence.

Thanks for putting it mildly.

[Ollie 1,059]

I'm sorry, but any of the Star Wars movies would be a cartoon against Lord of the Rings. It was an excercise in technical and production innovation woven together with elementary commercial fiction storylines and plots.

I'm sorry but the LOTR movies had nowhere near the cultural nor boxoffice appeal that Star Wars and it's two sequels had.

I doubt 20 years from now if you re-released LOTR they would have people standing around the block to see it again.

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

You know this? How?

Are you blessed with the gift of foresight? If not, don't make such silly statements.

[Ollie 1,059]

What, as opposed to your statements?

And yes I am blessed.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I'm sorry but the LOTR movies had nowhere near the cultural nor boxoffice appeal that Star Wars and it's two sequels had.

I doubt 20 years from now if you re-released LOTR they would have people standing around the block to see it again.

That's like saying Hans Zimmer is a superior composer to John Williams.

Or Mickey Mouse is superior character to Miss Havisham.

Or American Idol is better than Lost.

Transformers to The Godfather.

[Ollie 1,059]

Well duh, obviously those aren't.

But Star Wars is still superior.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The 3 Lord Of The Rings are better than all 6 Star Wars films. I'd rather watch Return Of The King over any of the Star Wars films.

[Ollie 1,059]

I'd rather watch LOTR over the Prequels.

[Lurker 5]

Star Wars. It has one good movie, which is more than I can say for LOTR.

Neil

[indy4 155]

My rankings:

The Return of the King (one of the greatest films ever made)

Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars

Return of the Jedi

Revenge of the Sith

The Two Towers

The Phantom Menace

The Fellowship of the Ring

Attack of the Clones

But every single film in that list is friggin' brilliant IMO. RotK is better than any SW film, but as a whole, I'd vote for SW. But not by much.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Star Wars. Prequels included, prequels discluded, or prequels on their own. Any way you want to look at it.

What he said.

Why can't people accept it's the same thing for two different generations?

It isn't. No one is disco dancing to the LOTR music for one.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Disco is dead, this ain't the 70's.

[Red 75]

Very difficult to choose one over the other for me, as a fan of both. Overall I would give it to Star Wars though, simply because of what it did for the industry and how much it means to me personally. I will say that LOTR is more consistently excellent, and will likely become the classics that the original trilogy was.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

And let's hope The Hobbit films don't end up like Episodes I-III.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

SW appears to be annihilating LOTR in the superdelegates!

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Disco is dead, this ain't the 70's.

OK.

No one is dancing to Tiesto mixes of the LOTR music.

[Jeshopk 8]

Even if this was Prequels vs LOTR I would choose Star Wars. Just not too much repeat watching value on those LOTR. I have em all on DVD too, but I can't get that entertained by them.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

I love both, but I'll take The Lord of the Rings over the Star Wars franchise any day of the week, if we're assessing the overall quality level. I'd rather watch the behind the scenes documentaries about Rings than at least half of the Star Wars movies.

That said, I think that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back have a sort of fundamental power that none of the Rings movies have individually; those are two very, very confident movies, and I'd argue that they create a (slightly) more persuasive universe than the Rings movies.

I hope I never have to make a real choice between the two, as losing either would make me feel awfully deprived.

[A24 4,343]

Disco is dead, this ain't the 70's.

Disco isn't dead. There are new forms of Disco (called New Disco, I believe). There's also Jamiroquai. And lots of people are still dancing on ol' Disco.

I hope I never have to make a real choice between the two, as losing either would make me feel awfully deprived.

What would you lose? Both tell the same old story (The Departure, The Journey, The Triumph) and frankly, I'm tired of it. I don't see LOTR making any new contributions to the old concept either.

[Quintus 5,399]

In any case, the original SW trilogy is the better trilogy. Because LOTR is no trilogy.

Neither is Star Wars.

Argh don't start that again!

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

It isn't. No one is disco dancing to the LOTR music for one.

And I'm endlessly grateful for that!

What are you saying, that Star Wars is superior to LOTR because nobody's dancing to its music ...?

Choosing the prequels alone over LOTR seems to me like an enormous monument of bad taste.

I have no problem when people like original Star Wars more than Lord of The Rings, but the prequels are textbook examples for bad moviemaking.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Losers of the Ring seems to be doing poorly

Star Wars reigns supreme, based on the original three films, now if we did this just against the prequels, it would lose because collectively they are 3 badly made movies.