Best bits.

[Soriman the Whide]

This thread is about the best bits of Peter Jacksons LoTR trilogy.
I know some members of this forum have a disliking for the films but can we all agree that the music and Christopher Lee are something rather special.

Here's a timestamped link to one of my best bits.
https://youtu.be/rEe1XtP-gfQ?t=17

[Ring Bearer]

Howard Shore is ♥️

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I thought the casting, in general, was positively inspired.

Theoden, and Elrond looked nothing like i imagined, but after a little while that matters little.

If I had to single a few out, my top 5 would probably go something like this:
Galadriel
Gandalf
Saruman
Bilbo
Aragorn

I feel a bit sad for not including Boromir and Gollum, but as I said I hinted earlier, I think most of the actors put in a stellar performance.

[Galadriel55]

The score and the scenery. After watching the Hobvit movies, I also want to add the costumes. TH costumes were over the top and felt a little lile something out of a dress up game, but LOTR costumes for me were an underappreciated thing until recent years.

Scene-wise, I remember liking something about Frodo at Sammath Naur, but I will have rewatch it to remember what impressed me about it.

[Huinesoron]

Honestly, the whole of Fellowship. I loved it in 2001 and I love it now. It's not perfect (I've always found Lothlorien to be disappointingly non-golden, but that may be colourblindness at play), but it's an incredible film that feels like Middle-earth. The music is amazing: the Shire theme, Rivendell, and that majestic main theme that I think reaches its peak in Moria (you know the one... DUM dum da-da DUM... da-da-DUM da-da-DUM da-da-DA-DUM). And it doesn't have character-breaking digressions like the Osgiliation or Sam turning back. (Well... Arwen, but I'm mellowing towards that these days.)

The return to the Shire, and to the Shire theme, at the opening of Unexpected Journey was like coming home.

hS

[Formendacil]

The Extended Edition extra features. God is my witness that I was sharply critical of the films from the get-go, even if they proved far better than my fears going in and even if I haven't quite reached Hui's stage of acceptance on the Arwen-replacing-Glorfindel front, I do think of the PJ movies with a mellowed attitude compared to my former self.

But even my former self loved the Extended Editions and their cornucopia of special features, including (if memory serves) four commentary tracks each. My parents bought all the Extended Editions and I actually made it through EVERY feature and EVERY commentary track on the Fellowship and large chunks of the later two. I learned so much about the craft of movie-making and my pre-existent love of Tolkien's letters and the HoME paired nicely for a long, drawn-out "making of" experience. Even if the end product I would still have had be otherwise, I truly enjoyed that ride.