FOTR in the AFI Top 100 Movies!

[Batty]

Looking at the list of 100 movies makes me thankful for Turner Classic Movies. Last week I watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Harvey. I don't think either are on the list, but still...

 

[crazytrain]

LOTR was screwed in this survey. Consider that the criteria for the AFI is laid out on their webpage - and it includes both critical acclaim and winning of awards. Of all three LOTR films, ROKT received the most universal praise according to charts kept of professional film critics. It won all eleven Academy Awards it was nominated for tying it for most wins of all time. It is also #2 on the All Time Box Office revenue list.

FOTR was a rather slow film in parts with lots of exposition. TTT was heavy on action. ROTK had a blend of everything that turned out perfectly.

I did not want to clog up this thread talking about other films so started an AFI thread in the Other Discussion area if anybody is interested.

Well everyone has their own opinion, and I happen to disagree with yours!
I still remember going to see Fellowship (it happened to be released on my Birthday, which was a good start!), sitting there with my wife and wondering "can they do it?" (whilst secretly suspecting that "no" they couldn't - surely nobody could film Lord of the Rings could they??!!). Within minutes I was completely swept away - I still get a lump in my throat every time I see the scene where Gandalf bends down outside Bag End and gives Bilbo a hug. Then there was the Cave Troll and the Balrog and Moria was everything I'd expected and more. So for me, Fellowship was, and still is, the best film I've ever seen. When it came to the Two Towers, the next question was "can they convince me with Gollum for 3 hours?". Again, a resounding "yes". We also got some of the worst CGI in the whole trilogy (the Wargs), and one of the best fight scenes with Helms Deep. The Ents weren't bad either, but some of the scenes dragged. Overall, TTT is my third favourite film of the trilogy (again, this is just my opinion... ). With RotK, to be honest, it was very much a case of "been there, seen it, done it" - inevitable somewhat in that it was the third film, but, for me, unfortunately true. It is however, in my opinion, a better overall film than TTT (again, perhaps inevitable, as TTT was, if you like, merely a "filler" between what had gone before and what was a spectacular ending), hence it comes second on my list. I agree with whoever it was that said that RotK got all the Oscars because the Academy finally realised that they had just witnessed the best film trilogy of all time, so they'd better do something about it. The real sadness for me was that Ian McKellen never got an oscar for his acting - when I heard that he had got the role, I was somewhat skeptical, however having seen the trilogy he was Gandalf, and at the end of the day, surely that is the mark of a great acting performance??

Oh, and in terms of watching the films on DVD, I've lost count of how many times I've watched Fellowship, I've watched TTT about 3 or 4 times, and RotK about the same. The proof of the pudding, as they say....

 

[elwood49]

How in the world did The Third Man get left off of that list?!! Mind boggling.

On a positive note, I'm glad to see Nashville, LOTR, and Blade Runner make it. All 3 are favorites of mine.

I was shocked that Nashville wasn't included last time, as it's one of the very best American movies of all time, IMO.

 

[Khev]

I was actually quite surprised with how much I enjoyed the special. It was still a tad annoying that Godfather I and II got two separate entries but they didn't allow the same when it came to ESB and ROTK. I also didn't care for CGI footage from the E.T. SE (yuck!) but overall it was fun seeing what did and didn't make the cut. Lots of great movies!

 

[Batty]

I was actually quite surprised with how much I enjoyed the special. It was still a tad annoying that Godfather I and II got two separate entries but they didn't allow the same when it came to ESB and ROTK. I also didn't care for CGI footage from the E.T. SE (yuck!) but overall it was fun seeing what did and didn't make the cut. Lots of great movies!

I enjoyed it too. That's the thing about these AFI lists...they're just for fun. It's not like they're set in stone or they actually mean anything.