# The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

18 Hacker News commenters recommended The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised for its craft, production, soundtrack and tone as a sword-and-sorcery epic; the most common caveat is that it departs from Tolkien's books.

## Why people recommend it

- Highly produced, with excellent craftsmanship (2 comments): "they are particularly highly produced, where all crafts making up that movie are treated highly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46166711)) "that their creation was outstandingly high quality" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49146880))
- Good adaptation of the source material (2 comments): "the LOTR trilogy is a near-perfect example of how source material can be adapted well into a different medium" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49086080)) "a movie series that's as good as the source material and holds quality over 3 movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49080169))
- Quality holds across three films (2 comments): "a movie series that's as good as the source material and holds quality over 3 movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49080169)) "The LotR movies were a high water mark, even if they aren't perfect." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46591820))
- Beloved by fans of the books (2 comments): "I say this as a huge LotR fan who enjoyed all the extended LotR cuts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49080429)) "a soft spot for the LotR movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726989))

## What people warn about

- Departs from the book, undermining adaptation (4 comments): "The movies also have some really bizarre departures from the book which seriously undermine their quality as an adaptation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089944)) "are great movies , but are pretty poor adaptations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46592317)) "Gandalf kicking Pippin (the exact opposite of what happens in the book)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46587101))
- Faramir character badly handled (2 comments): "Faramir was the worst character assassination in the movies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46587754)) "Wish the movies didn't take so much liberty with Faramir." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46387882))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Princess Bride by William Goldman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/princess-bride.md): 13 recommend
- [Conan the Barbarian (1982 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/conan-the-barbarian.md): 9 recommend
- [Legend (1985 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/legend.md): 6 recommend
- [Highlander (1986 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/highlander.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Lord of the Rings film trilogy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lord-of-the-rings-film-trilogy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).