TheSkeletonMan939 said:

Doctor M said:

I maintain the first two movies are the best and most faithful to the books.

Ditto. But moreover I feel that they're better films than the rest. Films 4, 5, 7, and 8 are extremely unfocused and are barely understandable without having read the books beforehand.

The first two films remain my favorite in terms of atmosphere, pacing, coloring, editing, and story.

You nailed it completely. I rewatched the whole series recently and it's been a really long time since I've read the books (8 years?).

I realized I've forgotten some of the important plot points from the books that make the movies make sense.

I'm currently re-reading the books, but about done with ever seeing the movies again. (And I've fan-edited 4 of them.)

What troubles me the most is if you've seen the scripts and heard the interviews, you know there is a LOT more footage out there that fills in the plot holes.

If the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies have taught us anything, it's that there is a bottomless desire for people to see every scrap of film cut into a movie and re-buy. I don't know why WB would leave that money on the table.

I'll wait for those cuts... or the reboot.

(Sorry, I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.)