The Aruman thing is actually because the studio thought Saruman and Sauron sounded too similar so they changed the name... but then changed their mind half way through production and changed it back

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the one series where you could put any movie at number 1 and it could be fully justified with someone who puts it in last.

A cosmonaut is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.

"Im really not into the Aragorn love tringle" neither is Aragorn to be fair

Benedict Cumberbatch doing the worm in a ping pong ball suit and screeching "I AM FIRE!!!" is one of the most cursed yet hilarious things I will ever see

Surprised you didn’t mention how Sauron worked as a villain. Bro barely had any screen time but his presence is CONSTANT throughout the entire trilogy.

I always liked the idea that Saruman sits around screaming at orcs that walk on his grass so they put up the stupid fence post things to try and keep the orcs from trampling the grass.

"My friends, you bow to no one" is the most beautiful movie scene in cinema history.

That fucking ending killed me

8:56 I love how boromir ruffles his hair like hes a kid here but canonically frodo is a full 10 years older than him

One thing I noticed about the extended edition movies is that they gave Gimli much more of a character, in the theatrical fellowship of the ring he has like 5 lines

I don't think that Aragorn was actually part of a love triangle. He was never torn between Arwen and Eowyn. He loved Arwen, simple as that. He happened to be also loved by Eowyn but he never considered her as a mate.
My favourite movie is the second one because I love the entire Rohan plotline so much. All in all, for me LotR always feels like home.

I will say, the one story thread that I think the extended editions definitely benefit from the most is Boromir. Learning more about Boromir's past and motivations helps round out the character much more, even retroactively in the 2nd and 3rd movies. It helps you understand WHY he's so easily seduced by the Ring, and shows how he was truly a good person who wanted to do the right thing to protect his people, and why his death was so crushing of a loss for Denethor and Faramir both.

17:00 Tolkien didn't name them and was just as confused by that name.  He wrote 'The Lord of the Rings' and it was the publishers who decided to split it into three novels and chose their names (Tolkien would have preferred them be divided by the six 'books' he split the story into in the text)  He also objected to the spoiler title "The Return of the King".

God, probably my favorite scene in the whole series is when Sam and Frodo are at the base of Mt. Doom, and Sam says "I may not be able to carry it for you, but I can carry you!" It's the greatest emotional moment I've seen since The Shawshank Redemption. Sean Astin didn't have much to do in the previous films, but in Return of the King, he really proved himself to be the best of the entire cast at delivering emotion.

I've always loved the subtle "I lost it' Frodo says when Bilbo asks to see the ring again, it makes it very clear that Fodo in some way still covets it despite knowing it's been destroyed shoeing just how strong its corruption is when it takes hold

The scene where the Hobbits return to the Shire at the end of Return of the King hits really hard because I think it parallels the experience a lot of war veterans feel when they come home and have to reacclimate to living their lives again. I've heard it said that the equivalent scene/chapters in the book (while different from how it happens in the movie because of the Battle of Bywater subplot) was also partly inspired by Tolkien's own experience returning home after WW1 ended.

I love that Gandalf fights. Like with a sword. He's not like some frail nerd who hides behind the warriors and throws fireballs at the enemy. Nope, he's right in front, swingin' Foe-Hammer and tanking the fire demon. I get why dnd made wizards physically wimpy, there has to be balance, but this version is just cooler.

One of the best things about LotR is that it has a large cast, but gives every character something to do and a unique personality
You can see the improvement from the hobbit that had "bilbo, gandalf, thorin, fat dwarf and the rest"

35:08 I think one of the reasons this scene of them so changed and sombre at the end despite it being a happy ending has to do with the actors going through the mix of emotions at filming coming to a close soon and knowing the multi year chapter of their life is ending