Sitting on the ground of their living room, a person pulls out both both copies of the Tolkien lineages, and longevity contemplates which one to pop into that night. Lord of the Rings fans globally admit to having watched both trilogies — both new and old, classic and new. But on a sleepover night with not enough time, or to be honest, strength to marathon either one or the other, the debate over which series to pick carries on. This excellent article makes a point that while The Hobbit is great, it’s hard to live up to the past of LOTR, and LOTR doesn’t have the same special effects or technology.

The original series does have its merits — classic storyline, well known and revered and truly famous. While Orlando Bloom is pretty and the source of many crushes on preteen girls along with Aragorn, sometimes one can wonder whether he is really pretty enough to balance out his early-in-acting-career acting and Elvish that could stand to have been practiced more. Most would agree that he is.In the second movie, when there’s the long war scenes, it can be hard for one to have the will to not fast forward. Overall, the first trilogy is a masterpiece, and by this point we can all quote along and point out when our favorite scenes are coming. We all know and love all of the characters, coming back to this trilogy even with its lesser effects and some stilted acting is just part of the love.

The same can be felt for Harry Potter — actually, it’s all reminiscent of childhood and magic. There’s nothing better than meeting everyone for seemingly the first time, or seeing the brotherhood form, is there? LOTR is more character-focused and not everything is green screen — the places and background all feel more realistic and like they could actually exist.

“[The visual effects] were subtle in the first [LOTR] movie, gradually got lost in the second and third. Now with The Hobbit…[the CGI content] it’s like to the power of 10,” actor Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragon in LOTR said of the trilogy. 

The added extra effects almost led actor Ian McKellen to quit The Hobbit, as it was much different than working with real-life actors when he worked on LOTR.

“It was so distressing and off-putting and difficult [acting with green screens instead of people on the Hobbit] that I thought ‘I don’t want to make this film if this is what I’m going to have to do,” he said in an interview.

LOTR is “people acting with people,” and less of the fakeness that can throw a person out of immersion in story. They filmed on set in New Zealand, and now many people visit there just to see the place where they filmed. With the Hobbit franchise, there is no tangible place to tie everything down to, and sometimes this can be hard to stop thinking about while watching.

In regards to the new Tolkien trilogy, let me start with this — Martin Freeman. He’s great and immediately like-able with a strong personality, unlike Frodo for me unfortunately, who always just felt a little underdeveloped.

We see Gandalf and Legolas returning again, same actors and all, and the soundtrack is back at it again with top notch composter — here is my shout out to Misty Mountains. The movies are less plot-driven and a follow a less universally known storyline. However, they can drag out as long as that one war in the second book in the LOTR trilogy, The Two Towers. Obviously, with handsome Orlando Bloom and his father, played by Lee Pace, there is no lack of eye candy, not to mention Thorin and Fili and Kili.

With The Hobbit trilogy though, we do miss that childhood and classic feel, and sometimes it feels a little too heavily relying on special effects and romance. Tauriel, who was not in the books this way, is just added for romance, and when I want to see brotherhood and slaughter, I can’t say I care at all about a dwarf elf relationship — this can all be put off until after the impending doom and war. I love having a female on cast, but when she appears to only have been put in for romance purposes, even though she can kick butt, it still bothers me.

McKellen described LOTR as ” perhaps the most faithful screenplay ever adapted from a long novel.” This begs the question of accuracy and if its accuracy and dedication to the book series impacts our experience.  Does the novelty of the old outweigh the shininess of the new, does the quotable value overlay cheekbones and Kili getting together, or does the new technology make it incredibly better and make the elder obsolete? Some argue LOTR was sloppily done, whereas The Hobbit has had more clear thinking out and better execution. Only you and your friends can decide. But hey, if you can’t figure it out there’s always Saving Private Ryan.