this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
81 points (68.0% liked)

Unpopular Opinion

7711 readers
53 users here now

Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!


How voting works:

Vote the opposite of the norm.


If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.



Guidelines:

Tag your post, if possible (not required)


  • If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
  • If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].


Rules:

1. NO POLITICS


Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.


2. Be civil.


Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...


Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.


5. No trolling.


This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.


6. Defend your opinion


This is a bit of a mix of rules 4 and 5 to help foster higher quality posts. You are expected to defend your unpopular opinion in the post body. We don't expect a whole manifesto (please, no manifestos), but you should at least provide some details as to why you hold the position you do.



Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Before you get mad at me, when was the last time you watched it?

  • Dialogue is mediocre
  • story left me indifferent
  • characters are one dimensional
  • there are no surprises
  • the world is cool tho
  • and my god are they crying a lot while carrying that MF to that Volcano πŸŒ‹

The best thing I can say about this movie trilogy is that it is kinda comfy

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old

I love LotR, but I can't watch it anymore. I know every plot point that happens in the films, so watching them becomes boring for me.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

I watch the extended versions regularly, at least once a year. I disagree with everything you said. They are masterpieces. But, this is Unpopular Opinion, so bravo.

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

For me it's the pacing. The movies are like 11 hours long, and 8 of those hours is just reaction shots of Sam and Frodo gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

Seriously, you could shave a few seconds off of every shot and lose nothing. It's just how Peter Jackson directs. His King Kong was the same way. You're supposed to use long reaction shots to let important moments sink in, but he does it after every line.

The music was great. I'll give it that.

[–] SereneSadie@lemmy.myserv.one 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Tolkien stans burn me out so much. I'm fed up with them only slightly more than the faux dominion over fantasy that everyone else gives to Tolkien himself.

[–] rocky1138@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] Lorindol@sopuli.xyz 86 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The "Lord of the Rings" is not a character driven book and the same goes wirh the film adaptations. It is plot driven with heavy focus on world building, which can either make it an amazing or a boring experience. Depending on your preferences.

Based on the list of your favourite films (excellent, BTW, some of my own favourites are there) you seem to prefer character driven ones. So I can easily understand why you find the LOTR films boring.

[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

Makes a lot of sense. And thanks btw. I love Tarantino's dialogues.

[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I love that the top comment isn’t everyone piling hate upon the poster but rather an analysis of why they most likely don’t like the series.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] guillem@aussie.zone 38 points 1 week ago (5 children)

You should be grateful, what I remember from the books is something like "and they rode and rode and rode and rode and rode again and kept riding and rode and rode".

And pages upon pages describing mountains. The Hobbit was an amazing book though.

[–] supamanc@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

And then sang some songs about trees. For four pages. Again

[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I can't wait to turn the next page.

Edit: Were they riding though?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 1 week ago (2 children)

LotR trilogy is an adaptation of an already classic tale, specifically stylized after legends and folk stories. It's seeming naivity and lack of newer approaches is intentional and suggested by it's source material. It is a compelling journey into the Middle-Earth, where said tone is complimented by thosands of competent people in it's production, together creating an extraordinary piece that can hardly be reproduced anytime soon or matched in it's own league of fantasy-aligned stuff.

Favorite movies are: Memento, Reservoir Dogs, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Shining

While LotR wasn't shy of looking older (to buy some ale, eh?), every one of your favorite movie is characterised by explicit use of newest post-modern tropes or approaches.

RD is Tarantino's first mixtape of what he liked in movies with some layers of abstraction and purely staged interactions, The Shining is a theme park of moments where Stanley can go full Kubrik, Memento is an intentional Nolan's sabotage of a plot structure to create a new experience, and EEAaO is an impressive patchwork of gags, drama and trope reversals fit so tightly in it I thought I'm scrolling bits on tiktok. All ace at something they are meant to.

It's not to say that one is easily better than the other, but they are hardly comparable because they don't strive to do the same thing, and if you are into movies that play with your expectations and try hard to keep your engaged and puzzled, you'd obviously have a hard time with movies that paint their own picture for you to observe and vibe with.

That's, like, your taste, lemming.

[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wow, are you a professional writer? (I'm not being sarcastic here, because that can be hard to tell sometimes). That was really well written and I don't really have anything of value to add to that.

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

Not even a native speaker, but a random someone who got interested in the thread you started (:

P.S.: Thanks for a comfy pepe gif, I'm taking it.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] overload@sopuli.xyz 30 points 1 week ago (5 children)

As someone who had a LOTR wedding theme, take your upvote and get the fuck out of here.

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I think the problem is you're not watching the extended versions... All in one showing... Without bathroom breaks... Like a normal person...

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 1 week ago

I find it believable that this is truly an unpopular opinion.

That said, I watch the movies at least once every year with family and/or friends and a truckload of snacks and beer.

[–] Blackout@fedia.io 23 points 1 week ago (22 children)

I mean it's no Crank starring Jason Statham but don't worry. I'm sure they will release another Fast n the Furious sequel for you soon.

load more comments (22 replies)
[–] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

The only people I've ever met who share this opinion are people who've spent their entire life viewing things that are fast-paced action movies or movies where characters are defined entirely by a handful of quippy one-liners and a melodramatic flash back and then have all of their character development confined to a singular moment of epiphany. Movies where they would be alphabet level predictable if they didn't move onto the next hackneyed trope at whiplash inducing paces.

If you spend your entire life watching the cinematic equivalent of cocaine of course sobriety is going to be boring.

[–] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Rewatches movies

Complains there's no surprises

[–] aesopjah@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

Haha, right! Gandalf straight up falls into a pit with a demon-being and then comes back. If someone predicted that then that would be incredible.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] mienshao@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

I’m all for valid criticisms, but mediocre dialogue and one-dimensional characters? And your fave movies are Momento and Reservoir Dogs? The math ain’t mathing.

Like what you like, but I call bullshit. Logging this under β€œI said some controversial shit to stir up online discourse.” Enjoy my downvote, sir.

[–] remon@ani.social 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Well ... take you're upvote. Now go burn in hell.

(Watched all extended editions last year).

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

My family watches it every year

-the dialog is pretty iconic

-story is simple, it's fine though

-the characters are pretty simple, but they are still interesting in their own way imo

-the ending to return of the king does undeniably drag

Honestly I think it's a pretty polarizing film series. It takes some huge gambles in including a lot of pretty deep lore and details that most people probably don't care about. Most people i know who've seen it say they either love it or found it boring. I've never met someone who said the series is "pretty good".

I will say, the lack of reliance on plot twists makes it more rewatchable. That and the absolutely beautiful sets and costumes. In today's age of CGI and now AI, we will never see the like of it again. EDIT: How could I forget the soundtrack?

[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Agreed.

The books are even worse, every other page is a fucking song or extended poem.

Most over rated shit I never finished.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yeah they were way too emotional in the movie. I much prefer the seriousness of the book where they acted like mature adults. And Gandalf was more badass in the books, and Gimli wasn't just comic relief in the books. But the visuals were amazing in the movie. 10/10 for visuals.

[–] ahornsirup@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The soundtrack is also amazing. But yeah, the movies did the characters dirty. And it's not like the character building is particularly compelling in the books to begin with, it's very much a "the good guys are good and triumph over the bad guys who are evil because they're evil" kind of story.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Never felt compelled to see the movies, but the books were some of the most pompous, boring things I ever read. Multiple pages of battle songs, crap like that? I read the entire trilogy and The Hobbit, waiting to get to the "good part", for it to click in. But it never did.

[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

It seems some people here think it is impossible to dislike the movies and I am just talking shit on purpose, so thank you for being a breath of fresh air. Here have some dino nuggies:

[–] Hope@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Last month. I'd tried watching them many times before and always fell asleep, but this time I was engaged the whole time.

[–] kubok@fedia.io 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

OP, did you read the books? By today's standards, they may be a tad boring, but these were the books that created the clichhΓ©s in the first place. The movies were pretty decent for their time (although RotK was waaaayyyyy too long), but I did not feel that the books were done much justice. And there was too much 'humorous' dialougue shoehorned in. The Legolas-Gimli-Bromance was hard to watch, even then. That in and of itself makes the movies overrated.

Also, as for 'there are no surprises', the story of the movies differed from the books. LotR fans were unpleasantly surprised by that.

Off-topic: the Hobbit movies were abonimations. I fucking hate them.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 7 points 1 week ago

I thought the films were long and sometimes boring, but the books are something else. I gave up near the end, the part with the big spider.

[–] cloudless@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I share the same unpopular opinion.

I enjoyed the animated LotR movie, but not the "live action" ones.

They are too slow, too much fighting (especially in the last one).

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

There are no surprises

The characters don't even learn anything from the last time I watched them!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next β€Ί