The Lord of the Rings movie series in superior to the Star Wars movie series.

The merchandise sales point is irrelevant to which movie series was better. This is a debate over which movies were better, not which had cooler toys or sold more t-shirts. Star Wars is more popular now because of the Force Awakens, but 15 years ago, when Star Wars prequels were being made at the same time as LOTR films, people were much more excited about LOTR. SW also has a larger fan base because the movies have been out longer, so more people have seen them. That doesn't in any way make them better movies. We need to drop these arguments about the popularity of the movies or how good they have been marketed into merchandise opportunities - this is a debate about which movies are better, so those things are completely irrelevant. Have you even seen LOTR? Because based on your comments about the latter two films being only action, I have to assume you've only watched the trailers. There are a few battles in each of those movies, but they take up less than an hour of screen time in each film lasting three hours or more. LOTR was much more dialogue-driven than SW, it's not even a close comparison. How can you claim that Gandalf is the only memorable character in LOTR? Frodo, Sam, Golum, Saruman, Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, and Sauron are all extremely memorable characters. Memorable characters don't make for deeper lore - do you know what lore is? The characters in SW are memorable because of their unique traits - a huge man in a black suit with a mask and breathing sounds, and a little green alien man that reverses sentence structure. Lore is the preceding story, the foundation for the plot that's built in the film. LOTR had so much more mythology, history, and consideration of different groups and individuals involved. Star Wars was much more simplistic - the good guys (rebels) against the bad guys (empire). There's never any temptation to switch sides or question alliances. In LOTR, there are constant betrayals, and characters often stray from what they believed. Your point on which story is more creative is also opinion - to that end, I disagree, it's basically a futuristic version of Nazi Germany taking over the galaxy. Mark Hamill's Joker isn't exactly well known outside of hard core Batman fans, making Harrison Ford the only breakout star from SW. LOTR had way more talent that went on to gain fame for other work. Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean? Or X-Men? The Incredible Hulk? The Road? The Matrix? Benjamin Button? Lost? Star Trek? They all star members of the LOTR cast. What movies have SW alums gone on to make, other than Harrison Ford? LOTR had much more famous actors, and made more careers than the SW movies. Again, popularity is not a measure of a good movie. More people might be (we actually don't know for a fact if this is true) wearing SW costumes to Comic-Con than LOTR, but if they are it's because of excitement for Episode VII. SW was a sci-fi action series with some mystical fantasy elements tied in, not a fantasy in the sense that LOTR is. SW was inspired by sci-fi stories like Star Trek, while LOTR was based on Tolkien's books. Look at the fantasy genre today - the biggest franchise is Game of Thrones, directly inspired (according to author George R. R. Martin) by LOTR. As for who is writing more comments about the movies, again this is about popularity not film quality. This point is irrelevant. There is NO impact in proving that SW had a larger fan base. This is a debate over which movies are. Your arguments aren't based in fact at all, I've given numbers that show critics giving far better reviews to LOTR than SW, more awards won, higher audience approval, etc. You respond by saying "ask people to name their favorite trilogies but all across the world, people celebrate Star Wars." This has NOTHING to do with how good the movies are. LOTR is FAR from an afterthought, it's one of the most famous film franchises of all time along WITH SW. But even if it were not, that does not make it an inferior series. You give SW credit for doing things that had never been seen before on film, but the same can be said for LOTR. We have to look strictly at a side-by-side comparison of which movies are better, and you're saying SW needs a handicap (like a bad golfer) to be examined fairly. This alone is telling, and should clear up which series is better. Yes, Peter Jackson had better technology to work with than George Lucas, but Jackson is also a significantly more talented director with a more developed style and consideration for building a robust cinematic world. George Lucas had the advantage of being able to write whatever he wanted for the movies, while Jackson was interpreting 50 year old novels and couldn't break the rules of that universe. LOTR still managed to tell a more well-rounded story than SW, despite not being able to write in new elements for convenience. Think about SW: why would Luke be sent to live with relatives if he's in hiding from the empire? That's the first place they would look. Why didn't Obi-Wan keep his name Kenobi? Why does the empire keep building Death Stars with structural weaknesses that they're leaving wide open? All of these plot holes exist for convenience in story telling that Lucas used for convenience, but they actually weaken the story being told. Star Wars was a movie phenomenon. They changed the way people watch movies, the way movies are made, and they were very good. For movies made in the late 70s and early 80s, they hold up nicely against some of the garbage that still comes out today. The Lord of the Rings just isn't among the films that Star Wars can best. The concepts are more engaging in LOTR, with complex central ideas and controversies. Star Wars movies are what you put on when you want to make some popcorn and go for a thrill ride that will give you goosebumps with some very good moments of heroism and triumph of good over evil. LOTR movies are what you put on when you want to sit back and go on an adventure, where you're fully immersed in a different world. SW is good, and a lot of fun to watch, but LOTR is one of the best film series of all time.