The Culmination of My Childhood

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2014)

I'm 18 years old now and Tolkien's Middle-Earth has been a part of my life for a long time. I was 7 when I first heard about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I decided to watch all three movies then and there and adored them. I was too young to watch Return of the King at the cinema, so I bought the DVD as soon as it came out in 2004. The third is by far my favorite, but they are all particularly impressive in their own ways.
From here, I decided to read the novels. It took a while for me to finish the novel trilogy, but when I did I was particularly pleased. There are some differences between novel and movie, mainly when one book finished and another began, but the essence of the story was prominent in both, and the movies didn't hinder the novels in any way - they only enlarged them.
In 2011, when I heard that the Hobbit was being released as a film adaption, I found myself a copy of the book. To be honest, I wish I'd read it sooner. Somehow it was far better than the three other novels combined and there was enough material to make a decent three-film adaption, I believed.
Honestly, the Hobbit films were definitely not going to be to the standard of the Lord of the Rings, but by no means were they terrible, or half-hearted. They carried the same spirit as the original trilogy and even made nods to the previous films, which were quite poignant in their own ways. The quality did nothing to hinder my enjoyment though, and to be back in Middle- Earth was a sensational experience all the same.
Now in December 2014, after seeing the final film, I feel quite drained. The film took me back to my childhood, back when I was 7 years old, back to the times when I read Tolkien's incredible novels, and yet it also has Jackson's touch - the action scenes are amazing to behold. It was an incredibly emotional end too, with Jackson honoring the book with the deaths of Thorin, Kili and Fili. No matter what anybody says, this film made me long to be seven again and be watching the Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. And the end to the Hobbit series really sums up the title of Bilbo's book - There and Back Again. We were there at the beginning with Bilbo and Frodo and no we've come back again.
Of the things that I enjoyed (there's too many to note everything): Smaug's desolation; Galadriel's confrontation with Sauron; Thorin's sickness; Bilbo taking the Arkenstone; Thorin Vs. Azog; Legolas' farewell; the ending.
There were three things that I did dislike about the film, however, and the reason I didn't give it 10: The character of Alfred was very distracting; the battle scenes sometimes faltered, and weren't as engaging as the Battle of Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith; the eagles are coming are a deus ex machina.
Overall, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was a huge success and is my third favorite of the saga. Comparing these trilogies with other movies, my ratings for each movie are: the Return of the King: 9.8/10; The Two Towers: 9.4/10; The Battle of the Five Armies: 9.1/10; The Fellowship of the Ring: 8.8/10; The Desolation of Smaug; 8.6/10; An Unexpected Journey: 8.0/10.
If I was to pit them against each other though, the list would be like this:
The Return of the King: 10/10; The Two Towers: 9/10; The Battle of the Five Armies: 8/10; The Fellowship of the Ring: 7.5/10; The Desolation of Smaug: 7/10; An Unexpected Journey: 6/10.
The books have come a long way since they were first published. There's probably more being purchased now than there ever was. As a massive part of my childhood (11 years actually), I owe a big thanks to Peter Jackson for giving us a superb experience at the movies, but I owe a bigger thanks to J R. R. Tolkien for putting quill to paper first, and creating such a wonderful world of men and elves, of dwarfs and goblins, of orcs and witches and wizards, and most importantly, of hobbits.
Thanks very much!