Game of Thrones vs. Lord of the Rings: Aesthetically, which series do you like more?

Aesthetically, which franchise is more enjoyable to you?

  • Lord of the Rings: Middle-earth

  • Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire


Results are only viewable after voting.
They are on entirely different planes in terms of resources and in terms of the direction their primary creators funneled them towards; the biggest similarity they have is in their source material being extraordinarily descriptive and fantastic.

Jackson's movies really embraced aesthetic diversity, almost dogmatically so. Not only do the elves have a unique sleek and graceful design basis, but we even have individualized eleven cultures across multiple time periods (Rivendell vs Mirkwood elves, age of the Last Alliance vs Third Age, etc.). The dwarves have their angular aesthetic, the Hobbits have their vaguely 1800's look, and the humans come off as such totally divergent cultures that wouldn't surprise you if they started talking in different languages. There's even easy to spot differences in the orcs!

Game of Thrones has gorgeous designs, but it is restricted by budget, and occasionally restrained on purpose by D & D. The Seven Kingdoms feel diverse, but not to the same degree as the Middle Earth films, and sometimes in ways that clearly shows the difference in resources. Frey costuming comes off as cheap, and most mooks have matching designs even when the mass produced methods required wouldn't make sense with their culture: a resource poor culture like the Iron-Born would have far more variance than their chest armor suggests.

And you've got stuff like the restraint used in translating designs for guys like Euron.

Jackson had the resources and desire to branch out even further in aesthetics, while D & D try and maximize a limited budget and try to embrace grit and cultural devolution as Winter falls on Westeros.
 
They're not comparable, at least not to my mind. Peter Jackson's LotR movies are three of the most visually gorgeous films ever produced. I know some Tolkien fans aren't entirely satisfied with the content of the films due to their omission of some characters and plot lines and the changes made to others, but one thing I've never seen anyone complain about are the absolutely incredible costumes, props, weapons, armor and sets, not to mention that New Zealand scenery. All the different lands and cities of Middle-earth are each so unique, visually stunning and rich - The Shire, Rivendell, Lothlórien, Gondor, Rohan, even Mordor itself. I've never seen such complete and flawless world building in any other movie or TV show to date.

And yes, John Lee and Alan Howe's concept art is utterly amazing. I have a whole book of it and I can spend hours pouring over every detail of every drawing. It's why the end credits of both the LotR and The Hobbit trilogies are my favourite end credits of all time:

[YT]Z-WKfBtDQ4Y[/YT]

Absolutely! :yay:
 
Fellowship of the Ring is an awesome movie but Red Wedding is one of the most emotional tv/movie moments I've ever witnessed.
 
Lord of the Rings has the Balrog. On that alone it wins.
 
I prefer Game of Thrones because it just seems bigger and darker, but I love LOTR.
 
Couldn't decide whether to put this in the misc films or misc TV series or Thrones forum. So instead I settled for the best.

This thread is not about discussing which franchise is better. I don't know how many hardcore fans there are of each on GAF and that could go on forever.

My question is just this: which series is prettier to watch, aesthetically when watching any one part of the series, which one visually impresses you more?

My vote goes to Lord of the Rings.

What do you think?

As far as which is prettier to watch, I'm going with Game of Thrones. Both have great action scenes and beautifully crafted sets. But the women in GoT tips the balance for me. :gngl:
 
Fellowship of the Ring is an awesome movie but Red Wedding is one of the most emotional tv/movie moments I've ever witnessed.

The Red Wedding and Storm of Swords(the book) is when I said to Hell with GoT. Never going to watch it on TV. LOTR by a mile in every respect.
 
I've been to Hobbiton where the set of The Shire is, and I grew up in New Zealand -but my vote still goes to Game of Thrones. I prefer the more grounded medieval/dark ages air of GoT to the more fantastical style of LOTR.

Of course each have elements of both. LOTR shows us plenty of down-and-dirty locales and GoT isn't without it's shining towers. They both tend to weigh heavier on the aspects that suit the tone of each respective world, but I'm more a fan of the down-to-Earth parts than the magic and wonder.

I'm a little confused by some of the answers I'm reading.

quite surprised by the poll. i really thought this discussion would be way more even.

Some posters/voters seem to have skimmed over the word "Aesthetically" and are answering based purely on which series they like more.
 
Some posters/voters seem to have skimmed over the word "Aesthetically" and are answering based purely on which series they like more.
meh. it's in the thread title and in the poll question, so it's not my fault if people aren't reading thoroughly
 
GOT does better with the action, its clearer and with spectacle relative to the budget, but I think LOTR wins in every other category. Both are great though.
 
isn't the budget for thrones like $10 mill per episode
And Fellowship cost 93 million, so one season of GoT cost a little more to make. This isn't accounting for inflation though. In any case, the LotR trilogy was on the smaller scale of blockbuster budgets.
 
And Fellowship cost 93 million, so one season of GoT cost a little more to make. This isn't accounting for inflation though. In any case, the LotR trilogy was on the smaller scale of blockbuster budgets.

As I recall, they shot all 3 at one time. Economy of scale, but it must have been brutal for the cast and crew.

Still, it would be almost impossible for GoT to compete visually. I can't wait for the next season. Loved the ending....
 
Lord of the Rings help defined the high fantasy genre, both the book(s) and movies, so it's hard to compare. GoT does a good job of creating a dangerous, visceral world.

The problem though, is that these are pretty much the only two high fantasies worlds we can compare and analyze, unless you want to include Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts. Maybe Legend or Willow though they're B-tier?

Sci-Fi has it easy in Hollywood, while Fantasy has always struggled with quality work.
 
Game of Thrones is the aesthetically better franchise, watchu gon do bout it oP?

The visuals get really nice around season two onward: Dragonstone with its stone dragons, the look of the dragons, the Riverlands where Arya meets the Brotherhood Without Banners, the Children and their lair in season six in particular.
 
Game of Thrones x100

MUCH better characters and often suprises in ways you never saw coming at all.

Not much of a LoTR movies fan. Ive never read any of the books.
 
I think "aesthetically" should be in caps because people don't seem to get what this thread about.

Oh, and Lord of the Rings for me.
 
Neither. The Starry Heart/Dawn's Beauty and The Northern Realms are better than both those settings.

But there will never be big budget films about Kirkbride's or Sapkowski's works so...

As far as aesthetics go... probably ASOIAF
 
Game of Thrones is the aesthetically better franchise, watchu gon do bout it oP?
watchu singling me out for? over 40 people voted lotr
I think "aesthetically" should be in caps because people don't seem to get what this thread about.
sad state for the hype then if that's what it takes posters to pay attention
 
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