Jackson admits that he never felt ' on top' of The Hobbit's production, and it comes as no surprise that a less cohesive creative process resulted in a less cohesive trilogy. The director claims that after taking over from del Toro, he was thrust right into filming, with zero time or space for pre-production, leaving him to arrange shots and rewrite scenes on the fly. The situation was very different on The Hobbit, with Jackson himself bemoaning the lack of time he was given to produce the now-hated (by some) Hobbit movies. Related: Lord Of The Rings: All FIVE Of Gandalf's Staffs (& When They Appear) Although not always smooth, production on The Lord of the Rings went about as well as could've been expected for a project of that magnitude, and later The Hobbit director Jackson was present every step of the way to maintain his vision. Although filmmakers are rarely gifted as much time of they'd like, The Lord of the Rings began pre-production in 1997, kicked off filming in 1999 and finished initial shooting 14 months later, with each film afforded a year of post-production.

While dreaming up his Tolkien adaptation, Peter Jackson had plenty of time to map out his first Lord of the Rings trilogy, followed by a lengthy shooting period where much of the material was shot back-to-back. By contrast, The Hobbit is a single story told across three movies, and watching just one doesn't bring the same satisfaction the audience would feel after any The Lord of the Rings effort. The Lord of the Rings is a sterling example of a film trilogy done right each installment escalates on the next, but simultaneously works well as separate stories, with clear beginnings, middles, and ends. The Hobbit also falls down when considering each film as an individual piece.

Although Jackson insists otherwise, it's hard to imagine the decision to produce 3 films wasn't at least somewhat financially motivated. Tolkien worked narrative gaps into The Lord of the Rings, and the initial film trilogy broadly follows the author's cues, but shoehorning arcs to fit the point each installment of The Hobbit trilogy ended felt forced by comparison.

With so much time to fill, it was clear where sequences were being eked out or padding was being added, drastically sapping the pace and excitement of each movie. As one might expect, this made each installment of The Hobbit feel bloated and meandering compared to The Lord of the Rings.

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