Me too. Every holiday. I can remember having this on VHS when I was younger. We wore the hell out of that tape lol

Maybe that was different because it was a kinda like a 3 part movie rather than 3 separate films.

First: nope, has nothing to do with it being a trilogy. Desperado was part of a trilogy. Kill Bill was technically only the second half of one movie.

Now, LOTR is easy. Most people mention Two Towers when talking about better sequels. So, like I mentioned, I didn't want to necessarily go with the obvious/typical ones.

Also, I enjoyed all the Lord of the Rings almost equally. Though I will admit the first was the weaker of the three. But I think this is more out of necessity than it was that it was just worse. The first in a trilogy has to lay the groundwork for the movies that follow. Introducing characters, laying the foundation of the story, etc. This almost inevitably makes the first in a planned trilogy to be weaker than its successor.

That being said, another reason for not mentioning LOTR: I really can't decide which one of the sequels I liked more. I know everybody talks about Two Towers being the favorite, but I enjoyed Return of the King just as much.