8. Great Characters
The Lord of the Rings has arguably the deepest set of great characters of any movie series since Star Wars. Aragorn, Gollum, and Gandalf rank highly among the greatest screen characters of all time while Gimli, Sam, Boromir, Galadriel, Saruman, Legolas and really all of the other speaking roles are memorable in their own right. Even the minor characters like Lurtz, the Witch-King, and (in the extended edition) the Mouth of Sauron all make their mark in limited screen time. Even more impressively, all of the characters mix together just right. Many of the characters like the Hobbits are directly relatable, they aren't heroes or incredibly skilled warriors but they still find a way to get the job done. Even the larger than life characters like Gandalf and Galadriel still manage to be almost "human" despite being magical, immortal beings. No member of the fellowship is neglected throughout the series: the hobbits go from nobody's to heroes, Aragorn goes from a lost wanderer to king, Legolas and Gimli go from bitter rivals to inseparable friends, Boromir's arc is more tragic but he still manages to redeem himself in the end, and Gandalf manages to grow as well as the series goes on. The dedication to characters is essential to any kind of multi-film series as the audience has to be stuck with them for more than one movie, here though I don't think anyone would have objected to spending more time with these remarkable creations.