Which Of These Movies Should I Watch First

Which movie should I watch first, The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings?

The Hobbit is a trilogy, not a single movie and this is also the case with the LotR. The latter was made first but the former takes places earlier chronologically. However, watching the Hobbit trilogy is not “required” to enjoy or understand the LotR trilogy.Hence, the short answer is it doesn't matter.However, the Hobbit trilogy is worse than the LotR trilogy for several reasons.When making the Hobbit trilogy Peter Jackson (the film maker who made both) significantly modified and expanded on the original story written in the children's book, “The Hobbit”. Unfortunately his changes didn't improve the narrative and weren't particularly praiseworthy. He also dragged out the story (told in a single children's novel) into a trilogy of films by incorporating a lot of extra action scenes and battles.In contrast, the LotR film trilogy is based on a trilogy of adult books with a rich story, large cast of characters and fully realised fantasy setting. When adapting these books, Peter Jackson had to selectively choose from all this detailed content, to decide what to include in his films, which allowed him to remain more faithful to the original novels. Basically, he had to decide what to omit/include rather than trying to make stuff up to “fill out” the films, as he did with the Hobbit trilogy.Additionally, Jackson had significantly more time to write the screenplay for the LotR films before filming them. In contrast, he had to write the script for the last Hobbit film as they were filming it. They even had to stop filming at one point to allow him to finish writing because the story was incomplete! Jackson has admitted that this film in particular was rushed and, as a consequence, narratively weak.Hence, the LotR films benefitted from having better source material to draw on, a richer story to adapt into a trilogy of films and more time available to write the screenplay.For the above reasons I'd recommend watching the LotR trilogy FIRST (because it's better).In some ways the situation is similar to the Star Wars films with Episodes 4, 5 and 6 being made first but taking place chronologically after Episodes 1, 2 and 3, which is why some people recommend watching them in chronological order. However, the original trilogy is better than the prequels which followed it and familiarity with this later prequel trilogy is not “required” to enjoy or understand the earlier films, so it's arguably better to watch them in the order they were released.

Should I watch the Harry Potter movie first or read the book?

A thoughtful question, I would say. I am assuming you are not an avid reader (correct me if I am wrong). I have not seen a single Game Of Thrones season, because I am determined to complete all the books first (I am going pretty slow on that right now), but this is my personal approach, it encourages me to read books. So, Better late than never.I will tell you some easy steps which I personally feel will make your Harry Potter experience wonderful. First of all, we need to create interest. If you have been following HP news or know about the plot, well and good. But if you know nothing about it, and so you are doubtful about reading, watch the first movie Philosopher's stone, see if it builds up your interest in further parts.Now, that it has captured your interest (small or big). You can watch the second part also. Why am telling you to watch the first two parts, is that they form a base describing important characters. Now, start reading the books. After finishing Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, you start with the third book Prisoner of Azkaban (my personal favorite). Because from this book,the series gets darker, there are more twists and more interesting character (also my personal favorite ;) ). So, from here concentrate on books, and consider movies as a speculation or critics stuff or fun (meh, what was that scene about, book part was much better!) I bet, you will find all the four parts (books) simply marvelous. Believe me, if you watch the movie first of these parts you will miss attachment to the characters and story while reading (I cried finishing the sixth part Half blood prince, I was jumping, crying and laughing in the seventh part Deathly Hallows) In fact, I read the last part again after finishing because first time I read it in half day just to know the end, but because this part has so many storylines simultaneously,  it was required to be read once again slowly.But in the end, its your choice how you want to approach. :)Hope you will enjoy HP .Happy reading!