Yes, I think LOTR was perfection as well.
Also agree...I think The Hobbit would have worked a lot better as one movie. Maybe even two movies as originally planned if I recall, but three just stretched it out way too much IMO. However, I think Warner saw they would be leaving WAY too much money on the table otherwise.
I pre-ordered LOTR, but have not for The Hobbit. I'm not sure yet on that one.
I wouldn't call PJ's LotR perfection -- it definitely has its flaws -- but it's by far the best adaptation of these books and this genre in general so far.
I could also see The Hobbit being good as 2 (shorter, more lighthearted) movies if done right, but despite it being stretched to 3 overwrought films, it still actually misses on some key beloved aspects of the original source material in exchange for the overly indulgent mess they ended up with.
The whole divergence into the love triangle between Legolas, what's her name played by Evangeline Lilly (I can't even be bothered to remember) and Kili(?), is one such. NVM that Legolas (or the elves for the most part) wasn't even supposed to be in this story at all. And then having Legolas seem so whimpy after what they gave us in LotR, especially in the epic battle of Minas Tirith in RotK...
That kind of storyline should've been saved/used for some adaptation(s) of the various parts of The Silmarillion instead, but they shoehorned it into The Hobbit and sacrificed much of the intentions of the original story in the usual Hollywood manner and drive toward their bottomline...
_Man_