I loved those movies, and Peter Jackson did a wonderful job operating within the constraints of the medium. But many important things were cut from the books t

I loved those movies, and Peter Jackson did a wonderful job operating within the constraints of the medium. But many important things were cut from the books to make time. Tom Bombadil comes to mind. The many sorties and battles in the Two Towers were truncated. And most importantly, as another commenter mentioned, the freeing of the Shire, which is integral to the entire premise of a hero's journey - that the hero must return to his homeland and share the hard won gifts with his community - was cut. There's plenty in the books to warrant a series. Game of Thrones does ~9 hours per book and still had to cut characters and plot points. <2 hours per novel is pretty much always a huge compromise.