it's hard to say. they were both good movies. i like the first one 'cause the viewer gets introduced to the races and culture of middle earth. in the 2nd one, the serious and dark events of war coming.
when i saw the first one, i had never read the books, i was really lost. 2nd one, my friends and i got really sugar high in mid of it. after the first movie i read all the books.
making a movie version of "the hobbit" sounds interesting. ^.~