encaitar said:
Yes, the battle of the Pelennor Fields is what occured in the End of LOTR, which sucked(mostly because it didn't follow the books, but the ghosts were a cop out). The Battle of the 5 armies occurs at the end of the Hobbit which, since there are two films, we won't see until 2011. It has a lot of potential though. There is a lot more fighting throughout the Hobbit than the LOTR trilogy which may make it not as "boring" at times.
The ghost army ruined it for me.
Yeah, that really pissed me off when I watched the movie. In the book, the ghost army only helped clear the southern lands so that more human help could come to Pelennor. Would've been more appropriate to keep it this way in the book.
This, and the omission of the "Scouring of the Shire" really ruined the third movie for me.
This was the worst omission from the movies IMO. It tied the whole story together.

"Scouring" is probably my favorite part in LOTR.
What happens there?
Being the Star Wars guru you are, I'm surprised you never read this....Let me find a quick summary.
wiki
In Book VI, Sam rescued Frodo from captivity. The pair then made their way through the rugged lands of Mordor and, after much struggle, finally reached Mount Doom itself (tailed closely by Gollum). However, the temptation of the Ring proved too great for Frodo, and he claimed it for himself in the end. While the Ringwraiths flew at top speed toward Mount Doom, Gollum struggled with Frodo for his "Precious" and managed to bite the Ring off Frodo's finger. Crazed with triumph, Gollum slipped into the Cracks of Doom, and the Ring was destroyed. With the end of the Ring, Sauron's armies lost heart, the Ringwraiths disintegrated, and Aragorn's army was victorious.
Thus, Sauron was banished from the world and his realm ended. Aragorn was crowned king of Gondor and married Arwen, the daughter of Elrond.
All conflict was not over, however, for Saruman had managed to escape his captivity and enslave the Shire. Although he was soon overthrown by the Hobbits, and the four heroes helped to restore order and beautify the land again, it was not the same Shire that they had left. At the end, Frodo remained wounded in body and spirit and, accompanied by Bilbo, sailed west over the Sea to the Undying Lands, where he could find peace.
Saruman doesn't die at Orthanc.