The films do two things absolutely amazingly: cinematography and music. For that alone they are an absolute triumph.
In terms of telling the LOTR story, there are some choices to deviate from the source material that are perfectly understandable in light of the change of medium. There are also some choices to keep with the original source material that I didn't think translated well to the screen - e.g. the Dead Men of Dunharrow basically CGI-ing up the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Then there are some choices to deviate from the source material for no apparent reason, or more often because presumably some producer or suit said "no, do it this way, audiences will think this is cool and awesome", like shoehorning as much Liv Tyler in as possible (with some absolutely painfully cheesy results) or all the changes to Helm's Deep. Those are the things that are "nails on a chalkboard" to even the most patient and understanding book nerd, but that some of us will put up with in light of what's good about those movies.
EDIT: Hah, just looked above and I apparently said much the same thing 9 years ago. Good necro bump.
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