I thought the films became too 4 quadrant for my taste but special effects, acting, cinematography (battle scenes could've been better at times but oh well), and production value put into it were all top notch.
I remember reading a story about the Tolkien museum not wanting movie stuff there and I do understand...
To be honest, I think it's a huge achievement to make the films satisfying for both fans and the GA. Real hardcore Tolkien fans may find a few faults...and I'm one of those, I vastly prefer the book ending of the Two Towers, which ends on a massive cliffhanger.
However, that minor gripe pales in comparison to the overall satisfaction of seeing the story told so well.
I think that films of this scale need to be a bit 4 quadrant, you couldn't make a niche film on a budget like that and expect a return on your investment.
As for sword and spear battle scenes, I challenge you to name pre-2003 films that are actually better. Don't get me wrong, Braveheart and Gladiator are still pretty impressive, but to me there's nothing that beats the emotion and fury of the Rohirrim charge (particularly Theoden's pre-charge speech) in the Battle of the Pelennor fields.
Anyway, agree to disagree - as battle scenes are a very subjective thing, and I suspect we won't see eye to eye on this one. Respect your opinion, Peace !
One thing that really impressed me is that they managed to work in a description of Valinor, where Frodo sails off to at the end of ROTK,
which I thought was one of Tolkien's most wonderful passages (of the entire series)
"And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Jackson managed to fit that in, in an abridged form, I was very impressed.
Actually, I'll say this, that from the very first scene the film got me - the battle on Mount Doom was as I'd imagined when I read the books (great to see Sauron's form at last) but when McKellen first appeared as Gandalf, it was as though the character had walked out of the book, he just embodied everything that I'd imagined the character to be.