I think that in terms of settings, costumes, and scores, PJ did an excellent job. The only thing that bothered me was how Caras Galadhon was not golden; it was more of a bluish-silver colour. But I'm not going to get started on that.
The one thing that bothered me was some of the characters. Yes, the "Let's hunt some orc" line didn't really float my oyster, but let's leave sleeping dogs lie. The one character I think PJ really buggered up was Arwen. In the book, the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen was beautifully simple, only explaining it more thoroughly in the Appendices. In the movies, PJ decided to stick Arwen in every scene he could. Let's not mention the infamous Helm's Deep fiasco. The constant appearance of Arwen in the movies made the relationship cheap and annoying.
The 'high' that mark12_30 was talking about did (I think) appear in some moments of the movies. The arrival of the Rohirrim was a good example, like Lalaith said. I think that the line of Gondorian soldiers galloping towards Osgiliath is another good scene that portrays the 'high'.
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I like buying snacks from a vending machine because food is better when it falls. Sometimes at the grocery, I'll drop a candy bar so that it will achieve its maximum flavor potential.
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