The first and foremost reason why I enjoyed them is that I never thought anyone would even dare attempt to film LotR, and I always make a point of watching film versions of my favourite books - even if they don't turn out so well. I was very perturbed when I turned up at the cinema and spent the next three hours with my mouth hanging open and no doubt swallowing a lot of flies or something.
The level of detail impressed me. There were things that only a book fan would notice as I found out after the first film while squealing about the fact that Boromir's vambraces had the white tree of gondor etched into them - everyone else was bemused. This level of detail extended to the artwork and graphics, even that used on merchandising packaging. I loved the fact that they actually made all the tapestries which hung in Meduseld, depite the fact that I still can't see them properly!
The acting was splendid in most cases. I single out special mention for Chris Lee, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Ian Holm and Bernard Hill, all of whom I liked already and brought those characters to life as I saw them. And I have to say that Andy Serkis did the voice of Gollum perfectly. Apparently this is based on the sound of a cat coughing up a furball and try as I might, I still can't copy it. I'll have to start chewing my own hair I suppose.
I liked most of the sets too - I was delighted to see Bag End, my dream home, finally brought to life, even the little gate and the desk - it was all perfect. The costumes too were rather lovely to look at - especially when you see Eowyn hanging around outside Meduseld looking wistful in her long white dress.
I think Mark 12_30 sums up what I think of the fims overall here:
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Really, I think we have a magnificent set of movies, and I'm grateful for them. They are some of the best fanfiction ever generated
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They are indeed like fan fiction. PJ's vision of the books translated into film. I would have liked a TV series, but I accept it was unlikely to happen (even though they tried Gormenghast on the BBC), and with some of the creatures, places and concepts in LotR needing big money throwing at them to make them look decent, then a big budget film was the only relaistic way to go.
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Incidentally, in this regard, I learned with sadness that Tom Stoppard is no longer working on the script for the film version of His Dark Materials - a great shame
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They'll probably get someone from Eastenders in now.
The next film I am truly dreading them making a mess of.