Dumbing it down

[Neithan]

I have to disagree! I don't think it follows the book any more closely than the LotR films follow the books.

Yes, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind given some of the comments about this movie. Glad to see someone agrees with me on that issue. However, I thought these movies were some of the worst I have ever seen! The acting was awful (meaning the younger actors for the most part). I like the HP books but I was so disgusted with the second movie that I stopped watching them and will not watch any of the others.

As far as the popularity of the LotR movies goes I don't think that it makes any difference to the argument at hand. The successfulness of a movie does not always reflect on its quality.
I know I have said in the past that I love the movies but when I was watching RotK recently I noticed something. The reason I like the movies is not because of any merit of their own but because of the books. I usually just skip to those scenes that stick closest to the books now and don't bother with the rest.

By logical and intelligent standards

Yes, very good! The quality of the films is not a completely subjective thing. They could have been objectively better than they were.