A couple of criticisms...

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2001)

Since there already seems to be a good million comments on subjects like how well the movie followed the book, if it's the best movie of all time... etc. I won't go into detail on that.
I thought that this was an excellent movie. I watched Harry Potter a couple of days before I saw this movie, and I certainly think that there is no comparison. I've read both books, and while the Harry Potter movie was simply inferior to the book, I think that the Lord of the Rings movie does a great job of complementing the book. It does a great job of conveying the fear, anxiety, tension, and the excitement of Frodo's adventure that the book seems to lack - a result of the fact that Tolkien is so careful in developing the plot. One simply can't read fast enough to feel excited when the party stops every other chapter to get a nice bath and a great meal in a warm, comfortable house. Seeing the movie, to me at least, seemed to make the book more exciting because I could feel the way I did when I watched to movie while I read corresponding parts. I think this sets a new standard for adaptations.
However, there are a couple of criticisms that I haven't seen touched on. One of them is the lack of singing in the movie. The book has so many seens where the characters sing amusing or informative (as far as Middle-Earth lore goes) songs, but the movie is completely devoid of them. Although one could argue that these would take away from the pace and the excitement of the movie, it seems to bad that we don't have the "cow jumped over the Moon" scene and such.
Along similar lines, I'm not entirely pleased with the music in this movie. The problem is not quality; it is the fact that it seems highly cliche and repetitive. Even though the music "worked," I couldn't help but to think of this everytime I came upon some scenes.
Overall, however, this movie was absolutely wonderful. Even though it is not perfect (what movie is?), I still give it 10/10.