Out of the three, this is my favorite.

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2004)

Out of the three, this is my favorite. Very beautiful scenery, picture and special effects, combined with a good story featuring action, awe, joy, love, humor, fear, despair and sadness. I'd recommend everyone to rent the extended versions of the movies; even though they're somewhat longer, there's a little more story and less action in them.
This movie, however, probably has among the most useless set of user comments I've ever seen on the IMDb. Giving it a lower grade because of the marketing? What the heck does marketing have to do with the quality of a movie? Dismissing it as "stupid" because there are wizards and elves in it?
Alright. Let it be very clear that this is a fantasy movie. If you can't stand that, it is probably not for you. I feel somewhat sorry for such people though. Where's the child in you? Where's your imagination? Isn't that what movies are all about, to live fantastic stories whether they're about gangsters, in the wild west, in an ordinary small town, in a futuristic space setting, or among wizards and elves? To me it is. Perhaps the TV news or a documentary would be more suited to others. There are certainly a lot of crappy fantasy movies around, but their problem is not that they're fantasy but that they're, well, crap.
Looking through the top 250, I'd order them differently for sure, but I can't find a movie I believe deserve a 1. Most of those in the top 50 deserve the top grade; these are all good movies. There are movies among the top 250 I'd only give a 6 or a 7, but certainly none I'd even consider giving a 1 or a 2. Anyone doing so must obviously either be both blind and deaf, have utterly bad taste regarding what makes a movie good, or is doing it to favor his or hers favorite movie. In either case, any such person can surely be dismissed as an utter moron.
Granted, none of the three movies are perfect or immune to criticism, but all of them are sure, in my opinion, good enough to deserve the top grade. For most people, they will probably not be an all time favorite, but I'm sure most people will enjoy them very much.