Simply, a great movie.

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2001)

I read LOTR multiple times during the 70's and 80's, and have looked forward to a fully realized film version for a long time. I wasn't disapointed. Peter Jackson did as good a job as anyone in bringing LOTR to the big screen. I look forward to the next 2 films.
Regarding the IMDB ranking of FOTR as #1, how can anyone take this site as a definitive ranking of the best movies of all time? At best, it ranks the best movies at this time. Most users are of the internet generation with limited cinematic perspective. This ranking system generally reflects what is currently popular with over 30% of the top 100 movies made in 90's to present, and 45% made since 1980. With 100 million books in print,(and likely, fans)and only 17000 plus voters so far in just the last 7 days of its release, FOTR will likely finish in the top ten at worst.
No, FOTR may not be the greatest movie of all time, but in many minds it is right now(IMDB #1), so who is to tell them otherwise? As a body of work only time will tell. Not all are LOTR geeks, or have read the books, though it seems most negative criticisms are in the minority of either not having read the books, have a perspective limited to Star Wars and video games, has an attention span of a 2-year-old, or just bitter and hateful of people who simply enjoyed it. There seems to be a backlash of people trashing FOTR for the sake of trashing it, and it shows that there are some very, very unhappy people out there needing attention. If you didn't like it, just say so. It doesn't have to take 1000 words to justify why you didn't like it.
FOTR was a labor of love for Peter Jackson, and it showed throughout. As Gandalf told Frodo in the mines, "...it is what you do with the time given to you..." Peter Jackson has chosen to devote these many years to make this epic, and I, and many others, have chosen to enjoy the 3 hours given to us to experience it.