To all those that complain

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2001)

I have been reading a great deal of the comments in various places around the internet, and have found that most of the criticism comes down to these factors:
1) length: too long or too short 2) filmography: not enough CGI or too much CGI 3) Intro: too much intro to Hobbits, not enough intro to Hobbits 4) Characters: Not enough background, too much background. 5) Action: too much action, action not clear enough.
I disagree with these criticisms, but held them in my mind while watching the various movies (see below).
To make sure that I was being objective, I saw LOTR again and then immediately saw The Godfather, Shawshank, Star Wars, And Usual suspects (movies that I like from the top 15). I tried to gauge my reaction to these films, as well as study their film style, the characters, the scope, etc.
I also took into consideration all of the other top 15 films that I have seen (but not as recently).
While some here are saying, "please don't make this the #1 movie," the problem is that what we judge to be the #1 is really very subjective. It what STRIKES you. Yes, there are certain things a movie must do to be great, but once you get in that "top 15" or so, they all make the right decisions. It then becomes a matter of what you relate to as being what you think is, "the best."
Trying to be as objective as possible, I found the cinematography, sets, acting, costumes, effects, story, plot, pacing, tone, mood, music, and everything else to be at par or more than any of the "great" movies (above). Yes, there were flaws, but every one of those movies had flaws. If you don't think The Godfather could be torn apart even more mercilessly than LOTR, then you haven't really watched The Godfather in a while.
Yes, you can nitpick this or any movie to death, but the reality is that this movie is both a) excellent and b) popular. To most in the snobbish movie community, popularity is a sin. Again, the reality is that LOTR (like Empire Strikes Back, or Citizen Kane, or The Godfather) excels at what it sets out to do. The fact that it has such a high rating is simply because good storytelling wrapped in a "hero's journey" makes sense to people right now, so in its own way, LOTR *IS* better than The Godfather.