In the Pantheon of movies, probably Zeus

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2001)

Movie was a masterpiece. The superb acting, casting, directing, special effects, music, and so on were all subjugated to the story... as it should be with any movie and rarely is. We will eventually see what history ends up saying about the movie, but at the moment of its birth it seems to belong to the pantheon of greatest movies. The art, science and craft of filmmaking mix to near perfection in this first installment of LOTR. Subjectively, it was the shortest movie I remember seeing despite the 3 hours.
Having said all that, let me proffer some criticism so at least you can't accuse me of an adoration blind to any possible shortcomings. I have to stretch to find any aspect that was not at the overall level of this visual symphony. Perhaps the Balrog's look could have been improved upon... it seemed overly large and a might artificial in contrast, say, to the physical presence of the dark lord Sauron. I must hasten to add that the anticipation of the fiend was sublime, especially the effect of dread on the lesser evil creatures.