Excellent visual effects but too damn long

Rating: 1/10 (29 June 2004)

OK so I saw this movie on DVD last weekend and after those long 200 minutes I still can't understand all the hype and hoopla associated with it and being called the greatest trilogy of films of all time(??). I'll be the first guy to agree that the visual effects are amazing and they blew me away and directing a fantasy tale like this is a colossal task. But I can't comprehend this movie getting 11 Oscars - probably because there weren't too many strong candidates this year. It deserved every award in the visual effects category but Best Editing???? , c'mon now I'm sure they could have done a lot better than 200 minutes!!!
After watching it for awhile, the plots (if i may call them) seem to repeat themselves - its just another new breed of evil guys/creatures with new out-of-this-world names and our heroes get past them. IMHO Mystic River was a better movie and deserved the Best Motion Picture for the Year. I don't think the academy should give best picture award to a movie just for its visual effects.
Don't get me wrong... I'm really not trying to bash this movie but I really cant see why this is rated the #3 movie of all time on IMDb with the other two parts in the top 10. The only reason I can think why this movie is rated so high and other exceptional movies are falling in the "ratings" is due to more people voting (especially for the latest movies) nowadays. Besides every other person has a computer these days and I wouldn't be too surprised if the younger audience preferred this visual grandeur to an intellectual movie which may be harder to grasp. I personally like movies which make me use my brain for thinking and not just for watching - like Matrix, Mulholland Drive, Sixth Sense, Memento etc. At the end of the day this is nothing but a huge fantasy tale movie which has a few human characters in the midst of grand visual effects. I haven't read the book but I'm sure the whole trilogy could have been concised to 4-5 hours instead of 9-10 hours.
I kinda feel that the film trilogy is over-rated, but that's just me. I've noticed some people can't seem to accept that others don't like a particular film. But after all likes and dislikes are just a matter of opinion. Watch the movie if you have a lot of time in hand and don't want to think too hard.