The Hobbit films on the other hand fell rather flat.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy seems like quite an achievement these days; I don't recall seeing the same amount of passion and dedication in any of the more recent film adaptations. But I think I might also be biased due to my age when it came out. I'm in my forties now, and I rarely bother with film and television now, preferring books instead.

Those movies are outstanding on multiple axes, but in terms of story I hate what they did to the source. Yes you need to mess with it to make a movie that works as a movie, no that doesn't mean your Aragorn can murder an emissary on a parley. These changes aren't just unfaithful, they're standard modern Hollywood tropes, subtracting rather than adding interest.