I normally don't like trilogies and sequels, but I liked The Lord of the Rings trilogy a lot. I think it is one of the best movie trilogies of this current decade; I thought the director, Peter Jackson, kept the movies extremely close to the source material which is important when you're adapting a book series into a movie format. I mean, he was not fully faithful to the book, but certain things do not translate well onto a screen from a book, and artistic license has to be considered when dealing with the book annotation.
My favorite character in Lord of the Rings has to be the Dark Lord himself, Sauron. I like this character because he has all the wonderful qualities of many great villains. I think the thing that I like the most about him is that he takes his time. Many villains will rush their devious plan because of time constraints, but being that this creature is immortal, he has nothing but time to plot his revenge against the creatures that he sees as enemies. I also like that he's very crafty and convinces many diverse types of creatures to join him. I also like the fact that he can convince a well-meaning elf to help him forge the rings of power granted we do not get to see this, but I am still impressed that he was able to trick an elf into forging the rings of power. I will say honestly that as I've grown older, I've been able to understand villain's motivations and I found that in most cases the villain's story is much more intersting than the hero's.
I also like how the Lord of the Rings turns the hero trope on its head by having the main character put on the ring, thereby necessitating one of the lesser characters attacking him and getting the ring off him by force. My favorite movie by far in this entire trilogy is the Two Towers because I think this movie had the right atmosphere. You could almost feel the tension in the air until the very end. I think the only part I did not like was that King Theoden was being manipulated by Sauron and was unable to have any control over anything he did--essentially a puppet. I think Sauron should have been sent to the same void as his master, Morgoth, since I like when villlains have the ability to be brought back, however that's not what happened.
Overall, I think the Lord of the Rings trilogy is fantastic and I recommended it for anyone, but of course, I would recommend reading the books before watching the movies, so you have a background for all the characters involved. For all of you who have seen the films, what are your opinions of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy?