They weren't bad, but the Lord of the Rings movies were not anywhere near as good as I thought they should be. They got some things almost exactly right, but the entire series made me feel like I was constantly being pushed along to the next plot point. For ~10 hours of movie, the non-action scenes felt very rushed to me. I also think it was a huge mistake to cast Liv Fucking Tyler, because even though she had the right look and did a decent job in the role, it's still Liv Fucking Tyler.
Another thing that bugged me were the changes they made to the plot. I can't fault them for leaving things out (like Tom Bombadil), and I know they need to make it movie-like, but changing the dynamic between Frodo/Sam/Gollum to create more drama was one thing that especially irked me...I think it irked
this guy a little more, though.
Finally, and this is probably my biggest complaint (though one that's nobody's fault), is that if I went back and re-read the books now, I'd probably picture the people and scenes from the movie instead of the ones I created myself. Though a lot of the characters and scenery from the movie were almost exactly as I'd pictured them (thanks, in no small part, to Tolkein's "describe every blade of grass" style har har har), I'm actually pretty hesitant to see the new Hobbit movie since I'm worried it might spoil my own memories of the book.