The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: I get it already

Its not that these were bad movies, because they were reasonably entertaining besides having ridiculously long battle scenes. But the simple story of good versus evil was just not enough and I'm guessing the book is about something deeper as well. I did think an interesting aspect of the story was how the powerful characters that were good, like Gandolf and the Lady of the Woods, could have been more powerful but they both contained any desire to become so and this kept any evil beginnings in check. They used their strongest powers only when necessary. The evil characters abused their powers, making them evil. It was neat to see that even the best people were enticed at least slightly by gaining more power, Frodo, Sam, and any one who encountered the ring. Power is like ice cream, once you start, its hard to stop but if you can stop at just enough, its wonderful. Too much and you'll get sick.