The main way to change the War of the Ring to make the adventure fresh and different and not just slogging through the books, recreating the events there page for page, is to do two things:
1. Eliminate Frodo.
This is done very simply by saying that Frodo lacks the courage to take the Ring on the Journey towards Bree, Rivendell, and ultimately, Mordor. Instead the PCs, friends of Frodo, take it for him. Thus the part changes to whatever the PCs wish it to be. This frees all the players from having to play Sam or Merry or whomever if they do not wish to play them. Of course, if they choose, they can play one of these characters of course, but they will be travelling with a different group and so they are still, pretty much, freed of the actions of that character in the book. Exception: No one may play Gandalf because...
2. Eliminate Gandalf.
Gandalf is cool and all, but a super-powerful wizard/demi-gods traveling with you have a way of taking all the challenge and fun out of things. So have Gandalf still be the one who warns Frodo and the party of the ring's true purpose and have him direct the PCs towards Elrond. When he leaves the party to visit Sauruman, Sauruman kills Gandalf and he is not resurrected. Sauruman now has the Ring of Fire that Gandalf once carried.
Think about this for a second. Think about how god damn scary this makes the adventure. Now Sauruman is much more powerful and there is no White Wizard to break his power by DM fiat - the PCs must defeat him. There is no one to waken Theoden and break Wormtongue's power over him. There is no one to treat with the Steward of Gondor. There is no convenient connection to the Eagles to fly the ring to Mordor. =P There is no one to kill the Balrog who might be mastered now by the Nenya-weilding Sauruman and will join his forces. All of these things are now for the PCs to do - to figure out. And the way the events play out are up to the DM to reshape with this new paradigm.
As to the unmaking of the ring there are multiple ways this could be accomplished as the players see fit. You could hand wave this later in the campaign stating that a companion of the players at some point along the way does the role of Frodo in taking the ring to Mordor, thus eliminating the need for the journey by the players. Which is understandable since many would rather defend Minas Tirith for a more glorious and exciting adventure. Or they could choose to keep the ring and actually battle Sauron to get it. Or the NPC ringbearer could have failed and now Sauron has the ring once more and must be faced in battle as he was in the War of the Last Alliance. All kinds of possibilities there.
I'm obviously one for eliminating an NPC ring-bearer altogether because putting it in the hands of the PCs makes for much more drama. Having members of the adventuring group each carry the ring for a time to share the load will bend each of them a bit towards the will of Sauron - or at least have to battle that urge - which can create some interesting dramatic tension and is a good way to develop your character by saying how the ring seeks to turn him. What weakness already within them does it strengthen? In halflings like Frodo and Gollum it heightens their selfishness and solitary nature. Gollum hides away in a hole and eats. Men like Boromir seek conquest. Elves seek dominion over others as their betters. Dwarves would be overcome with greed and stubbornness (Perhaps this explains the reaction of the dwarves that travelled with Bilbo back when - when they got the treasure and were near the ring it drove them mad with greed... or at least it did so for Thorin at least. Drove him to want to kill Bilbo for the arkenstone and thus the ring would find a more powerful wielder, maybe).
Anyhow, I hope this gives you something to think about for making your own LotR DnD campaign. It's a classic setting... but adventure there doesn't have to be set in stone.
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