LOTR's is something i too only got into around 2001. I had read the hobbit, and started fellowship, but when i was way too young to really stick with it. So after I saw fellowship, I read all the books again, and just havn't been the same since!
I even took a class on Tolkien and have read many of his obscure works. He is one of my favorite authors, and one of the most fascinating to study as well.
I love LOTR's for so many reasons. First, i'll say some for the movies:
Incredible and beautiful landscapes, jumped right out at you like they were from the book. NZ was the perfect place for Middle Earth! Great ensemble acting. I get chills in the prologue, I remember the first time I saw Gandalf fall, i was just barely able to breathe. It felt like such a kick to the gut, because i had no clue about him returning as Gandalf the White. I'd only ever heard of Gandalf the Grey. So yeah, that scene was hard. Sean Bean played a ^^^^ of a guy, and yet I felt he was the most human, and sympathetic character in some ways. I still get misty when he dies and Aragorn leans down to kiss his forehead. And that is just fellowships huge moments for me! Needless to say i have so many favorite scenes that just jump out at me.. from helms deep, to the argonath, shelob, theoden and the charge of the Rohirrim. the entire battle of gondor. those movies just have perfectly done scenes from the books, and very few books ever get that type of justice done when they are turned to movies. Freaking Balrog is amazing, same with Gollum and the beautiful weapons and props and miniatures. I'm just in love with it all.
As for the books, they are on an even higher level for me. They drive home all the themes that the movie could sometimes only hint at. To read the silmarillian and the other history of middle earth books gives you such an insight into the whole picture. Tolkien just created this entire world.. galaxy.. universe even to tell his stories. It is beautiful! The poetry and songs are fun, and the way he talks about nature and the passage of time always makes me dream of visiting far off lands.. But of course it is at the root one of the greatest stories ever told. It combines all the great legends and myths and struggles and makes them personal to the reader. It pulls you in and makes you want to be a part of that world.
I love the lord of the rings because it makes me want to be a hobbit.
or a ranger, riding in the north with strider. or a rider of rohan! Or so many other possible roles that seem so much more desirable than reality.
I know this probably sounds stupid..
But a lot of times, i'd much rather live like that. Real life with kings and queens and knights and stuff pretty much sucked for most people.
But in those books, and movies.. life seems great. You have nobility, and honor. Swords are so much cooler than guns. Horses instead of cars. You sleep under the stars, and breathe fresh air. You can fall in love and raise a family and not worry about all the stupid crap we have to worry about today.
I'm not trying to be naive about it. Obviously that life, even in middle earth would be full of hardships.
But honestly, i look around at my life.. and it blows sometimes. So worried about money, and a job, and wars, and the economy and violence. And everything is so complicated.
I think sometimes i just really appreciate the simplicity of life in middle earth.
Smoking some pipe weed with your pals, and having a drink.
And if for some reason some jerk starts a fight, they are there to get your back. Not like most friends today.
And if things really go to crap, you have people to help you.
And if you somehow face death, you can do it with honor.
Some guy stabbed an old lady outside of toys r us the other day in broad daylight. For no reason. He even stuck around so he could get caught. They think it was a gang thing.. but he stabbed her dozens of times until she died.
In middle earth, the bad guys are trolls, or orcs, or evil wizards or dark lords, or maybe slimy white guys who look a little shady..
and Samwise Gamgee never had to come home to see rosie and his kids with their throats slashed or something.
morbid? yes.
but honest!
It's escapism. It's fantasy. It's uplifting.
It brings honor and love to a world that mostly seems to lack anything even closely resembling those things nowadays.
I realize that those two cents were probably more like 2 bucks. Sorry.