I love the series, both the books and the movies. But, when we think about it, there are so many fantasy IPs/stories out there and so many of them are just... bad.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460780/ <-- In the Name of the King, basically has the same medieval/middle-earth fantasy theme of LoTR, but it's just horrible. Corny, cheesy, everything about it is just a mistake.
What themes and aspects about Lord of the Rings made it so different and so epic? Was it the fact that it was a complete fantasy world that felt real, or that elves and dwarves and ghosts were actually fleshed out properly and not just made silly? What do you think?