Lord of the Rings - the original trilogy

Probably many of us binged on our favourites over the holidays and I'll wager that LOTR was one of them! Every generation we get a trilogy which is so captivating for an audience that it creates its own large subculture as opposed to a niche cult status or just general appreciation. The Lord of the Rings was one such cultural phenomenon, and it could be claimed that the book was its own literary phenomenon prior to that, and not just within the fantasy genre. What makes these films so enjoyable for the audience, and why do we keep returning to watch them? Also - perhaps there's a cinema lover who doesn't like LOTR, and can let us know why (we'll be kind, I promise you!).