I'm 43 and they are some of my favorite movies of all-time. A lot of people I know who are around my age like them as well. I rented The Fellowship of the Ring when it came out and although I almost never watched a movie twice when I rented it, I watched it twice with the normal audio plus a couple of additional times with commentary. I had never seen a movie quite like it. I had never read the books either, so I wasn't a fan of the source material. I wouldn't try to speak for entire generations in the future.