Agreed. I'm not discounting LOTR but (for me, at least) this series feels more like an epic then LOTR. I'm not really sure how to explain it. In LOTR, I enjoyed the film, acting and everything and will watch it again once a year or so. With DK, there was such a development of the characters throughout the movies and such an investment that I was completely invested in the finale (DKR) with little/no effort. I'm not explaining it very well, it just felt like an amazing piece of film-making that will be remembered for decades not (hopefully only) because of any financial figure but because of the films themselves and what went into them.