Everyone remember this is just my opinion. I really hate being negative all the time but I completely agree with this post. The hobbit movies just don't have the same magic as LOTR. The biggest thing that stands out for me is when people call it a 6 film saga. To me, the hobbit looks and feels so different from LOTR that it doesn't seem like it's part of the same series. That's been a big issue for me since I saw the second trailer to AUJ. The methods that PJ used for these movies creates a very different visual for middle earth than what we had in LOTR. People can try to convince me all they want that it's a different time, Bilbo's memory, etc. but the fact remains the same that it just isn't the same middle earth.

I guess that's neither here nor there with regard to the main topic. I honestly think the majority of people out there will look at the hobbit trilogy the same way people look at the SW prequels. While the hobbit isn't nearly as bad as the SW prequels, there will still be a sense that this is an inferior trilogy that could have been much more.

Edit: I want to end on a more positive note since I feel like I don't do it enough on this board. In the end it doesn't really matter how these movies look in the future. All that matters is how each person individually receives the film. If you don't like the film, you don't like it. If you like it, then you like it. And nobody else's opinion is really going to change any of that, no matter how many years go by.

...a fantasy tale with emotional weight and intrigue, with subtley and elegance drawn from his thespians.

An example: Thorin's madness of the gold floor, it didn't need the psychedelic effects, a directorial decision usually associated with an inadequate performance by the actor. RAs performance certainly didn't need it to be punched home by some sfx. It could and should have been allowed to stand on it's own, and the audience been allowed to dwell upon it longer.

My view is that the negative reaction to the Starwars Prequals has become almost a culture onto itself when it comes to both reviewers/commentators and the more general public. There failings are of course worth of a good deal of criticism but I think disliking them has become a bit of a safe touchstone, something you could bring up without really making an interesting point or with the risk of being disagreed with.

I think it was pretty clear even before release that there was a strong desire for the Hobbit films to follow this path from a lot of people.

It will be interesting to see whether this opinion lasts, my guess is that it may well not simply because the attraction of it is that it be near universal. If you get a decent minority challenging it then lazy critical articles won't get as positive a response and people who don't like having there opinions questioned will look elsewhere.

Ignoring this aspect I don't think the films will ever be as well regarded as LOTR as there simply not as good but I do think that like LOTR there certainly rewatch friendly in the density of there character/plot/design as is the case with most of Jacksons work.