Rich-Get-Richer Phenomena.
I really like the Tolkien universe that Jackson created... And I really like a lot of his previous work - all the way back to Bad Taste etc...
But really, this movie is rated *way* to high!
The story is simply to long-drawn-out. Usually a movie has to stand out in both story, acting and appearance to receive 7.9 on IMDB. Try to compare this to other 7.9 movies e.g.
Children of Men
A Prophet
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Walk the Line
Shrek
Avatar
With all respect, I was much more entertained by these movies than both Hobbit 1 & 2 (Has not seen the third yet). And this is not to say that Hobbit is bad - it's a beautiful experience... But 7.9?!