my god how much effort. Unbelievable amount of different resources required and the co-ordination of each. Yeah, Peter Jackson is good. Directing is one thing but doing all the things he had to do for this production (or selected to do even though it was cost/time consuming for the sake of art) is mind-boggling. The CGI, miniatures, concepts, camera work, props, etc. He went well beyond the expected level of effort and made it a labour of love.
I spend each December watching the extended trilogy and then the extra features and then the trilogy again with commentaries. There are 3 different commentaries: production crew (WETAWorks), director/writers, and actors. I watch them all.
It is worth it each time I do it.