Jackson used every trick in the book to pull off those films. The CGI used in the films was there to enhance the story and move it along. However, CGI in the hands of Lucas, and it quickly begins to take over the film and bog it down. Lucas abandons character and story just to show off a bit of technology.
There has been one drawback to the LOTR films. Several of my friends saw the films and when they didn't get a particular thing or wanted further explanation on a particular topic I told them to read the books. To this day none of them has done so. They just think that it's just too much effort to read them. The praise how rich the films are with story, character and scenery. I keep telling them that if they love the movies they will love the books. The films really only touched on several aspects of things in the books. Like the Elves or the full history of the rings and who had them. I find the books to be way better than the movies (especially The Two Towers), but my friends just don't want to take the time to read the books. Too bad for them. I read them in High School and again just after The Two Towers came out on DVD. So whomever said that Jackson introduced LOTR to a new generation is true. However, I think that the sad thing about the movies is now that they exist, people won't read the books as much. It will just be easier to watch the movies then spend a week or two with each book.