re: How much of a joke is it that Star Wars was ever thought to be equal to Lord of the Rings?

Referring to "Star Wars", I'm considering that as the original trilogy. There's too much secondary and tertiary stuff fixed to that (good and bad) for me to compare the entire menu to a small franchise like LOTR.

If we're looking at them as "original works", LOTR wins hands down. Star Wars is a derivation of two many other franchises for it to stand up to the Tolken novels.

But as a series of three films... I'll watch Star Wars/Strikes Back/Return on a 24 hour loop (and have done so) but have never had the desire to rewatch a minute of LOTR. Star Wars and its two sequels each have their own distinct feel while remaining one cohesive story. LOTR just seemed like one long slog to me.