Lucas definitely looked at some Tolkien. There was an interview with him in Empire a while back for Revenge of the Sith and he said that Endor (the moon where the Ewoks lived) was a translation of Middle Earth!
It is true though that any fantasy epic is going to have the same basic components in it's storyline simply because it needs them to be a fantasy eipc. Comparing them is fun but I doubt it will lead to any major revelations like - George Lucas is Tolkien's long lost son!
