How to Watch All the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Hobbit' Movies in Order
This guide makes your Middle-earth marathon easy.
Next time you’re in the mood for a cozy movie marathon, why not head to Middle-earth? We’ve created a guide on how to watch all of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies in order, whether you’re looking to watch them in the order in which they were released or in the order that matches the story’s timeline.
If you’re new to the world of Middle-earth, there’s a lot to keep track of. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit introduces Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who leaves his quiet home in the Shire for an unexpected adventure with the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves. The Lord of the Rings takes place later and shifts the focus to Bilbo’s younger relative, Frodo Baggins, who finds himself responsible for a powerful and dangerous object known as the One Ring. And that’s before we even get to The Rings of Power TV series.
So, should you watch the movies in release order or chronological order? There’s a good case for either approach. Watching them in release order lets you experience the movies as audiences originally did, while chronological order puts Bilbo’s story first and then follows the events leading into Frodo’s journey. Either way, you’ll have plenty of epic quests, fantastical creatures and sweeping Middle-earth scenery to enjoy along the way.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Start off your quest with this film, which tells the tale of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who is tasked with ferrying the One Ring to its final destination. Along the way, he meets elves, dwarves, wizards and monsters that test his courage in a way that it's never been tested before.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The adventure continues: As Frodo and his loyal gardener/sidekick Sam carry on with their quest to destroy the Ring at Mount Doom, they meet Gollum, a previous owner of the ring. Meanwhile, other members of the Fellowship prepare to fight the evil Sarumon's minions at the Battle of Helm's Deep. Fans clearly couldn't get enough of the battle: When it was released, this was the third-highest-grossing movie of all time.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
This trilogy-capper is the one that received the big trophies: It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and it won all of them, including Best Director and Best Picture. In it, Frodo, Sam and Gollum continue their quest to destroy the One Ring, while Aragorn, Gandalf and the rest of the Fellowship makes a final stand against Sauron.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
After completing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson couldn't stay away from Middle-earth. Sure, he took an almost-10-year break (during which he made an excellent King Kong movie), but then he returned for the Hobbit trilogy. It takes place before the events in The Lord of the Rings and follows Frodo's uncle, Bilbo, who was the first Hobbit to ever encounter the One Ring.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
It wouldn't be a high fantasy series without there being at least one dragon, right? Bilbo, in the company of 13 dwarves and the wizard Gandalf, sets out to defeat the dragon Smaug to save the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. (Good thing he has that ring.) Benedict Cumberbatch plays Smaug through the magic of motion capture.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Fans of the Battle of Helm's Deep had no idea how epic the Battle of the Five Armies would turn out to be. But, with the very future of Middle-earth at stake, how could anyone not take up arms? With dwarves, elves, men and orcs all fighting in the mix, this finale might be the most action-packed of the whole series.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
The Rings of Power is different. Sure, it's based on the same Tolkien source material, but Peter Jackson had nothing to do with it. It doesn't share the same cast as the other franchises. And it's a TV series, not a movie. (The music, by Howard Shore, is the same, but that's about it.) But we know that, once you head into Middle-earth, you never really want to leave it. These adventures are based on the appendices included in the Lord of the Rings books, set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit. Sure, you don't get to check in with Frodo or Bilbo, but you get to spend time with younger versions of Galadriel and Elrond, among others.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Another one-off, The War of the Rohirrim is set between The Rings of Power and An Unexpected Journey , taking place around 200 years before the Jackson films. It centers on the kingdom of Rohan, and how Héra, one of its princesses, has to save her people when her father, King Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Bryan Cox), gets into a dispute with a lord that leads to an all-out battle. And while it's supposed to look like it fits into Peter Jackson's world, the animation is more inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki.
And a Chronological Order
If you want to watch Jackson's Middle-earth movie in the order in which the events take place, you just have to flip everything around. Switch the two trilogies so all The Hobbit movies go first, and, if you wanted to include The Rings of Power, pop that on before anything else. Your viewing order would look like this:
- Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power (2022)
- The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
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