How to Watch The Lord of the Rings in Chronological Order
From its epic scale and unmatched sense of adventure to its beloved characters and the unforgettable relationships between them, Lord of the Rings remains the all-time best series of fantasy films. Now, 21 years after The Fellowship of the Ring, LotR is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Amazon’s upcoming Middle-earth TV series, The Rings of Power.
Watching the Lord of the Rings movies in order is a fairly straightforward endeavor, though ahead of the TV series' September 2 debut, we’ve put together this article to make sure newcomers can properly navigate both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. With series newcomers in mind, the brief plot synopsises below will be spoiler-free beyond broad plot points and character introductions.
At the bottom of the article, you'll find a second list that orders the films by their actual release dates, if you’d prefer to watch them in that order instead (as I do).
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There are six total movies set within J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle-earth: three The Lord of the Rings movies and three The Hobbit movies. There is also the 1997 animated film, The Hobbit, which is separate from the newer films. No future movies are planned, though Amazon is set to release its big-budget Lord of the Rings TV series, The Rings of Power, on September 2.
Amazon’s Rings of Power series is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. This is the period in Middle-earth during which we’ll see "the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men," according to showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
Where to watch: HBO Max, or rentable on Amazon
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