In what order should you watch The Lord of the Rings?

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Are you a fan of the Lord of the Rings films? You'll no doubt agree that the question that divides even the most ardent fans is: in which order to watch Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit?

In this article, we'll show you 2 viewing orders The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films to fully enjoy the saga, including :

The order of cinema outing (to follow the natural progression of the story)
The order chronological (for die-hard fans).

What is the right order to watch The Lord of the Rings saga or The Lord of the Rings ?

In which order to watch Lord of the Rings — Lord of the Rings" film order. Source : Alucare.fr

The cinematic saga set in the Lord of the Rings universe is made up of two trilogieswhose Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

To help you immerse yourself in Peter Jackson's work, discover two ways to watch The Lord of the Rings:

1. Viewing order by release date

To watch the "Lord of the Rings"In this order, you can follow the order of release at the cinema, which is the most commonly used.

The films are adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's books, but were released in a different order to their internal story. Here's how to watch them in release order:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001,
The Lord of the Rings: Les Deux Tours in 2002,
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003,
The Hobbit: An unexpected journey in 2012,
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013,
The Hobbit: The Battle of the 5 Armies in 2014.

Cinema release order reflects the chronological order of the plot, and is widely considered the best way to watch movies, as it follows the natural progression and characters.

2. Lord of the Rings chronological order

However, if you are a unconditional fan and you wish to follow the internal chronological order of the Middle-earth story, you can choose to watch the films starting with The Hobbit and then in that order:

The Hobbit: An unexpected journey in 2012
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the 5 Armies in 2014.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001.
The Lord of the Rings: The two Towers in 2002.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 20023.

In addition to these films, there are also TV series such as The Ring of Power or The ring of Power. He is one of the series available on Amazon Prime video since September 2022.

This series takes place during the Second Age of Middle-earth, when the 19 rings were forged and given to Elves, Dwarves and Humans.

By the way, if we want to put the Amazon Prime series on The Lord of the Rings in this ranking, we'll have to see it. at the very beginning before all other films.

The cinematic saga of : "The Lord of the Rings: everything you need to know!

Before you start watching The Lord of the Rings film saga, you should know that this saga has a total of 6 films. Here are all the films Lord of the Rings :

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001

The Fellowship of the Ring movie. — The 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring in pictures.

This is the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, written by Peter Jackson and released in 2001. The film begins with the story of theSingle Ringan extremely powerful artifact forged by the Dark Lord Sauron.

The Ring has been lost for many years, but now it's here. discovered by Hobbit Bilbo Bagginswho passes it on to his nephew. The nephew realizes his evil nature and decides to destroy it on their way to Mount Doom.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002

Image from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers saga, released in 2002.

In this second film, he is considered the best film in the saga. Saruman, the white magician allied with the Saurons, is attempting to dominate and invade Rohan.

Sam and Frodo continue their adventure in entering the land of Mordor to get rid of the ring with Gollum.
These three companions continue the search for Merry and Pippin, captured by the Orcs. They then become involved in the defense of Helm's Deep fortress during an assault by a large army of Orcs.
Rohan will fight for its survival against Saruman in Helm's Deep war.
Merry and Pippin, the other hobbits, escape from the Orcs and find refuge with the Ents, the forest's guardian creatures.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the third and final film of the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. The film was released in 2003, shortly after the first two installments, and has won numerous awards, including 11 Oscars for Best Picture.

"The Return of the King" continues the epic of F. Sacquet and of his companionswho seek to destroy the One Ring by throwing it into Mount Doom, where it was forged.
Indeed, they continue their dangerous journey towards the Mount Doomwhile the Ring exerts more and more influence on Frodo.
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf and others lead the army of Gondor in a memorable confrontation to defending the city of Minas Tirith against Sauron's forces.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The film was released in 2012. It revolves around the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who leads a peaceful life in the Shire until he is visited by the wizard Gandalf.

The latter encourages him to join an expedition led by Dwarf Thorin Oakshield to reclaim the dwarf kingdom of Erebor, which has been conquered by the dragon Smaug.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Released in 2013, Peter Jackson continues the story with the same main characters. Bilbo and the companies of dwarves are confronted with numerous obstacles and to hazardsincluding Orcs and Giant Spiders.

On their journey, the company passes through the Mirkwood forest, where they are captured by the Elves. Bilbo must use his wits to free them.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

This film was released in 2014 and brings to a close the epic story of Bilbo Baggins and the Dwarves.

They are forced to battle a series of factions to prevent the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of darkness.
Orcs, dwarves and humans get ready for a great war and Bilbo plays a crucial role in mediating conflicts and preventing all-out war.
The film ends with the Bilbo returns to the Shirewhere he finds his house plundered by the auction of his belongings.

What does The Lord of the Rings have to do with The Hobbit?

Usually, the question "In what order should I watch The Lord of the Rings?" is followed by the famous question "What does The Lord of the Rings have to do with The Hobbit?

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are two fabulous stories by J.R.R Tolkien set in the same fantasy world.

Timeline:

The Hobbit is actually a prequel of The Lord of the Rings. This means that the story of The Hobbit takes place Before that of The Lord of the Rings.

Basically, The Hobbit is just a story for children by J.R.R Tolkien. This explains the lighter tone chosen for this work compared to that of the literary work "The Lord of the Rings".

Story content

The Hobbit follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (or Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman/Ian Holm) and thirteen dwarves. The latter are searching for a guarded treasure by the dragon.

It takes place some 70 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.

Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings follows the adventures of F. Sacquet (and the Fellowship of the Ring. Their goal is to destroy the unique ring and defeat Lord Sauron.

Adaptation

The Hobbit was adapted into a trilogy film series directed by Peter Jackson between 2012 and 2014 and based on J.R.R Tolkien's 1937 book of the same name.

The Lord of the Rings has also been adapted into a film trilogy by Peter Jackson from 2001 to 2003, and is based on three volumes of the book of the same name, published from 1954 to 1955.

Characters

Although the main heroes are different (Bilbo in The Hobbit and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings), there are familiar characters in both sagas.

Take the mysterious Gollum, who appears in both trilogies.
Likewise, Frodo also appears in The Hobbit, although his role is less central.

In short, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are interconnected storiesa fascinating deep dive into Middle-earth, inhabited by fantastic creatures, saved by magic and heroic adventures!

Should you watch The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings first?

It's not essential to watch the two trilogies in order. JRR Tolkien's universe can be explored well with the other trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, set 7,000 years before The Hobbit.

However, in order to follow the order established by the author of the books, it would be preferable to start with the Hobbit trilogy.

Lord of the Rings: should you opt for the long version?

It is always preferable to prefer long versions of each episode in Peter Jackson's cult trilogy, adapted from JRR Tolkien. It introduces us to more characters, such as Theodred, Boromir and Faramir, Gandalf and many others, who are of greater importance in this version than in the film montage.

Indeed, the long version has an extra 45 minutes or so for the Two Towers.

Now you know the right order to watch The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit! But if you'd like to explore new horizons and discover other films, you can find out the right order here. order to watch Marvel.