Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, plus The Rings of Power and the anime.

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Where to start with Middle-earth

Watch The Lord of the Rings first, in the order it was made. It is one story in three parts and it was filmed all at once, so it holds together in a way almost nothing else on this site does. Everything else is optional and some of it is genuinely divisive.

  1. 1
    The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    Assumes nothing, introduces everyone, and ends at a natural stopping point if it turns out not to be for you. The extended edition is longer and better, and it is the version most people mean.

  2. 2
    The Two Towers (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    The middle film, and the one that proves the first was not a fluke. It ends mid-story on purpose: do not start it expecting a conclusion.

  3. 3
    The Return of the King (2003) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    The ending, and the reason people watch the other two. Long, and it finishes several times before it stops; that is the film, not a fault.

Then what? The Hobbit is three films made from one much shorter book, set sixty years earlier, and opinion on it is genuinely split: try the first and stop without guilt if it is not working. The Rings of Power is a different age entirely, thousands of years before any of this, and needs none of it.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below: tick anything off in either place.

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The Lord of the Rings

  • 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: The Return of the King 2003

The Hobbit

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 2013
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 2014

Beyond the Trilogies

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 2022, 3 seasons, 24 episodes
  • The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim 2024
  • The Hunt for Gollum 2027, not out yet
  • The Lord of the Rings 1978
  • Rankin/Bass specials 1977, 1 season, 2 episodes

The novels

  • The Hobbit 1937
  • The Fellowship of the Ring 1954
  • The Two Towers 1954
  • The Return of the King 1955
  • The Silmarillion 1977
  • The Children of Húrin 2007

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