In What Order To See The Saga ‘The Lord Of The Rings’: From Chronological To The Order In Which They Were Released

Directed by Peter Jackson, their success and, above all, their special effects, set a precedent for what would be the new codes of the most epic fantasy cinema. His approach to special effects and his refinement of digital trickery would have a profound and lasting impact on blockbusters for years to come, and Marvel cinema, for example, would be very different without the technical precedent of Jackson’s films.

There are two essential ways to order the trilogies for viewing (or review): chronological and premiere. We will also include in this order the Amazon series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’.

Chronological order

This is the order in which events happen in Middle-earth. First, what we see in ‘The Rings of Power’: it takes place in the Second Age of Middle Earth, with events that take place thousands of years before ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Even so, we will meet some characters that we will meet again later, such as the elf Galadriel or the villain Sauron. Later, Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit protagonist of the novels that bear his name, stars in the three films of ‘The Hobbit’. There, key elements of the subsequent development of the saga will appear, in the three main books of ‘The Lord of the Rings’: the Ring of Power, Gollum, Gandalf, and the rest of the characters we know from the saga.

The advantage of this order is to witness the events in the order in which they were conceived by Tolkien, beginning with the events of ‘The Rings of Power’, which Tolkien did not write directly but is material from his appendices and notes. The author published ‘The Hobbit’ first, and then continued the story with ‘The Lord of the Rings’, so from the point of view of literary chronology, and also from the order of the story, this is the perfect order to get into. Tolkien’s creation from its very inception. This would be the chronological order:

• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
• 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: The Return of the King (2003)

Order by release date

For practical purposes, much simpler: the films ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ are reversed, and we leave the recent Prime Video series for last. It is not the chronological order of the story, but that is not an impediment, since Peter Jackson’s films were conceived long before an adaptation of ‘The Hobbit’ was considered, so everything that is told about what happened chronologically before contains spoilers more than studied.

Also, what we are talking about here is an audiovisual adaptation, and it makes perfect sense that they should be seen in production order. Thus we can also observe the evolution suffered by the special effects and the approach to Tolkien’s work: how it began in Jackson’s first films and how they became the adaptation of ‘The Hobbit’, although chronologically they are reversed. And finally, how Amazon has given its take on this mythology. This is the order according to its premiere:

• 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: 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 Rings of Power (2022)