5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Looking back, every Middle-earth project announced since 2003 — from Amazon’s $1 billion fiasco to that Andy Serkis’ upcoming Gollum movie no one asked for — has felt like an uninspired attempt to cash in on Tolkien’s brand recognition, and little more.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that last year’s “The War of the Rohirrim” was going to be more of the same. After all, it’s the first Middle-earth movie not being helmed by Peter Jackson since 1980, and its story is drawn from a tiny paragraph from Tolkien’s appendices that briefly outlines the royal lineage of Rohan. But if there ever was a test case to suggest that bringing in new blood and focusing on standalone animated movies is the best way to breathe new life into the franchise and steer the ship forward in the future, this might just be it.
The stakes are plain: King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan refuses to marry off his daughter Héra and kills a warring Dunlending lord. In retaliation, the lord’s son Wulf vows revenge, ravages his land, and forces Helm and his people to retreat to the fortress that will become known as Helm’s Deep. Sure, the characterization might be a bit thin, and the anime art style (though quite stunning to look at) will be a deal breaker for some people. But Kenji Kamiyama just delivered something many of us had been clamoring for ages: A fresh take on Tolkien’s fantasy world that draws deep on Middle-earth’s mythology to tell an awesome, self-contained story full of badass characters we had yet to see on screen while keeping the nostalgia-baiting to the bare minimum. It rules.
4. The Hobbit (1977)
Ultimately, one of the fundamental issues that doomed the live-action Hobbit adaptations very much from the start was Peter Jackson’s creative decision (or perhaps contractual obligation) to try to match the tone, style, and epic scope of his LotR trilogy. First, this approach commits the cardinal sin of reminding the viewer of much better movies they could be watching instead. But it also seems like a complete misreading of the source material, which is considerably lighter than its sequel in both content and spirit, and resulted in stretching a story that could’ve easily been told in one movie into three.
Fortunately, we’ll always have the superior and definitive Hobbit adaptation in this ’70s animated classic by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, who understood the assignment to a tee and managed to get the job in little over an hour while staying faithful to the essence of Tolkien’s novel. Perhaps we’re being a little easy on their film (Gollum looks like a nasty frog and the wood elves’ design will haunt your dreams), but everything from the quirky character designs, old-school animated style, and evocative use of music fits like a glove to tell Bilbo’s there-and-back-again journey and make us grin ear to ear.
Warts and all, there’s clearly more heart and passion being poured into any of Glenn Yarbrough’s folk song renditions than all six hours of Jackson’s version combined. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, the greatest adventure truly lies ahead.
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Here is where things start to get tricky. There’s a vocal contingent of fans who insist that this is the best of the lot, and upon re-watch, I’m almost tempted to concur. To squash any doubts: Peter Jackson’s “The Two Towers” has got a reasonable claim to being one of the greatest movie sequels of all time and delivers everything you’d want and more from the middle act in an epic saga. The fact there’s anything above it on this list just goes to show how high the bar has been set.
There’s so much to love here, from our favorite opening in any Tolkien movie to date — a slow pan across sweeping New Zealand mountains at sunset transitioning to Gandalf’s epic Balrog fight — to Christopher Lee and Brad Dourif’s finest hour as the two most scene-stealing and lovably-Machiavellian heels in the entire series.
What it may lack in sense of wonder (FotR) and closure (RotK), “Two Towers” more than makes up for with fantastic world-building and sheer forward momentum. The location work and use of real miniature sets (including Helm’s Deep, Osgiliath, and Isengard) is simply breathtaking and keeps the world of Middle-earth grounded. And don’t get us started with Howard Shore’s fist-pumping score (just the thought of the violins kicking in in the Rohan theme makes us want to charge into battle).
Andy Serkis’ work as Gollum remains a landmark achievement in CGI that feels today as textured and compelling as any of his flesh-and-blood counterparts, while the late Bernard Hill brings gravitas and a regal air to the proceedings as the King of Rohan Théoden. On top of all that, you get one of the finest battle sequences ever put to film. Wait, remind me again — why isn’t this No. 1?
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Speaking of, it’s hard to think of a single line in cinema history that has us hooting and hollering at the screen quite like Theoden’s thunderous battle cry at the Pelennor Fields (“Ride now, ride now, ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death!”), though the entire lighting of the beacons sequence comes awfully close. A colossal achievement in large-scale spectacle, the third and final chapter in Peter Jackson’s nine-plus-hour epic saga is an euphoric grand finale that knows exactly which buttons to push and manages to get by on sheer pulse-pounding action and dramatic closure alone.
Pay no heed to the nitpickers who still moan about “The Return of the King” having one too many endings — every tear-inducing moment of delayed catharsis feels thoroughly earned here, especially because Jackson makes sure you feel every second of Frodo’s internal struggle, every grueling step towards Mount Doom, and every loss, sacrifice, and drop of blood spilled to defend Gondor from the forces of evil, with the fate of Middle-earth hanging in the balance. So by the time the One Ring and Sauron are finally destroyed, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off your chest, as well as Frodo’s. It may not take the top spot in our ranking, but over $1 billion at the box office and 11 Academy Awards make for a decent consolation prize.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
It’s a bit of a cop-out, but we have to give the nod to “The Fellowship of the Ring” for a number of obvious reasons: This is the mission statement and blueprint for everything to come in Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking trilogy, the pillar in which every modern studio blockbuster is built upon, and an immersive, awe-inspiring fantasy epic that somehow, miraculously, lived up to its source material.
Each sequel would up the stakes considerably, but the first one carries a tangible sense of wonder and adventure that makes you so giddy to explore the magical world that Tolkien created along with all these endearing characters. This is the movie where Frodo gets the One Ring and leaves the Shire with Sam, Merry, and Pippin; where we encounter elves, dwarves, wizards, orcs, and the Nazgûl for the first time, and the only movie where the titular fellowship actually spends some time together. By design, it’s the coziest and most lighthearted of the trilogy, making it the most rewarding to revisit if you’re feeling nostalgic.
There’s nary a misstep along the way in this three-hour film that absolutely breezes by and barely wastes a scene while boasting too many iconic moments to name. It’s a masterclass in exposition, mood, and pacing, though it’s the quiet beats of downtime sandwiched between the big set pieces that sneak up on you the most and make the story feel lived-in: Frodo peacefully reading with his back to the tree back in the Shire, Boromir teaching Merry and Pippin how to sword-fight, the fellowship mourning Gandalf’s sacrifice outside Moria, the boats slowly going down the river and passing through the Gates of Argonath…
For every book purist still hung up on Tom Bombadil being left on the cutting room floor, there are thousand fans who cherish this as their go-to comfort movie. And for good reason. It’s a flawless film, the best entry in the franchise, and everything you could possibly want out of a modern blockbuster.