Middle-earth is one of the most beloved fantasy worlds ever created. We’ve gotten the chance to visit it on the big screen many times over the years, with multiple adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson’s movies are the best known, but they’re not the only versions out there.
Just the other year, Amazon premiered a new Lord of the Rings TV series called The Rings of Power. There are also multiple new movies on the way. Two decades after Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring and nearly a century after Tolkien published The Hobbit, there’s as big an appetite for all things Middle-earth as ever.
As we wait for all this new content to brew, let’s take a look back at all the Lord of the Rings movies made over the years. How do they look when ranked against one another? Does any one rise to become a clear champion, or are they all close calls? And where do the forgotten entries into the J.R.R. Tolkien cinematic canon fit on this list? This is my attempt to answer these questions by ranking all The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, from worst to best (in my personal opinion)!
9) The Lord of the Rings (1978)
The first of the often-forgotten Tolkien films was directed by Ralph Bakski and came out in 1978! And, sadly, in my opinion, this animated outing is often forgotten about for good reason.
This movie roughly covers the events of The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers. On the good side, the animation style is evocative and charming. We’re used to Jackson’s live-action adaptations, but it’s fun to see a familiar story from a new visual perspective.
However, apart from the aesthetic, this film comes up short. It leaves out vast chunks of storyline we all love, and because there’s no film to finish it off, it’s inherently unsatisfying. So even if the storytelling can be engaging, the movie hits a brick wall at the end.
8) The Hobbit (1977)
I apologize in advance to everyone who is a fan of these animated films. I sincerely hope you keep enjoying them. But for me, they simply do not match the atmosphere, depth, and emotion of the live-action entries.
I enjoyed The Hobbit more than The Lord of the Rings animated film for the simple reason that it tells a complete story. While The Lord of the Rings (1978) follows Frodo, The Hobbit (1977) follows Bilbo’s much more contained storyline, and comes to a more satisfying end…or an end, period. As with the animated Lord of the Rings movie, this film has a different energy than the live-action films that’s enjoyable on its own.
However, once again, big chunks of the story action are missing from the film, although not as many as from The Lord of the Rings animated movies.
7) The Return of the King (1980)
But wait! There’s another animated film? And this one adapts the third Lord of the Rings book, The Return of the King? Is it a sequel to the other animated films?
Well, both yes and no. The 1980 adaptation of The Return of the King is actually a sequel to the animated film of The Hobbit, which we just discussed. Before the 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings came out, this film was already in development, and it happens to pick up roughly where that film ended. But emphasis on “roughly” here. It still serves as a standalone film; the animation is similar but not quite the same, and The Lord of the Rings director Ralph Bakski is not in the director’s chair.
I think this is the best of the animated films for the simple reason that it offers a conclusion to the story (and I also have a personal preference for the story of The Return of the King). It is a satisfying ending, even if there are sections of story missing, but the missing sections are nowhere near as prominent as in The Lord of the Rings (1978).
However, you do still feel that narrative hole, especially when compared to the live-action movies. Speaking of those…