Missing Middle-Earth? Here’s How To Watch All ‘The Hobbit’ Movies in Order

We all need an escape every once in a while. What better place to escape to than J.R.R. Tolkien’s wondrous land of Middle-Earth? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to visit the Shire—and Rivendell, Lothlorien, Erebor, Moria, Rohan, Gondor, and more. There are the original novels, of course, but also Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, as well as his adaptation of Tolkien’s children’s novel The Hobbit. Despite some unnecessary changes and additions, The Hobbit movies are by and large wonderfully entertaining, moving, and a worthy trip back to the realm of Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves.

If you want to lose yourself in the magic of Tolkien’s imagined world, The Hobbit movies are as good a place as any to do so. Here’s how to watch them all, in order.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sees homebody Hobbit Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) peace destroyed when Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan) leads a group of Dwarves straight to his door. The Dwarves need a burglar to help them steal a jewel in their home of Erebor, and Gandalf suspects Bilbo might be just the person for the job. An Unexpected Journey is a fun (if slightly slow) re-entry into Middle-Earth, capturing the spirit of Tolkien’s original novel well—especially during Bilbo’s confrontation with the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis), a scene which essentially kickstarts the entirety of The Lord of the Rings saga.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

The second film in The Hobbit trilogy—and my personal favorite—The Desolation of Smaug sees Bilbo and the Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), enter the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their homeland. Bilbo, however, is the one who has to tiptoe across a pile of gold and jewels to find one shining jewel among them—the Arkenstone—all without waking the malevolent dragon who sleeps there: Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Whatever you think of The Hobbit trilogy, I think we can all agree that Lee Pace as the Elven King Thranduil fundamentally changed us all, no? He’s definitely a highlight of this particular The Hobbit installment.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

As the concluding installment of The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies is certainly the most action-packed film of the lot. After reclaiming Erebor and defeating Smaug, Thorin becomes consumed with greed, affected by “dragon sickness.” Meanwhile, plenty of forces are on the march to claim the Lonely Mountain, its strategic positioning, and hoarded wealth for themselves, including an army of Orcs and Wargs, an army of Elves under the command of Thranduil, and a ragtag group of humans led by Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans). It’s the heaviest, darkest movie in the trilogy, with tragedy affecting the Dwarves and Bilbo before he finally manages to make it back home to the Shire to plant his new tree.

(featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures)