The Lord of the Rings movies is based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel of the same name. Published in three volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, the film adaptation also became a trilogy using the same titles.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released between 2001 and 2003. At the time, it was one of the biggest and most progressive ventures ever done with a nearly $300 million budget. Almost 20 years after the final film’s release, The Lord of the Rings remains to be a top favourite among fantasy and adventure fans.
A testament to its massive success is the succeeding spin-offs with The Hobbit trilogy and the new Amazon series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The Lord of the Rings streaming in Australia
All The Lord of the Rings films are available to stream online on select streaming services in Australia. One of your streaming options is BINGE, which currently offers a 14-day free trial.
You can also stream Lord of the Rings via Foxtel Now. New customers can try the service with a 10-day free trial. If you get into binge-watching, these streaming trials are just enough to watch Lord of the Rings films for free.
Another option for Lord of the Rings streaming is Amazon Prime Video, which still offers a 30-day free trial. Then there’s Paramount+, which also offers all three The Lord of the Rings movies online in Australia. Just like other streaming services, there’s a free Paramount+ trial that new customers can use.
If you want to pay for what you only watch, you can rent or buy the movies on Apple TV+, Google Play Movies, and other pay per view platforms, but only paid on demand streaming platforms offer free trials.
What is The Lord of the Rings about?
In Middle-earth, four hobbits Frodo Baggins, Sam, Merry and Pippin embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom so that its creator, the Dark Lord Sauron, is also destroyed. When the fellowship splits up, Frodo and Sam continue the mission with the treacherous Gollum tagging along.
While Frodo carries the seemingly impossible task of eliminating the corruptive and powerful ring, Gondor’s exiled heir, Aragorn, along with his comrades Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir join forces to rescue the Free Peoples of Middle-earth from the fearsome forces of Sauron.
Throughout the three movies, the noble warriors along with the wizard Gandalf, rally the Elves, Men, Dwarves and Ents to fight Sauron and end his reign of terror once and for all. The War of the Ring also proves to be crucial in helping Frodo fulfill his mission.
The entire franchise featured an ensemble cast portraying the iconic Lord of the Rings characters, including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Bean. The Lord of the Rings also spawned prequel films in The Hobbit trilogy, starting with An Unexpected Journey, which focuses on Frodo’s uncle Bilbo Baggins.
How to watch The Lord of the Rings movies in order
The events in The Lord of the Rings are all sequential, meaning you have to watch them in their proper order. Below we’ve listed The Lord of the Rings franchise in their chronological order of events. We’ve also added all The Hobbit films in case you want to see more of Middle-earth.
| Movie title | Released | Streaming Services |
|---|---|---|
| The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 2001 | Foxtel Now / BINGE / Paramount+ / Prime Video |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | 2002 | Foxtel Now / BINGE / Paramount+ / Prime Video |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 2003 | Foxtel Now / BINGE / Paramount+ / Prime Video |
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 2012 | Prime Video |
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | 2013 | Prime Video |
| The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | 2014 | Prime Video |
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How many The Lord of the Rings movies are there?
There are three The Lord of the Rings films covering Frodo’s journey of destroying the One Ring. We’ve rounded them up in a list below starting with the first Lord of the Rings movie so it’s easier for you to keep track.
1. The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Dark Lord Sauron’s One Ring finds its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins. Sauron must have the ring back in order to return to power and wreak darkness and havoc once again. To stop him from ever reclaiming his destructive weapon, Frodo and the fellowship (eight other companions) embark on a quest to destroy Sauron’s source of Power in the fiery pits of Mount Doom.
2. The Two Towers (2002)
After being separated from the rest of the fellowship, Frodo and Sam must continue their arduous journey as they head towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Mount Doom is the only place in Middle-earth where the ring can truly be destroyed. Joining them in their quest is the ring’s former keeper, Lord of the Rings’ Gollum. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive at Rohan, reuniting with Gandalf, who came back from the dead and was resurrected as Gandalf the White.
3. The Return of the King (2003)
The final instalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it continues the plot of the previous film. Frodo, Sam and Gollum finally nears their journey of reaching Mount Doom to complete their quest while oblivious of Gollum’s intentions. Gandalf and the rest of the forces also continue their battle against Sauron and his legions in Minas Tirith.
The Lord of the Rings TV series
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a prequel series that covers the events thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It debuted on Amazon Prime Video in Australia last September 2022.
Other movies you might want to watch
Directed by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings trilogy became one of the greatest movies of all time, winning 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture for the final instalment, The Return of the King. Meanwhile, the Library of Congress designated the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, as being culturally significant.
To watch more acclaimed titles, new movies are always getting added to different streaming services each week so there’s always something exciting to watch. If you’ve finished bingeing some of the most popular franchises like the Harry Potter movies and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, here are other newly added hit films you might want to check out.
