Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringsmovies helped to contribute to lifespan some of the slap-up phantasy Holy Scripture ever compose in breathtaking fashion with theHobbitmovies recapture a lot of the same magic . Now , with Amazon ’s lavishly - budget Middle - Earth series , The Rings of Power , set to make undulation , fans of the movie are revisiting them once again . Not that they want an excuse .

Every fan has their favorites , but how do critic rank all of Jackson ’s film ? In the eyes of critics , what ’s the bestLord of the Ringsmovie , and what ’s the bestHobbitmovie ?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Metacritic score: 58

• Available on HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video

It may come in as a shock to some fans to see this as the lowest - rated of theHobbitmovies , but a portion of critics simply were n’t impressed withAn Unexpected Journeywhen comparing it to the triumphant succeeder ofThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King .

The film is a lot more family - favorable than any of theLord of the Ringsmovies with songs and vulgar jokes being staples . There also is n’t quite as much action in it as other film , with Bilbo just starting out on his adventure with the Dwarves to retake Erebor . There is a warm reliance on CGI at points as well , which stood in barren contrast to the prominence of practical effects inThe companionship of the Ring .

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The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014)

Metacritic score: 59

Only just butt against out the firstHobbitmovie , The Battle of The Five Armiesis the climax of Bilbo ’s adventure , fetch things to an end for his account and leading onto the beginning ofFrodo ’s journey as the doughnut - bearer in theLotRmovies .

It ’s theHobbitmovie with the most action as there is , as the title would hint , a major battle at the end as all the plot of land threads , grinder , and villains converge at Erebor . However , the dissimilar character at play in that fight are n’t about as developed as they should be , which means that a lot of the bounteous striking moments fall somewhat flat . While the plastic film does a courteous job with Thorin Oakenshield ’s psychological state and how thing convert for him overall , the picture show also issue forth up dead for critics who had no existent selection but to liken it toThe Return of the King .

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)

Metacritic score: 66

• useable on Amazon Prime Video

The bestHobbitmovie , accord to Metacritic , isThe Desolation of Smaugwhich has the most satisfying residual between action and character ontogenesis in theHobbitmovies as the main volume of the adventure from the original Good Book plays out . The flesh - up to Smaug do holy terror and havoc was well done , with the picture between the Draco and Bilbo Baggins , in particular , being very strong .

The film also introduced a new fictional character , the elf Tauriel , as well as bringing back Orlando Bloom as Legolas , which try out to be a expectant decision . Nevertheless , theHobbitmovies never reach the same altitude as theLord of the Ringsmovies in terms of reviews .

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The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Metacritic score: 87

The weakest of the three movies from the original trilogy , according to Metacritic , isThe Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers , but with an 87 evaluation , it is distinctly still a dear picture amongst critics . For many fan , this motion picture is their dearie , which showcases the strength of the trilogy , with this chapter of the story really upping the dangerous undertaking prospect of the franchise .

With the group all split up at the goal of the first picture , this film has lots of different storylines run side by side which opens up the huge fictional world even more than before , innovate Rohan and the beginnings of the sullen world of Mordor that Sam and Frodo must find a style into . It allow more item to be placed into each character and every facet of the journeying , plunge fan in the productive detail of the output .

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)

Metacritic score: 92

• Available on HBO Max

The original Middle Earth picture show , that catapult Peter Jackson from a respected religious cult director to being one of the biggest name in filmmaking , wasThe Lord of the Rings : The companionship of the Ring . This film had huge force per unit area on its shoulder to deliver in an engaging personal manner as world - building and character development were its primary job , establish the high stake of the story as well as the foresighted history of the One Ring .

The picture does an amazing job at make each role compelling , developing their individual personalities all while setting up the epic quests that will be take property throughout the respite of the trilogy . While it does n’t have as much action as the two movies that stick to it , The Fellowship of the Ringis still sate with picture that live rip - detached in every fan ’s headand just miss out on being crowned the bestLord of the Ringsmovie by Metacritic ’s calculations .

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The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003)

Metacritic score: 94

There ’s a reason thatThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the Kingcleaned up at the Oscars . It is not only the braggy moving-picture show from the franchise butone of the best movies of all prison term allot to movie fans voting on IMDb . It has a small – to a mickle – of everything that audiences crave , with amazing legal action scenes , superb talks , and some really worked up so long scene .

The film manage to scale everything up to make the final conflict sense more important than what ’s been seen before , all while keeping the movie run aground with a focus on the core characters throughout . Aragorn faces his fortune as he steps up to become a truthful leader and Frodo face his last challenges on his quest to destroy the One Ring . It was an incredibly difficult job that the production squad had , but they contend to wrap things up with the very best of the bunch , and it ’s the bestLord of the Ringsmovie , according to Metacritic .

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Split image of posters for Battle of the Five Armies, Fellowship of the Ring and An Unexpected Journey

Split image of Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Split image of Thorin, Azog, and Smaug from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Split of Tauriel, Smaug, and Legolas from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Split image of an Ent, Gandalf, and Gollum from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Split image of Arwen, Frodo, and the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Split image of Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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The Hobbit