Where can i stream the hobbit trilogy

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are two trilogies among the most important pieces of pop culture today. If you are looking for a fun activity to fill your time revisiting this franchise may be a good idea since they provide a little over 20 hours of content. If this interests you in returning to this amazing franchise you may wonder how and where to watch the movies. Thankfully, we have a hand guide to the watch order of the entire Lord of the Rings franchise. But where to watch both trilogies?

Surprisingly there are only a few platforms you can watch these two legendary movie series. The first place you can check out is HBOMax and the other is Amazon Prime. Additionally, a part of both trilogies is available for renting on Spectrum On Demand.

If you want to know where exactly you can find the movies and whether they are featured in their theatrical or extended versions make sure to read this article since it gives a comprehensive list of all popular streaming services and whether you can find the movies there. This article will also look into why are the trilogies absent from almost all streaming services all of the sudden.

Is Lord of the Rings on Netflix? Can you stream it there?

Netflix is one of the most popular and excusable streaming platforms today. As such many eager viewers search for the Lord of the Rings trilogy on it, but as of now, the movies are not featured on the platform.

The movies were added in 2018 and removed in January 2020; however, it isn’t likely they will be returned to Netflix’s catalog. However, there were talks regarding Warner Bros. allowing certain platforms to stream the franchise in the future.

As for the question of which versions of the movies were featured on Netflix, well that’s a bit more complicated. The answer will differ from country to country but also between the three movies themselves.

The United States and Canada version of Netflix featured the theatrical version of the first movie, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The following two movies, Two Towers and The Return of the King were featured in their extended versions.

The first movie’s theatrical version is the least different from its theatrical version. The difference is in around 30 minutes of content featuring filler scenes such as the prologue about the Ring.

A majority of added scenes featured in the extended version are minor and mostly serve to set up future plot points in the movie and the rest of the franchise.

A good portion of the additional scenes adds a new perspective on the hobbits and their life in the Shire. Most fans say that the addition would have been a great addition to the theatrical releases since it introduces the viewers to the main characters better.

Another scene that would make the first movie much better is a short one, where the Wood Elves and Galadriel give out gifts to the members of the Fellowship. This scene would have introduced each member and their abilities better.

The second and third movies have a bit more drastic difference between the two versions. Two Towers features an additional 42 minutes of content and The Return of the King a total of 50 minutes of extra content.

One of the biggest scenes left out of the second movie was the part where Mary and Pippin visit Saruman. there is a short scene in which Saruman goes over his plan to attack and take over Helm’s Deep.

Another scene that would have been a great addition to the second movie is a flashback that clears up the relationship between Boromir and Faramir as well as their father’s relationship with the two of them.

The last scene fans would have loved to see in the theatrical version is the one where Aragorn reveals a bit of information about his life which establishes him as an expert warrior.

The last movie features the largest amount of additional footage and as such the theatrical version misses most of the content. This means that instead of additional footage, important bits of the main plot are missing from the theatrical version.

One such scene is a prolonged version of the battles in Helm’s Deep and Isengard. This addition would have made the battles more realistic and truthful in comparison to the book depiction.

The extended version also fills in the blanks when it comes to certain characters that got overlooked in the theatrical version. The best example of such a character is Saruman.

While the theatrical version doesn’t explain what happened to him the extended version features his death scene which ties his story up nicely.

There are also characters that were cut out completely but which were important to the overall plot. The Mouth of Sauron was an important part of the book series since the character served as Sauron’s messenger.

An important scene features him confronting Aragorn before the battle of Mordor. Although the scene is significant since it resents the first time Sauron sees Aragorn as a threat and that is portrayed beautifully in the extended version, however, it is missing from the theatrical cut.

This is the most likely reason as to why the movies were featured in those specific versions since it doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to the first movie but it does when it comes to the second and third.

However, the fact that the extended version is often not featured on the streaming platforms is a big critic most fans have. Unlike other extended versions, the Lord of the Ring trilogy’s extended versions doesn’t simply include scenes that were cut from the theatrical version to meet a certain time limit.

All three movies clock in around four hours of content, which is considerably longer than most modern movies. The content which got cut from the final theatrical versions got removed to make the movie more comprehendible for the audiences. The movies are long as it is and there is anywhere between half an hour to an hour of additional content.

This means that the added scenes wouldn’t simply be additions to the movie which makes it a bit more interesting, but rather include important parts of the plot.

This is why extended versions seem like a whole different movie rather than the extended version of the movie you already saw. Most fans will recommend watching the extended versions of the Trilogy since they provide a different outlook on the series.

Did Lord of the Rings get taken off Netflix? 

Netflix slowly started removing the Lord of the Rings franchise from its catalog at the beginning of 2020. By the time April rolled around the franchise was removed from most countries. Some countries like Brazil and Argentina were the last ones to still feature the franchise in its entirety.

Besides those, you could still find a part of the franchise in certain countries versions of Netflix, however by the end of the year Lord of the Rings trilogy was removed from the platform completely.

The reason why Netflix removed such a popular franchise from its catalog of streamable movies lies with the owners of the franchise, Warner Bros. Like many similar companies they wanted to monopolize the streaming of their properties which is why Warner Bros. removed the franchise from most of the platforms in favor of HBO Max, one of WarnerMedia’s own streaming services.

Is The Hobbit on Netflix?

Unlike the original movie trilogy, the prequel trilogy, The Hobbit actually wasn’t featured on Netflix worldwide. The movie was featured on certain non-English speaking countries versions of Netflix.

One of the very few versions which featured the trilogy in its entirety was the German version. The theatrical versions were featured worldwide during the promotions and the release of the movies but were taken down shortly after. 

The few versions of Netflix that still had the franchise or few movies took it down when the original trilogy got removed.

Is Lord of the Rings on Hulu? Can you stream it there?

Originally the Lord of the Rings franchise was featured on Hulu. It was added to the streaming service in December of 2020. when the platform secured the rights to stream one of the most popular fantasy franchises to this day.

The movies were featured in their theatrical versions, which lessened the quality of the movies for fans that preferred the extended versions of the movies.

Although the movies were added at the end of 2020, by the time January 2021 came the movies were removed from the platform. However, This gave an edge to Hulu over other streaming platforms since the movies were removed from almost all of the other streaming services.

Is the Hobbit on Hulu? 

Much like with other streaming platforms, The Hobbit trilogy is currently unavailable on Hulu. The movies were featured on the streaming service for a short while, but the movies were ultimately removed due to the transition of the Warner Bros. properties to their own streaming service.

Is Lord of the Rings on Disney+? Can you stream it there?

Disney+ is one of the newest streaming services and there are many people looking to get a subscription to the service. The platform is absolutely worth it since it features so many Disney properties and is the only way to follow new Marvel’s releases which are being shown on it exclusively. 

That being said, the platform does not feature other content since it is centered on Disney content ant the library is filed exclusively with it. This still means there is much to watch and entertain yourself with, however, the Lord of the Rings franchise is not one of those.

Is the Hobbit on Disney+?

Just like with the three movies from the original trilogy, The Hobbit trilogy movies are also not available for viewing on Disney+. The reason for this is the same as with the original trilogy since the platform features Disney content exclusively.

Is Lord of the Rings on HBOMax? Can you stream it there?

HBOMax is a streaming service started in May of 2020 by WarnerMedia, the company which licenses the usage of the Warner Bros. properties. 

Much like Disney+ serves as a platform that brings together Disney’s media, HBOMax is a platform containing all of Warner Bros. properties on a premium television service. The platform provides the users with more than 10 000 hours of content, including the HBOMax originals.

Since the trilogy in question is owned by Warner Bros. it is only natural that it features on the platform. When the platform was launched the trilogy was still present on other streaming services, however, the trilogy was slowly removed, making HBOMax one of the only platforms which air all three movies from the original trilogy.

The three featured movies are in their theatrical version which remains one of the critics directed towards the streaming service since most fans believed that a Warner Bros. owned streaming service would feature both the theatrical and the extended versions of the movies in the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Is the Hobbit on HBOMax?

Since the Hobbit trilogy also belongs to Warner Bros. you can also find it available on HBOMax. In fact, the platform is one of the few streaming platforms you can find the movies and one of the only two platforms that currently airs all six movies. 

As to what version is featured on the platform, that is a bit more complicated. This is due to the fact that the second movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, went through a period in which it was constantly removed and then brought back together.

The first movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies are both featured in their theatrical version, however, when it comes to the second movie, this changed a lot as the movie was taken off and then brought back together.

One thing to keep in mind is that the entire trilogy seems to be set up to leave the platform, since the second movie no longer features on the app in certain countries, and some are missing the trilogy in its entirety. 

Despite all of this an added bonus is that the platform features all of the rest of the Lord of the Rings related content such as the upcoming television shows and documentaries centered around the filming process of the original trilogy.

Is Lord of the Rings on Amazon Prime? Can you stream it there?

Amazon Prime is the only other service aside from HBOMax that currently has all three movies of the trilogy ready for service. It has an added edge over the other streaming service since it features both the theatrical and extended versions of the movies.

The rental fee for the theatrical versions of the three movies in HD is 3.99 dollars and 9.99 dollars for the extended versions per movie. If you want to keep on to the trilogy you could always purchase theatrical and extended versions of the trilogy

Is the Hobbit on Amazon Prime?

Just like the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, Amazon prime features the Hobbit trilogy as well. Again, just like the original trilogy, the only other streaming service which features all three Hobbit movies is HBOMax.

If you want to re-watch the trilogy and avoid the rental fees on the platform you can always get this set which has the entire trilogy.

Is Lord of the Rings on Spectrum On Demand?

Spectrum On Demand features a part of the trilogy on its site. Currently the first and the third movie are available, however, the second one is missing.

This could change in the future since the site is often subjected to changes in its catalog.

Is the Hobbit on Spectrum On Demand?

The same thing works for the Hobbit trilogy as well. Currently, you can rent the first and the second movie, however, the last movie, The Battle of the Five Armies is absent from the site’s catalog. This could change over time since the site often makes changes to its catalog by adding and removing content.

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  Hrvoje Milakovic is co-owner of Fiction Horizon and a big cinephile. Apart from that, he likes to read comics, play games and collect action figures. He has been featured on LifeWire, Yahoo and IMDb, to name a few.