Given their epic scale, The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) films appropriately gargantuan runtimes especially when watching the beloved extended versions of the movies.
The fan-favorite trilogy of fantasy films from director Peter Jackson took J.R.R. Tolkien's groundbreaking narrative epic and put it to screen, telling the tale of Frodo Baggins, an unsuspecting hobbit who is thrust from his humble home of the Shire on a continent-spanning adventure to save the world.
Jackson's LOTR saga includes three mainline films (as well as three Hobbit movies) that, just like the novels they are based on, take their time to tackle every minute detail, character, and conflict found in Tolkien's Middle Earth.
How Long Are the Lord of the Rings Movies?
When it comes to looking at The Lord of the Rings movie runtimes, there are two different versions of the films to look at.
First, is the theatrical cut of each movie which follows the movies exactly as they played in theaters in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Then, there is the super-sized extended cut of the trilogy which was introduced as a part of the film's Blu-ray release in 2011. The extended cuts add new scenes and plenty of dialogue to bring even more context to Tolkien's fantasy world.
Most modern physical releases of the films include both the theatrical and extended editions of the movies and digital versions of both can be purchased from most digital storefronts (i.e., Amazon, YouTube, and Apple TV).
Below is the length of the theatrical cuts of the Lord of the Rings movies:
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - 178 minutes (2 hours 58 minutes)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - 179 minutes (2 hours 59 minutes)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - 200 minutes (3 hours 20 minutes)
The total runtime for the Lord of the Rings theatrical trilogy is 557 minutes (9 hours 17 minutes).
Next is a list of the extended cuts runtimes for comparison:
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - 208 minutes (3 hours 28 minutes)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - 223 minutes (3 hours 43 minutes)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - 251 minutes (4 hours 11 minutes)
The total runtime for the Lord of the Rings extended cuts is 682 minutes (11 hours 22 minutes).
How Long Are the Hobbit Movies?
Peter Jackson's series of Hobbit movies (based on the J.R.R. Tolkien prequel novel of the same name) sport similarly lengthy runtimes, which are escalated even further with extended cuts of their own.
The extended editions of the Hobbit trilogy (like The Lord of the Rings before it) were released alongside the Blu-ray versions of each Hobbit film.
Below is a full list of The Hobbit films and their theatrical runtimes:
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - 169 minutes (2 hours 49 minutes)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - 161 minutes (2 hours 41 minutes)
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - 164 minutes (2 hours 44 minutes)
The total runtime of the Hobbit theatrical cuts is 494 minutes (8 hours 14 minutes).
Next is a list of the same movies with their extended cuts:
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - 182 minutes (3 hours 2 minutes)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - 186 minutes (3 hours 6 minutes)
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - 164 minutes (2 hours 44 minutes)
The total runtime for the Hobbit extended cut trilogy is 532 minutes (8 hours 52 minutes).
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films are streaming on Max in the U.S.
Read more about Lord of the Rings:
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