Late last year, Warner Bros. Pictures released an all-new animated Lord of the Rings movie in theaters, and now, just a few short months later, it’s moving to Max. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will make its streaming debut on Max on Friday, February 28. You can also watch it on HBO on Saturday, March 1, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
This animated movie from director Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) takes place 183 years before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. The War of the Rohirrim follows Rohan’s king Helm Hammerhand and his family as they attempt to fend off an attack by Dunlending lord Wulf in their stronghold of the Hornburg.
The English voice cast is led by Brian Cox (Succession) as Helm Hammerhand. He’s joined by Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) as his daughter Héra, Luke Pasqualino (Skins) as his enemy Wulf, and Miranda Otto (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Éowyn, reprising her role from the original trilogy and serving as this story’s narrator.
Like the Hobbit movies, The War of the Rohirrim didn’t achieve the same critical success as the original trilogy. With a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is actually the lowest-rated Lord of the Rings movie to date, even lower than the 1978 animated adaptation.
“Worse ‘art’ has been made in the name of a studio trying to retain the rights to a franchise,” said Zachary Lee in his review for RogerEbert.com, “but it’s hard to remember the last time a project embodied its company’s marching orders so blatantly.”
It’s true that this movie’s goal was to allow New Line Cinema to retain the film rights to Tolkien’s books, but it’s still a brand new Lord of the Rings movie. For many viewers, that will be enough. You can stream it on Max to find out for yourself next week.
