Where to watch The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim on streaming

There has been a lot of discussion around works based on the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien in the past years. Amazon released its highly-divisive Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power years after Peter Jackson turned The Hobbit from a children's bedtime story into an action-packed trilogy. It would be easy to overlook a story based on the history of one nation in Middle-Earth, but The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim came to theaters in 2024 and is now coming to streaming. Here's why you should see it and where it can be found.

What is The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim?

If you've read or watched The Lord of the Rings, you'll remember Rohan as "home of the horse lords." This kingdom, with its thatched houses surrounding Edoras or the Golden Hall, has a proud history and rich traditions. It is the homeland of the Riders of Rohan and many of the women act as shieldmaidens. When Gondor called for aid in thier war against the Dark Lord, Rohan answered and many people lost their lives in the battle at Minis Tirith. They also fought to defend their own lands when Saruman the White sent armies of orcs to attack Helm's Deep.

The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of some of that history and sheds a spotlight on one shieldmaiden. According to IMDb, "Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of [Lord of the Rings] films, it tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan." There is a great deal of interpersonal struggle, especially between the Princess Hera and the ruthless Wulf, who "seeks vengeance for the death of his father..[and] forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of te Hornbrg." The people of Rohan must survive a siege and fight back against their oppressors to find victory.

The animation is rich and the story is well-crafted. It is written by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou and directed by Kennji Kamiyama. The music is done by Stephen Gallagher and mixes the familiar Rohan music by Howard Shore with original themes of his own. Brian Cox voices Helm, with Gaia Wise playing his daughter and Miranda Otto narrating the saga. Old favorites Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, who played Pippin and Merry in The Lord of the Rings, make cameos as orc guards.

Where can we find it?

While the movie is available for rental on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Youtube, Forbes reports that it will be available for streaming on Max on February 28.

Viewers who want to stream this anime take on Tolkien "must subscribe to the Warner Bros. Discovery platform for access.