The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Review

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Legendarium is extensive and more than just The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. This rich source material has been mined again, resulting in an anime prequel based on the legend of Helm Hammerhand.

183 years before the events of The War of the Ring, Rohan entered into a war that nearly destroyed the kingdom. This happened after King Helm (Brian Cox) killed Freca (Shaun Dooley), the lord of the Dunlendings when Freca proposed a marriage match. Freca’s son, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), vows revenge and it’s up to Helm’s daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise) to lead the defence of Rohan against the Wulf and his hordes.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was an unusual project since anime tends to appeal to a niche audience. There have been anime adaptations based on Western properties, but they have usually been straight-to-DVD projects like The Animatrix, Halo Legends, and Batman: Gotham Knight or streaming series such as Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Terminator Zero. Then I watched Dan Murrell’s video review and he pointed out that War of the Rohirrim was fast-tracked so Warner Brothers could keep hold of the rights to the Lord of the Rings property. This makes a lot of sense since a film about the Hunt for Gollum has been commissioned for a 2026 release and if Warner Brothers let the rights lapse, then Amazon would swoop in.

The War of the Rohirrim had a reported budget of $30 million and this would have mitigated some of the risk. Even if the film flops at the box office it will probably make its money through TV broadcasts, streaming rights, and home media sales. However, this lower budget does show because the animation was lacklustre and pales to recent anime films like Belle, Suzume, and The Boy and the Heron. It does lead to the question was The War of the Rohirrim was intended to be released on Max but it got bumped up to a theatrical release.

The Lord of the Rings property has had a rough time in recent years. The Hobbit trilogy movie had a long development cycle under Guillermo del Toro but it ended up being thrust on Peter Jackson. Amazon’s Rings of Power has received a mixed reception, and Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been seen as one of the worst video games in recent memory. So, War of the Rohirrim couldn’t be the low point for the franchise.

The stakes in The War of the Rohirrim weren’t as high as in other Middle-Earth stories. It wasn’t about the men and other races fighting off a world-ending villain, but the threat was still severe enough since losing would have been disastrous for the people of Rohan. The villain of the film’s motivations were envy and revenge, so he was more human. Although Wulf does come as a whiny boy who’s unhappy that he was bested by a woman. The War of the Rohirrim played more like Game of Thrones since it was more about political conflicts, personal interests, vendettas, and broken oaths.

One of the most contentious aspects of the film was Héra’s role. The character didn’t have a name in the Lord of the Rings Appendices, yet the film bumped her up to be an important character which has annoyed Tolkien purists and more unpleasant sections of the internet. Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s world has taken liberties with the source material and original characters had been created before. The film opens with Éowyn (Miranda Otto) narrating and saying not all legends aren’t remembered and this was the filmmakers’ attempt to justify the story.

Héra was a decent enough character. She was strong, brave, and skilled and thrust into a position of leadership. Héra was a standard tomboy princess who wanted to be in control of her destiny: she had no intention of being married off or hiding behind castle walls. She was similar to characters like Merida and Arya Stark.

The War of the Rohirrim did come across as glorified fan fiction. Some moments felt close to scenes in Jackson’s trilogy to the point I wanted to stand up and shout Theoden’s speeches and thought of Éowyn’s reveal during the Battle of Pelennor Field. The film made references to the wider lore to try to tie itself more with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Many of the voice performances reminded me of the Game of Thrones fan-made audio drama Robert’s Rebellion since many of the actors spoke in a formal manner with Northern English accents.

The War of the Rohirrim was a failed experiment for the Lord of the Rings franchise. It offered nothing new and was sadly a forgettable offering.