THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
An inspiring, redemptive epic finish with intense battle violence.
Should You Watch It?
Peter Jackson closes the HOBBIT trilogy with a sweeping, emotionally powerful adventure. The film celebrates courage, sacrifice, forgiveness, friendship, and the strength found when divided people unite against evil. Its moral center is clear: greed must be overcome, differences set aside, and good must stand against evil.
The cost is intense and sometimes scary violence. No blood is shown, but battles include stabbings and decapitations of Orcs, along with frightening creatures and a scary voice. Younger or sensitive viewers may find those scenes overwhelming.
If your family includes older children who can handle that level of fantasy violence, this is worth seeing; use discernment with younger children and sensitive teens.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESThe dragon Smaug has brought devastation to Laketown, and Bard the Bowman must make a desperate stand with help from his brave son. Nearby, the dwarves have reclaimed the Lonely Mountain, but their leader, Thorin Oakenshield, is consumed by greed.
As armies of dwarves, elves, and humans face division, a huge Orc army marches toward the mountain and Middle Earth. The peoples of Middle Earth must decide whether to remain divided or unite against a common evil.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a top-quality epic adventure, and the film earns that rating through its direction, acting, cinematography, action, and drama. Peter Jackson uses green-screen effects effectively alongside New Zealand’s terrain to create a convincing Middle Earth. The action keeps the story moving despite its nearly two-and-one-half-hour running time.
Martin Freeman gives an emotionally powerful performance as Bilbo, while Ian McKellen fully embodies Gandalf. Richard Armitage convincingly portrays Thorin’s movement from obsessive greed toward inspirational leadership. Billy Connolly also brings welcome humor.
The Worldview
The film’s worldview is strongly moral and redemptive, with clear Christian values. It exalts courage, sacrificial friendship, forgiveness, cooperation, and good overcoming evil. Its strongest moral emphasis is the need for divided peoples—especially Elves, Dwarves, and humans—to drop their differences and unite against a common enemy.
The story also warns against greed. Thorin’s obsession with the gold of the Lonely Mountain takes control of him, but that greed is rebuked. The film presents sacrifice for the common good and working together despite differences as noble and necessary.
The fantasy world includes a reference to using spells, and Galadriel wards off a frightening creature. Even so, the film communicates the Christian values that Movieguide sees as inherent in Tolkien’s original story.
The central call to overcome evil with courage and unity aligns with Scripture: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong moral worldview with strong Christian, redemptive content and values includes positive underlying theme of the need to unite together and drop differences between the divided armies (particularly between the Elves and Dwarves and humans) and unite together to fight against the evil army of orcs, with strong inspirational aspects of forgiveness and heroic sacrifice including the Bowman who takes on the dragon Smaug, helped by his son, movie also highlights the dangers of greed when Dwarf leader is taken over by “dragon-sickness” as he becomes obsessed with protecting the gold in the Lonely Mountain, plus there is reference to using spells to be free when Gandalf is trapped in a cell on the top of a mountain; the words “bastard” and “bugger” are used once or twice; lots of strong, intense and sometimes scary violence in large battle scenes (often with scary creatures), but no blood seen, decapitations of creatures in battle scenes, fights between the Dwarf leader and the Orc leader include a violent stabbing, scary scene when Galadriel (the Elf Queen) wards off creature with a scary sounding voice; no sex; upper male nudity; no drinking; no smoking but Gandalf shown cleaning his pipe; and, greed but rebuked, and hero is imprisoned but escapes.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Thorin’s greed threatens his ability to do what is right. Why can wealth become so powerful in a person’s heart, and how does Scripture tell us to respond?
Matthew 6:19–21 · 1 Timothy 6:9–10The divided armies must set aside their differences to face evil together. When should Christians pursue unity, and what should that unity be centered on?
Ephesians 4:1–6 · Philippians 2:1–4The story honors heroic sacrifice for the good of others. What does sacrificial friendship look like in ordinary life?
John 15:13 · Philippians 2:3–4The film emphasizes courage in the face of evil. What does it mean to overcome evil with good?
Romans 12:21 · Ephesians 6:10–18The Final Word
This is a stirring, beautifully made conclusion that honors courage, sacrifice, forgiveness, and unity. Its intense fantasy violence makes discernment important for younger viewers, but older children and adults can find a deeply moral adventure here. WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND UP.
