Before I get yelled at I will say I have seen the movies and read the books, Several times.

My son however has not, I just ordered this game for us to play through and I am very torn whether we should watch the movies first or play the game first. What do you guys think? And no I am not concerned about the orcs giving him nightmares, He is well aware of the difference between real and imaginary and is very quick to point out whether something is a guy in a costume or CGI.

I'd say the movies first. That way when you guys play the game together, you can see the references and the funny legoed(?)-up things like in the quick look when one of the wraiths was riding the rushing river on a surfboard.

Also, if your son knows the story, getting slightly stuck in some places for a few minutes won't have an added annoyance of 'wanting to see the next thing' it might have otherwise if he's really liking it. Be easier to take breaks as well.

I want to say at that age just let him play the games, but the LoTR is well done enough where I feel regardless of his age he shouldnt have his first impression of the films corrupted from the games.

If any of the other Lego games are anything to go by, they riff strongly on the films, and you'll miss the humour if you haven't seen them.

That's pretty much what I've been leaning toward. I think the main reason I was resisting it is that the trilogy is so long it's going to take us a while to get the time to watch all three..... Guess I'm gonna have to hide the game and practice some of that patience I keep preaching to him

I recently played through the game with my girlfriend and we chose to watch the each film first then play the game. The credits role after each 'in-game' movie so you know when to stop playing and begin the next film. As other posters have said there are a lot of jokes in the game that would make no sense without seeing the movie, also there are quite a few bits missed out.