Many many moments I love, some mentioned already. I bow in reverence to McKellen and Holm, two fine fine actors doing wonderful things with my favorite characters. I find that every scene with the two of them in it holds my attention. Also, every scene between McKellen and Christopher Lee is top-notch (this may be the reason I enjoy Fellowship most).
A random collection of scenes I love:
-Bilbo’s birthday speech
-The part where Gandalf jumps off Isengard and onto the back of a rescuing eagle = breathtaking
-The Ents attack Isengard
I think McKellen’s performance was the anchor that kept the movies human and protected them from being overwhelmed by the visual spectacles that abounded and should have garnered him at least one Oscar.
The best thing about that scene was when Gimli tried to break the Ring with his axe. The sudden look of “I have a severe migraine and you just turned on the blender” look on Frodo’s face conveyed volumes about the power of the Ring.
What were your favorite Nazgul scenes? For me, almost every one in FOTR, and very few in the other movies.
One from TTT that tdn reminded me of: when the Rohirrim are in Helm’s Deep, and they’re so short of warriors they start arming children and old men. That chokes me up every time. Reminded me of a similar scene from the Babylon 5 movie, In the Beginning, which is also one of my all-time favorites.
Yep. You’ll notice that most of my choices highlight the utter lack of hope in that movie. It’s a total wrist-slitter. The victory at the end is made all the more profound because of it.
Notice also that almost all of my choices have something to do with light and darkness – PJ very definitely did Tolkien justice in that regard.
In FOTR:
Boromirs death - He’s valiant, courageous, noble - he’s shown as the hero that, despite his failings, he is.
In TTT:
Eowins song (lament?) at the burial of the kings son Theodred. I know know some find that it’s not “nice” singing, but she fills it with so much emotion, and it’s so wonderfully, wonderfully sad.
In ROTK:
The charge of the Rohirrim and Theodens speech right before it (actually it’s especially the speech) and Theodens death.
… and actually, now I’m wondering why I think the best moments are mostly deaths … it must say something about me …
This is a great thread. It really shows the main reason why I liked the movies so much. Allow me to elaborate.
I first read LotR when I was about 11. I can’t remember how many times I have re-read it. I have a very clear idea of how everything in those three books just look, sound, and feel. What PJ produced is not what I imagined.
Many pedants (I won’t say “fanboy”, because, really, if you’re in this thread at all you fit the bill) have taken this as a reason to trash talk the films. Not me. I have thoroughly enjoyed PJ’s vision of the trilogy, for the ability to see someone else’s passionate view of the story. True, in a small number of cases I have been disappointed where a scene didn’t live up to the potential I thought it had. But PJ not only met my expectations, but far, far exceeded them.
My favorites, many of which have been mentioned include but are not limited to:
FotR
“No, nothing … wait” As already stated, Gandalf’s face speaks volumes.
Sam being further from home than he’d ever been, followed by Frodo quoting Bilbo’s adage about travelling, which actually “melds” into Bilbo’s voice.
The great halls of Dwarrowdwelf. “I think we can risk a little light”.
The Argonath. Just seeing them. I’ve imagined this scene since I was a child. Somehow, and I’m still not sure how, PJ managed to convey the full sense of wonder far better than I ever could have imagined.
Boromir’s death. But I have to admit, I had such very high expectations of this scene, this is one of the rare cases where PJ merely met my expectations and did not exceed them.
TTT
“The White Wizard approaches”, and the subsequent joy, even religious ecstasy, when they discover it is Gandalf.
Eowyn runs outside the King’s hall to escape Wormtongue’s foul words. She stands there, the wind ripping away a banner as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli approach.
“My lord, how can fire undo stone?” Saruman gently pushing him (and the candle he is holding) back from the pot of black powder.
The scene of the Mount Doom and Barad Dur as the last scene fades and the credits roll. This is an adaptation of a famous painting, and is just … wow.
RotK
The lighting of the bonfires, as the scene takes us from Minas Tirith all the way to Medusel. This may be PJ’s finest moment to me, as I never attached much importance to this bit. Incredible.
The Rohirrim appear on the horizon. Theoden’s speech.
Sam carries Frodo. Aw, geez, I get misty eyed just typing it.
“My friends, you bow to no one”. At least, I assume it’s a great scene because so far every time I’ve seen it my eyes have been too filled with tears to see clearly.
And I have high hopes for the EE:
Aragorn wresting control of the Palantir from Sauron.
When Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin are hiding under the tree root. If you look very carefully at the far right of the screen, you’ll be able to see past the tree. The Nazgul, coming from screen right, doesn’t appear there before coming round the other side of the tree. It’s as if it materialized from behind the tree. I don’t know if it’s a goof or intentional, but it worked for me.
Second favorite was when you saw them from ring-wearing Frodo’s perspective on Weather Top. Creeped me out and made me sad at the same time.
FOTR: Our first look at the Nazgul – galloping madly out of Minas Morgul. I just love that shot.
The Nazgul swept away by the river.
The Balrog.
Great lines:
“It comes in pints?”
“I don’t think he knows about second breakfast.”
“They have a cave troll.” Just the resigned annoyance. Oh great, what a pain in the ass this is gonna be.
TT: The Black Gate (so freakin’ COOL!) The Easterlings. Hiding under the elven cloaks.
Gandalf: “You wouldn’t begrudge an old man his walking stick…?” And the wink.
“I didn’t pass through fire and death to bandy words with a witless worm.”
Elves arriving at Helm’s Deep. The way they snap to attention in perfect unison.
ROTK: the Rohirrim charge. Just leaves me breathless every time.
“My friends, you bow to no one.”
Mine is when the hobbits are hiding under the tree root, and the Black Rider appears on the road above them–and then, sensing the Ring nearby, crouches down right over them. I’ve had a screenshot of this image as my wallpaper at work the last few days. Aside from this being such a wonderful image, I like the worms and spiders and centipede coming out, as if nature is revolted and trying to get away from this horrible creature.
Oh, I forgot another great one: In the retrospective shots of the Last Alliance, with the orcs charging the elves. It so perfectly illustrates it as a battle of Order versus Chaos: The orcs in this jumbled mass, with the Elvish glaives snapping up in perfect sequence to meet them.
The Balrog was very good, but I didn’t think it was a balrog. It needed less of flame and more of shadow about it, it shouldn’t have been so huge, and it should have been silent. But I guess that this isn’t the right thread for that.
It was a cool scene, but I thought it got it backwards. It seemed to me that the elvish forces should have been the chaotic one, and the orcs orderly.
Not that the elves should have been a howling mob, of course. But it seems that the character of an elf would tend towards the individualistic and free-natured. Humans need laws because we need to deliniate what is and is not acceptable. But elves, being inherently good, would instinctivly know right from wrong, and choose right, at least for the most part. Plus, being relatively few in number, they don’t need to form complex societies like more populous species do. There’s enough “space” in Elvish society for everyone to do their thing. And being so long-lived and individually powerful, they’d likely become highly individualistic and strong willed… and difficult to lead or organize.
Orcs, on the other hand, come in swarms. There’re millions of the damned things. An army that big needs some serious logistics if they aren’t going to starve to death or die of disease before they get to a fight. And that means some serious order. Or, more properly, a bloody-handed regimentation on all levels of orcish soceity. Orcs are cogs. Pawns for the more powerful, and any sign of individualization is ruthlessly stamped out. Sauron is, after all, interested in control, and where would that control be more clearly expressed than in the vast armies he needs to carve out and keep his empire?
I imagined a fight between an army of elves and orcs to be like a battle between the Germanic tribes and Imperial Rome. The orcs come in tight regiments, foragers scouring the land for resources and taking them back to be processed and distributed by the miles-long supply wagon, leaving the land stripped and polluted behind them. The elves melt out of the forest, each having made their own way to the rendezvous, only becoming an army when they arrive. When the battle starts, the elves would each fight on their own, each one with a unique fighting style. The orcs come in tightly packed waves, marching in lockstep to titanic drumbeats, and fall over the elves in waves, striking in unison so that the elves can’t possibly block every blow, and gradually surrounding and overwhelming each individual elf with sheer numbers.
'Course, I don’t know what the good professor’s take on it was. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were closer to PJ’s than to mine. Besides which, like Ponder Stibbons said, I don’t go to the theater to see the movie that’s in my head, I go to see the movie that’s in someone elses.
Aragorn singing the Declaration of Elendil. “Out of the great sea of Middle Earth I am come. In this place I will abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.”
I always declare the same thing, in the elvish, at least once a year when I come out of the lake after swimming. And I did so before Viggo even got the part!
Oh, dear. I think everyone else already got all my favourite bits… no, wait! The bit where Gollum is hugging himself and talking about why he’s so miserable. “Smeagol… why are you so sad, Smeagol? Cruel Men hurts us- Master tricks us”, especially at the end, when Faramir asks him what they took from him, and he snaps.
“If I should return, Father, think better of me”
“That shall depend on the manner of your returning”
Of course, I love all the other bits, too. I cried almost all the way through ROTK, from charge the Fields of Pelennor to the end. And I think I was screaming “Forth Eorlingas! Death!” etc. throughout most of the battle scenes.
Ooh, the change that comes over Gollum’s face when Frodo tells him he’s going to destroy the Ring. My husband says it’s the moment when Smeagol, rather than Gollum, decides to kill Frodo.
So many of my favorite moments have already been said. These three films are my top favorites of all time and I love everything about LOTR. Let me see, in order of the films:
Fellowship
The Last Alliance. I love the shot of the Elves all holding up their swords.
In Bag End, when Bilbo drops the ring and it makes a weighty thud and sticks to the floor.
The shot of the Ringwraiths as they come into the Prancing Pony, with their swords all held horizontally piercing the film frame. The music there works wonders with the visuals.
The water-horses of the Bruinen that overcome the Ringwraiths.
In the EE, when Gandalf says the Black Speech in Rivendell.
“You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring.”
The Fellowship as they leave Rivendell and pass over a mountain, all in order as the “hero” theme plays at its strongest throughout the whole 3 films.
The Dwarrowdelf, and the wide shot of them that is taken directly from an Alan Lee painting.
The Balrog
The Argonath
In the EE, Legolas pulling several arrows from his quiver and shooting them in rapid succession against the orcs at Parth Galen.
The Two Towers
When Shadowfax comes running over the plains.
The first sight of Meduseld.
Eowyn’s dirge in the EE.
“Wraiths! Wraiths on wings!”
When the Elves first arrive at Helm’s Deep and they are in perfect unison. (And that piece of music is one of my favorites from the whole trilogy).
The shot of the Uruk-hai arriving at Helm’s Deep when the lightning flashes.
The look of absolute horror and disbelief on Theoden’s face when the Deeping Wall is broken.
Theoden’s speech “Where is the horse and the rider.”
The charge of Theoden and Aragorn. “Now for wrath! Now for ruin, and a red dawn! Forth Eorlingas!”
Return of the King
The first sight of Minas Tirith as it appears in the distance.
Pippin’s song as Faramir and company ride out to their doom. Incredibly moving scene.
The lighting of the beacons.
When we first see the Morgul Lord in all his armor, along with Gandalf’s narration. “Sauron has yet to reveal his deadliest servant. The one who would lead Mordor’s armies in war. The one they say no living man can kill: the Witch-King of Angmar.”
The split second before Minas Morgul lights its own beacon, when the sound goes quiet, as if all energy and life is being sucked inwards and then explodes in a towering pillar of green light.
Theoden and the Rohirrim arriving at the Pelennor, their horses streching the length of the entire screen.
Theoden’s speech before the charge: “Arise, Arise, Riders of Theoden. Spears will be shaken, shields splintered. A sword-day, a red day and the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending!! Death! Death! Death! Forth Eorlingas!”
The arrival of the Mumakil and the chanting of the Haradrim.
“I can’t carry it for you. But I can carry you!”
When Frodo claims the ring for himself in the Sammath Naur.
The shot of Gollum when he reclaims the ring. His face is so overcome with joy and happiness and the camera pulls out through the ring he is holding in the air.
When the ring seems to be trying it’s hardest not to melt in the lava and the soundtrack sounds like a heartbeat.
The collapse of the Barad-dur.
Elessar’s coronation and his words: “This day does not belong to one man but to all. Let us together rebuild this world that we may share in the days of peace. Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta!”
“My friends, you bow to no one.”
The shot of the ship leaving the Grey Havens.
Sam’s final line, “Well, I’m back.”
Wow, thinking of all that has really made me want to go rewatch the films right now! I can’t wait for the ROTK EE for it will be sure to add many more favorite scenes like:
[spoiler]
Gandalf’s confrontation with the Witch-king. Finally we will see the resolution to “I will break him!”
Aragorn confronting Sauron with the palantir.
The Mouth of Sauron, “I have a token I was bidden to show thee.”[/spoiler]
A very few that I haven’t seen posted yet, that I must add:
FOTR (my second favorite, coming very closely behind ROTK)
The entire “Concerning Hobbits” sequence from the EE.
Gandalf imprisoned at the top of Isengard. We hear the clanging drums and the deep brass while we watch orcs rip down trees and forge weapons. Then the music changes, and we see the top of the tower. Apparently, a dove is flying to Gandalf. But as we get closer, we find out that the white winged creature is a moth…
Arwen comes to Frodo, shrouded in light, after Frodo is wounded… such beauty in the midst of terror and darkness…
TTT (IMHO, by far the weakest)
The mother putting her two children on a horse and sending them to Meduseld. Scenes like this made the stakes of the war more real than they ever appeared in Tolkien.
And I do have to second the sequence where Arwen visualizes Aragorn’s death, because it is a sadly maligned bit.
Man, those marching feet raised my hackles. My home stereo is good enough that 10,000 orcs can make the floor shake.
The scene where Aragorn takes the sword from the frightened child, swings it around, and says, “It is a good sword.”
ROTK (To me, the best - I came out of the theater comparing it to the first time I’d heard Handel’s Messiah)
Gandalf in tears (grieving for Frodo and Sam), as the tower of Barad Dur crumbles.
Any scene with Ian McKellan, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, or Bernard Hill.
There’s probably some rule against posting 3 times, but I can’t believe I forgot two of my favorite moments earlier:
-Aragorn saying “For Frodo”. Boy did Viggo nail that moment
-Faramir saying to his father that he knows he wishes Faramir had died rather than Boromir. I cry every time. No doubts about David Wenham’s acting ability.
(What well cast films they were!)
This thread is reminding me how enjoyable these movies are.
So many have been mentioned here already, I’ll just refine one.
I love when the Ents attack, but I laughed out loud, as did many people in the theatre, when the Ent who was on fire went striding to the onrushing water and plunged his burning “head” in.
In ROTK, there is one wonderful scene that you all probably overlooked:
Faramir is sent back to Osgiliath. He and his army are leaving Minas Tirith, riding through the narrow streets. Somebody is carrying a banner. The banner is blowing in the wind – get this – aft of the rider.
Think about it.
Wind can come from any direction. The banner could be blown forward. Or sideways. Or right in the rider’s face. But that would look stupid. You never see a banner being blown backwards in any artist’s depiction of a similar scene because it doesn’t look noble somehow. And if you’ve ever played Knight or Superhero as a kid, you remember that the wind was always in the most unfavorable direction in a most unflattering way.
But in this scene, the banner is properly blowing aft. How did they do this? Did they have to wait until winds were blowing favorably until they shot the scene? Did they rotate the set into the wind? Did they use big fans? Was that banner added with CGI? However they did it, it shows an enormous attention to a detail that most viewers would probably take for granted. That’s impressive.
