Favorite moments in the LotR movies?

[FPAlpha]

LotR does that really well i think, i.e. just jumping into the middle without bothering to take half the movie explaining the characters, what they've been through before the movie and their innermost thoghts etc the way other movies do so you understand the characters.

LotR shows the characters through their actions and the small character pieces strewn throughout (especially in the Extended editions) so you don't need longwinded and distracting scenes.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Fans can sometimes underestimate how well-known source material is to the general audience. In this case, I'd bet a lot of the general moviegoing audience had at least read or seen the cartoon version of The Hobbit.

 

[Set Harth]

Galadriel's narration at the beginning of LOTR: FOTR.

'I amar prestar aen' - The world is changed; 'han mathon ne nen' - I hear it in the water... The music during that sequence...

It's just such an awesome way to begin the journey.

Ironically, it's dialogue lifted from Treebeard in the ROTK text, at the end of the journey.

Yeah, that was pretty good... but what would have really been touching would have been to skip all that in order to jump 17 years into the future, when everyone's fully healed, married up, and has several little moppets apiece.

Hah! Skip ahead 17 years? Peter Jackson would never do such a -

... never mind.

 

[Eyes]

Merry, when the Rohirrim are riding off to Minas Tirith, looking lost that he can't go to war, and then Eowyn suddenly comes up behind him... "Ride with me"

Also everything else that's been mentioned in this thread. The movies are completely flawless for me. I can always want to watch them and every moment is great.

Musically, which I'm just doing as an aside, because I can't not mention the music, The Breaking Of The Fellowship, especially when Sam is wading out to the boat and Frodo saves him from drowning. Lovely piece.

 

[Candlelight]

Any part of it where I can spot the location they used within New Zealand.

Which is about 75% of it.

 

[Silent_Bob]

One of my favourites is Smeagol and Gollums argument in The Two Towers. It's a masterpiece of both CGI animation and vocal work by Andy Serkis, and when considered with the ultimate fate of Smeagol its rather heartbreaking to see how he struggled to be good rather than give in to the corruption of the ring.

 

[AJBryant]

God, so many.

When Arwen first appears to Frodo, and he sees her through the eyes of the Dark World -- as an elf princess in finery and glowing with power. "Im Arwen, telin le thaed. Lasto beth nin. Tolo nan dan galad."

When the elves majestically march into Helm's Deep. Yes, I know it's not in the book, but it's a damned powerful scene, and Shore's music makes it more powerful.

"The Ents are going to WAR." Again, Shore's music.

The frantic flight across the Pelenor field of the Gondorian troops in the face of the Nazgul, as Gandalf appears in the nick of time.

That silent, futile ride of the Gondor guard across the field toward Osgiliath, with the orc archers laying in wait.

When the beacons are lit and the fires go from peak to peak, and the music swells and increases pace... up to Aragorn's "The beacons are lit -- Gondor calls for aid." And that long pause..... "And Rohan will ANSWER!" (Damn, tearing up just thinking about it!)

The riding out of the Rohirrim from Edoras.

The appearance of the Rohirrim on the Rammas of the Pelennor.

The charge of the Rohirrim into the orc host.

Theoden: "I now go to the halls of my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel shame."

Sam: "I can't carry it. But I can carry YOU." I swear to God, Sean Astin should have gotten an Oscar nomination for that role. Good Lord, that man can act. I FELT what he felt.

 

[John O.]

I think Gandalf's fight with the Balrog is an obvious one but not for the reasons one might suspect. The CGI aside, it's one of the most fascinating parts not just of the movie but of the books because of the line "Servant of the Sacred Fire, Wielder of the Flame of Arnor" which are hotly debated in terms of meaning. It's generally believed that it's some sort of reference to the fact that as a Maiar, Gandalf's "Master" is Manwe, the "King" of the Valar. Gandalf's sacrifice was particularly meaningful because a Balrog was one of the few creatures he could fight where he wouldn't really know for sure what was going to happen in the end - and even though he "came back" - bearing in mind that it felt for him like thousands and thousands of years, it was quite a sacrifice.

 

[Set Harth]

It's the flame of Anor, not the flame of Arnor ( the Arnor plotline was kind of swept under the rug by Jackson's crew ). It may be a reference to the "Flame Imperishable":

In J. R. R. Tolkien's mythology, the Secret Fire and Flame Imperishable are references to the life-giving and reality-bestowing power imparted to the world, Eä, by Ilúvatar. In an early draft of the "Music of the Ainur", Tolkien writes: "Only one thing I [Ilúvatar] have added, the fire that giveth Life and Reality, and behold, the secret fire burnt at the heart of the world." To the extent that "secret fire" remained in later drafts, the initial intent is clear: "secret fire" is the divine "spark" of life. Gandalf's reference to being a servant of the secret fire thus implies he is a servant of Ilúvatar. Tolkien described it as similar to the Christian Holy Spirit. Melkor, desiring power equal to Ilúvatar, sought for it in vain. Melkor's desire for the Secret Fire led to his rebellion against Ilúvatar (reminiscent of Satan).

( It also may be worth noting that the Quenya word for the Sun, Anar, is only one letter off. )

 

[coolghoul]

Another favorite scene is the cry of "Shire! Baggins!" from a tortured unseen Gollum and the Nazgul saddle up for some action in LOTR:FOTR. That cry is almost musical in itself (well - it still sounds tortured but it really *works* with the surrounding music).

 

[Agony_Boothb]

For me it has to be the arrival of the eagles at the black gate to give the Nazgul a good arse kicking.

 

[coolghoul]

Another great scene was the Nazgul's horse entering a mist-laden scene of the Shire in LOTR:FOTR. Chilling and Haunting!

 

[Admiral Shran]

So many! I'll narrow it down to my favorites from each movie.

The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Bridge of Khazad Dum. Shore's music is amazing.
- Gandalf and Saurman's duel at Isengard

The Two Towers
- The Last March of the Ents. Oh my God, I wanted to yell "YES" at the screen when I first saw it.
- The end credits, particularly Gollum's Song. Still gets me teary-eyed.

The Return of the King
- Our first view of Minas Tirith. Again, Shore's music = amazing!
- The Witch King breaks Gandalf's staff and almost defeats him =

 

[coolghoul]

Another one from LOTR:FOTR

The council of Elrond is in disarray and you can hear in the background (or is it the ring saying it)
Ash nazg durbatulûk,
ash nazg gimbatul,

ash nazg thrakatulûk
agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.​

 

[Saxman1]

I liked the part where Frodo passed out. Oh, wait....that was several times in every movie!

 

[FPAlpha]

Another one from LOTR:FOTR

The council of Elrond is in disarray and you can hear in the background (or is it the ring saying it)
Ash nazg durbatulûk,
ash nazg gimbatul,

ash nazg thrakatulûk
agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.​

Building on that the Extended Version of Elrond's Council has Gandalf "losing" it and speaking the dark tongue within the council.. the whole atmosphere darkens and shifts to become menacing.. brilliant.

 

[Astraea]

So many to choose from...

FotR:
-Aragorn's first appearance in the tavern, and then fighting off the Nazgul on Weathertop.
-The "second breakfast" exchange.
-Aragorn and Boromir's meeting, talking about the Sword-That-Was-Broken.
-When Gandalf lights up the hall of Khazad-Dum and the music swells - it's one of the perfect moments where the score fits wonderfully with the scene, like the introductions of Rohan in TTT or Minas Tirith in RotK.
-When Galadriel shows Frodo the mirror and offers him the chance to look into it, as well as her discussion of what it means to be a Ringbearer. (I'm not a fan of the effects done during the actual "All shall love me and despair!" scene, but I love the Galadriel scenes.
-The Argonath (although the error when viewed from behind does bother me.)
-Boromir's final scene with Aragorn.
-Aragorn's decision to go after Merry and Pippin. I still remember the sinking feeling in my chest the first time I saw this, realized it was going to be the end of the film, and there was going to be an entire year before the next movie came out.

TTT:
-Theoden's being released from Saruman's control still makes me marvel at how well they meshed the make-up and the effects, and Bernard Hill sells is really well.
-Theodred's funeral and Theoden's "No father should have to bury their child," dialogue.
-Eowyn's scenes with Wormtongue; Brad Dourif does a wonderful job of conveying how creepy he is.
-The dialogue that Faramir stole from Sam about wondering about who the fallen soldier really was, and if he would have rather stayed at home, in peace. Usually dialogue-swapping really bothers me, but this was nicely done.
-In the EE, Faramir's flashback to a triumphant Boromir and the introduction of Denethor.

RotK:
-The way that Pippin looks at Merry just before setting off for Minas Tirith.
-Pippin's pledge of allegiance to Denethor.
-The cutting between "The Sacrifice of Faramir" and Denethor's meal, with Pippin's song.
-In the EE, two of Faramir's extended scenes: the first, where Denethor hallucinates Boromir returning with the Ring; the second, Faramir and Eowyn in the Houses of Healing.
-Aragorn's epic speech before the final charge. "...but it is not this day!"
-Frodo and the other hobbits sitting in the Shire, having changed so much while nothing's changed around them.

And I could list so many more...it would actually be easier to do a "least-favorite moments" post.

 

[Bagliun Edar]

Gandalf fighting the balrog.

 

[Shakaar]

Lot of great moments. Personally, I think the entire Moria sequence is one of the best sequences ever put on film. The Bridge scene was even better than I expected. I really can't hold Shore's contribution in higher esteem. The brief scene just after emerging from Moria where Aragorn tries to rally the Fellowship to move on, as someone else mentioned, was a definite highlight. The look on Frodo's face as the mournful choir kicks in was very effective. It's a shame the original soundtrack album cut that piece short, but it was fixed with The Complete Score.

I also can't thank Jackson enough for what he did with Boromir. In Tolkien's book, he always came off as kind of an ass and was pretty unlikeable. Jackson and Bean's performance really made me care for the character for the first time. It was great to see him get a moving sendoff rather than the kind of off-screen death he gets in the book.