8. LOTR: The Return Of The King - Battle At The Black Gate
There are many battles throughout The Lord of the Rings where the heroes are saved at the last second by some previously unseen force or ally. However, one of the victories achieved by a technical fluke is during the The Battle at the Black Gate, where Aragorn, Gandalf, and Merry and Pippin make a final stand against Mordor. Severely, almost hilariously outnumbered, the remainder of the original Fellowship (in addition to a small band of warriors from Gondor) puts on a valiant show against the loathsome forces of Sauron's evil during this battle, yet it is to no avail. Just when defeat seems imminent however, salvation arrives from an unlikely place. Inside of Mount Doom the loathsome Gollum - who has spent the entire franchise trying to get back his "precious" - chooses to finally attack Frodo for the Ring of Power, eventually causing himself to fall into the lava of the volcano. This is an incredibly lucky break, as director Peter Jackson explicitly shows that Frodo is unwilling to throw the ring into the pit on his own accord. Without Gollum's selfish but ultimately valuable actions the ring wouldn't have been destroyed. Also, the Fellowship would have met a horrific fate, as Jackson shows that the only reason the hordes of Mordor stop fighting is because they witness Sauron's eye crumble and finally explode.