2. The Battle For Helmes Deep (Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers)
New Line CinemaThe battle scenes in the third and final film may be on a larger scale with a more varied assortment of the nastiest creatures in all of Middle Earth but the Battle for Helmes Deep which is the main climax of the second film has an incredibly tense atmosphere which the siege of Minas Tirith fails to recapture. Not only does the structure of Helmes Deep feel rather more enclosed and constrictive than the sprawling Minas Tirith but the disorganised men of Rohan and the small unit of elves fell like a far less adequate force than the men of Gondor. Matched up against 10,000 of Sarumans brutish Uruk-hai, there is a definite sense that the film is going to end with all the heroes being killed off by the horde; despite being enclosed in the supposedly impregnable fortress. The lofty claims regarding the defenses of Helmes Deep made by Théoden the king of Rohan prove to be extremely untrue. The siege machines and gunpowder of Sarumans horde mean that the enemy are quickly inside the fortress walls but some heroics by the men inside mean that they hold the city. Seeing the defending force unleash a volley from their unit of elvish reinforcements is not only incredibly awesome to witness but also draws on the aforementioned example of 1964s Zulu and the British defence against the natives. Amid all this breath-taking action and awe-inspiring combat Peter Jackson manages to give himself a cameo appearance as a defending soldier hurling a javelin at an Uruk. This appearance acts as a nice breather from the intense action for anyone who recognises the Australian director.