10 Movie Moments We Waited Years For (That Lived Up To Expectations)

1. The Battle Of Helm's Deep - The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Up until Peter Jackson turned his hand to making them, the Lord Of The Rings books were arguably the most eminently adaptable stories ever that hadn't made it to the big screen. Well, at least not as a live-action movie, because Ralph Bakshi had made an animated version in 1978. While that has its charms, it's not exactly definitive, so Jackson's labour of love was more than welcome.

By the time the film came to the big screen, Jackson had been considering how to make it for a fair old while - far longer than the six years it took for him to decide to take it on as a production in 1995. The reality of why he was first to ever do it is that it simply hadn't been possibly and it was only when Jurassic Park brought CG forward so rapidly. It wasn't that there weren't millions of Lord Of The Rings fans who ached to see their favourite story retold visually, because that was demonstrably untrue.

And because of the unspoken, impossible history of The Lord Of The Rings' potential, it was inevitable that there'd be greater hype heaped on the grand moments that wouldn't have been possible before the late 1990s. Seeing orcs and trolls and balrogs was incredible, but seeing thousands of them all smushed together in one place for a pitched battle was always that added bit more special.

So when The Battle Of Helm's Deep kicked off, it came with decades of weight behind it and the fact that it was so stunning, so spectacular and so much of a multi-pronged sensory experience is still incredibly impressive even now.

Which other moments belong on this list? Share your favourites below in the comments thread.