10 Perfect Movies With One Glaring Flaw

5. Death Fake-Outs - The Lord Of The Rings

You can't kill your protagonist. It's one of those unwritten laws of blockbuster cinema. Sure, feel free to have them die at the very end if you're wanting to neuter any chance of a sequel, but otherwise they have to make it through events pretty unscathed.

This poses a big problem when a film tries to create some kind of tension; if your characters are in mortal peril there's no actual question of whether they'll get out alive. That's why modern superhero movies have made their heroes borderline indestructible - if the audience know you can't kill your characters you might as well have some fun with it.

Peter Jackson, however, hasn't got the memo. Throughout all his films, but most predominantly in The Lord Of The Rings, he throws in scenes where the main characters are at death's door despite there being no chance they'll actually die (unless they're Sean Bean). In The Fellowship Of The Ring Frodo is stabbed twice within a couple of hours and both times it's played as if his survival is actually in doubt. Heck, Jackson even added a subplot into The Two Towers were Aragorn was thrown off a cliff just to add some tension to that character's journey.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a death fake-out, but in The Lord Of The Rings it's so prevalent and thinly veiled that it quickly becomes tiresome.