20 Biggest Blockbuster Movie Showdowns Of All Time

2. Minas Tirith - The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

Peter Jackson had set an incredibly high bar for himself when it came to epic battle scenes thanks to Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, but when it came to the climactic showdown for the fate of Middle Earth in the trilogy-closing Return of the King, the director somehow managed to top it with the jaw-dropping Battle of Pelennor Fields, a set-piece almost unrivaled in cinematic history when it comes to sheer imagination and scale. Nearly every major character involved gets a chance to shine in the frenetic scrap as Sauron's forces overwhelm the battlefield before Aragon makes a timely intervention with the Army of the Dead in tow. A sequence that makes Helm's Deep look like a minor skirmish in comparison, hundreds of thousands of combatants are involved as the forces of good finally manage to overcome the myriad of creatures that stand in their way. Mixing close-quarters combat with sweeping shots of the devastation that unfolds, trilogy's final showdown is nothing short of incredible. This year's Battle of the Five Armies faces the unenviable task of trying to top this.