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Lurtz
The Moment: Aragorn battles the Uruk-hai leader, Lurtz, finally seeing off Saruman’s leftenant with a well-aimed swing of his broadsword. Off with his head!
The Awesome: Aragorn might turn him over eventually, but Lurtz is quite the warrior. Special mention must go to the deleted scene in which he licks his own blood off Aragorn’s knife. Nasty.
Shelob
The Moment: Frodo finds himself being stalked by something big, dark and hairy… it’s only a giant spider, isn’t it? Yikes…
The Awesome: The way Peter Jackson teases Shelob’s big reveal is masterfully done. Cue mass squirming in the multiplex.
Lighting the beacons
The Moment: Pippin lights the beacon at Minas Tirith, setting off a chain-reaction of beacon-lighting across Middle-earth.
The Awesome: It’s a truly majestic sequence. As Gandalf murmurs to himself, “hope is kindled.”
Rallying the troops
The Moment: Aragorn gets his speech on at the Black Gate of Mordor: “Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, men of the West!”
The Awesome: Read it through again. Need we say more?
My captain, my king
The Moment: Boromir makes amends with Aragorn as he slips into the hereafter. “I would have followed you my brother,” he says. “My captain… my king.”
The Awesome: The chemistry between Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean is absolutely electric in one of the most emotionally charged scenes of the trilogy. As death scenes go, this one takes some beating.
Split personality
The Moment: Jackson shines a light on Gollum’s schizophrenic nature by showing him arguing with himself over whether or not to betray Frodo.
The Awesome: Credit must go to Andy Serkis for his skilled portrayal of both sides of the coin. Poor old Smeagol, he’s still in there somewhere…
Pelennor Fields
The Moment: King Theoden leads the Rohirrim into battle upon the sweeping plain of Pellenor Fields, coming to the aid of Minas Tirith at the pivotal moment.
The Awesome: Theoden really gets the goosebumps going with his rallying cry: “Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin… and the world’s ending! Death! Death! DEAATTTTTHH!”
You shall not pass
The Moment: Gandalf faces down the infernal Balrog, warding it off with a swish of his staff and the immortal war-cry, “You shall not pass!”
The Awesome: This is the first time we see Gandalf in full-on badass mode, and it’s quite the spectacle. If this doesn’t give you goosebumps, you’re probably dead.
Look to the East
The Moment: Just as the Battle of Helm’s Deep looks lost, Aragorn remembers Gandalf’s promise to arrive at first light on the fifth day. Sure enough, the white wizard is as good as his word and leads the Rohirrim into battle through a burst of brilliant white light.
The Awesome: Gandalf single-handedly turns the tide in one of the trilogy’s most chest-beatingly awesome action sequences.
