"Forth Eorlingas!"
- Right at the beginning we're back deep within the Mines and Moria and below, with the Freefall Fight between Gandalf and the Balrog. It's one hell of an Action Prologue!
- The cut back to them falling into a cavern so vast they're nothing more than a speck of orange.
- Gandalf managing to grab his sword during the fall, plunging onto the Balrog and hitting him repeatedly with it.
- Followed later by this line, as Gandalf recounts the battle after his resurrection:Gandalf: From the deepest dungeon to the highest peak I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.
- Think about that for a bit. Gandalf and the Balrog are Maiar, spirits from the beginning of time, unleashing their full power upon one another. Their fight lasted for ten days and took them from the deepest depths below Moria to the peak of the highest mountain. And ended in a draw.
- Gandalf's killing blow towards the Balrog is delivered by him summoning lightning into his sword and impaling the monster.
- And then Gandalf got resurrected as an even more powerful wizard, not having accomplished his full purpose just yet.
- "Where is the horse, and the rider? Where is the horn that was blown? They have passed like rain on the mountains, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the west, behind the hills... into shadow. How did it come to this?"
- While the quote itself is somber, the visuals behind it were downright fantastic.
- Gimli has one at Helm's Deep, leaping off of a 20-foot wall onto a sea of Uruks and narrowly avoiding impalement.
- Another standout moment is Gimli and Aragorn going full Back-to-Back Badasses at one of the Battlements, twirling around like a tornado of steel as they clear enough space for Theoden's forces to reinforce the gate.
- Helm's Deep where the Rohirrim charge down the hill, riding down everyone on the slope only to find Gandalf has arrived with reinforcements."Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And the red dawn!"
- On a similar note, Aragorn's utter refusal to let despair stop him where it's stopped Theoden and his desperate attempts to save as many as he can, to slow the Uruk-hai for as long as possible.Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.
Theoden: For death and glory?
Aragorn: For Rohan. For your people. - "That is no orc horn!" The Elves arrive at a woefully undermanned Helm's Deep just before the Uruk-hai get there. And you can tell from the expressions on the Rohirrim's faces that this was the hope they desperately needed.
- Even more awesome given that Elrond sent them, since he seemed ready to all but give up on the race of Men not long before (justifiably given his experiences with Isildur, but still). A crowning moment for Elrond, Haldir, and the race of Elves in general.
- In the Extended Edition,
Faramir remembers the last time he was with his brother Boromir. In this flashback, we see Boromir as he truly was: not as a doubt-filled man, near-driven mad by the Ring's corruption, but instead Gondor's finest warrior, her protector, and her champion.Boromir: This city was once the jewel of our kingdom. A place of light, and beauty, and music. And so it shall be once more! Let the armies of Mordor know this: Never again will the land of my people fall into enemy hands! The city of Osgiliath has been reclaimed. For Gondor!
Soldiers: For Gondor!
Boromir: For Gondor!
Soldiers: For Gondor!
Boromir: For Gondor!
Soldiers: FOR GONDOR!- He also displays a moment of personal awesomeness by calling out Denethor for his shoddy treatment of Faramir. He may be his father's favourite, but denigrate Faramir? He will not let that stand.
- Faramir also has a rather understated one when he lets Frodo and Sam go, simultaneously rejecting the Ring and successfully doing what his older brother couldn't.Madril: You know the laws of our country, the laws of your father. If you let them go, your life will be forfeit.
Faramir: Then it is forfeit. - The Last March of the Ents.
- Also, Treebeard's roar as he finds the forest destroyed. It has the perfect mix of pain and anger, where you completely understand what's going on in his mind.
- The Ents' assault on Isengard. Up until this point, Saruman has been portrayed as this unassailable master of evil. His forces are ravaging the lands and Rohan, with all their might, are helpless to resist his onslaught and are on the brink of despair. But the Ents? They literally tear the walls of Isengard down with their bare hands. The orcs still in the fortress are utterly crushed, and the dam is broken, causing all the caverns where Saruman's industries and orc-breeding pits were held to be drowned. They can't damage the tower itself, but it's telling that Saruman, a powerful wizard, can only watch helplessly as everything he's wrought is utterly undone, eventually retreating inside and locking himself away.
- Furthermore, if the events of the movie can be compared to the book, the Ents completely wrecked Isengard in just one day. One. Day. Saruman has been building up his army of orcs not just for weeks or months but probably years, maybe over the entire time since Bilbo first found the Ring deep under the Misty Mountains and he became aware that it was essentially up for grabs again, and then Treebeard and his buddies destroy all of it in a fraction of that time.
- Gandalf's exorcism of Saruman from King Theoden at Meduseld.Gandalf: I release you from the spell. (raises his hand and holds it towards the Saruman-possessed Théoden)
Théoden: (starts to laugh) You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey. (continues laughing, then exclaims in pain as Gandalf throws off his cloak, fully exposing his power)
Gandalf: I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound! (presses harder, Théoden yells again)
Saruman: If I go, Théoden dies!
Gandalf: (presses even harder) You did not kill me. You will not kill him!
Saruman: Rohan is mine!
Gandalf: (even harder push) Begone!
[After a bit of struggle, Saruman has Theoden attack Gandalf, who shoves his power against the other wizard. Saruman is thrown out of Theoden and blown to the floor in his tower of Isengard]- Another moment from the same scene, but it also shows just how spacious the power gap between Gandalf and Saruman is at that moment as he reduces the possessed Théoden from smugly laughing to being pinned to his throne in a heartbeat, just from the act of flinging his cloak off and Théoden being exposed to his radiant aura. And while Saruman does put up a considerable effort in resisting Gandalf, even managing to break his hold long enough to lunge at him, Gandalf simply uncorks a little more magical power and banishes him back to Isengard bleeding, humiliated and with his tail between his legs, steamrolling through the ordeal with so little effort that he's barely even breaking a sweat by the time it's all over.
- Barely a moment before, when Gríma tried to stop him from getting to Théoden, Gandalf cuts him off with this line, in the most contemptuous tone:"Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!"
- When Saruman's hold over Theoden is lifted, Theoden's transformation effect is a stunningly impressive piece of visual effects. He goes from an ancient, dead-eyed, white-haired, hunchbacked, butt-ugly albino to a hale and hearty badass.note
- When Eowyn walks in and thinks that Gandalf is hurting Theoden, she rushes forward as if prepared to fight the wizard and only is stopped by Aragorn. Badass, and nice Foreshadowing of her Silk Hiding Steel Action Girl cred.
- One for Theoden also. When he gets up from his chair, he's still weakened and needs support. Gandalf then brings him his sword, and as Theoden draws it the music swells magnificently and gives an indication of Theoden returning to his old strength.Gandalf: Your fingers would remember their old strength better... if they grasped your sword.
- And then Theoden gives Gríma a truly frightening Death Glare, which is then followed by the guards throwing Grima down the stairs.
- Grima attempts to crawl away, but Gimli stomps on his chest.I'd stay still if I were you.
- Pippin gets a minor one in having the presence of mind to drop his cloak clasp for the others to find.
- Merry and Pippin fulfil Gandalf's declaration of being small stones that signal the start of an avalanche by arriving in Fangorn, when Merry becomes instrumental in gathering the Ents together and Pippin's quick thinking to divert Treebeard towards Isengard in an epic Batman Gambit with Refuge in Audacity, which finally convinces the Ents to join the fight.
- The last charge of Helm's Deep's defenders is rushing from the gates into the Uruk-Hai army, and even though they're all being Badass, it still looks like they've lost, and this is a suicide charge. Then Gandalf's words get echoed, the sun rises and Gandalf and Éomer appear on the ridge. They proceed to have the following exchange:
- Cue the arrival of The Cavalry as Éomer's Riders of Rohan charge down the hill towards the Uruk-Hai, the sun shining brightly behind them as they proceed to absolutely crush the Uruk-Hai.
- During Sam's Patrick Stewart Speech, when the film cuts to different victories, backing up his point, we see the Uruk-hai army sprinting away from Helm's Deep as quickly as they possibly can along with the Ents' kerb-stomping of the forces of Isengard.
- And the Uruk-hai flee straight into Fangorn Forest. Which wasn't there when the battle started. And appear to be eaten by the forest.
- Sméagol gets one when he tells Gollum, who's been mocking him constantly, to go. Gathering strength and courage and telling him to leave and never come back. It doesn't last, but it shows that Sméagol still exists and remembers what his life was like before he encountered the Ring and was genuinely happy.
- A minor example is when Frodo and Sam see the Haradrim warriors heading for Mordor. Before they leave, Sam stops Frodo so they can gaze at something indeed marvelous - two enormous Mûmakil, considered the stuff of legend among people in the Shire. The music swells as the giant pachyderms trudge into view, carrying a dozen Haradrim on their back. Neither Hobbit can resist smiling in utter awe.Sam: No one at home will believe this.
- Just prior to this moment, when they first wonder who this army is, it's Smeagol who tells them—and not just that they are men who serve the Dark Lord, but that Sauron is gathering all his armies for a final war to conquer all of Middle-Earth. The way Andy Serkis delivers the lines, and the look on Smeagol's face, you can tell he genuinely does understand how horrible and wrong such a result would be and that he agrees Sauron needs to be stopped. While there was an earlier moment at Black Gate where he desperately struggles to hold Frodo back, warning him not to enter Mordor and take the Ring "back to him", that could be chalked up to him simply wanting his precious back. This moment in Ithilien? Smeagol understands what's at stake. And the looks Frodo and Sam give him, and each other, make this the only moment in the whole trilogy when all three of them are united. Double oddly as a Heartwarming moment and, knowing what comes later, a bit of a Tear Jerker What If? as well.
- Faramir and his Ithilien Rangers are highly effective at guerrilla warfare because they manage to take out a large group of enemy soldiers and two Mûmakils very quickly with only a few dozen archers.
- On par with the book, Sam doesn't take any talking-down from Faramir. He even drops just enough disdain at Faramir into his job title.Frodo: We are Hobbits of the Shire. Frodo Baggins is my name, and this is Samwise Gamgee.
Faramir: Your bodyguard?
Sam: His gardener. - The pre-battle chant of the Uruk Hai army. Especially because it wasn't scripted. The actors just felt like doing it, and Peter decided to keep it in. You wouldn't know this just by looking at it. It is totally fearsome and intimidating.
- One that sadly ended up on the cutting room floor - Eowyn defending refugees in the Glittering Caves by fending off several Uruk-Hai. She surprises the first by chopping its head off.
- Also, you gotta hand it to the orcs, especially the Uruk-hai who blew up the walls of Helm's Deep. Yeah, sure he was a villain, but he committed an orc version of a Heroic Sacrifice and almost turned the tide of the battle in the orcs' favor. Had it been a hero in the same position, the audience would be cheering and mourning the death of such a character.
