Top 15 of the 2000s: #1

Christ almighty, we're finally here. We've covered quite a few genres, looking at everything from westerns to musicals. So what's at the top of my list? None other than the biggest film trilogy since The Godfather and Star Wars. At #1 is...




#1. "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" (2001-03) by Peter Jackson: [NOTE] If these comments seem awkward (and long winded), it's because I already poured my heart out about this films when I talked about the entries on IMDB's top 15 list. Therefore, I've decided to take a large part of my three separate rants on each entry (starting with the second chapter: The Two Towers).
First off, right from the get go the effort is obvious. The stunning score starts to play and we hear Cate Blanchett's narration of the stunningly rendered prologue, tracing the first War of the Ring. It's still hard for me to watch the scenes in the Shire and not get slight chills by how beautiful and earthy it feels. And of course there are the other beautiful settings: immaculate Rivendell, white and glowing Lothlorien, the Mines of Moria, etc... Yet even with the prologue, there's still a lot for Mr. Jackson to set up, and he does so flawlessly. Though there are plenty of scenes that have no buildings or markings of the cultures of Middle Earth, they still feel like they're part of another world. Thrilling, dark, haunting, and beautifully rendered, it's a brilliant start to a towering trilogy. In both scale and detail these films are masterfully directed, aided by near perfect casting and of course Howard Shore's magnificent scores. On The Two Towers specifically, this one showcased Jackson's impressive ability to handle large scale action scenes (the Battle of Helm's Deep) and introduced us to one of cinema's greatest character creations: Smeagol/Gollum, as portrayed by Andy Serkis. When he first hisses "my precioussssssss", it was like a sign flashed up on the screen that said "ICONIC PERFORMANCE". In capturing both sides of Smeagol Serkis and Jackson created a rich, despicable, memorable character that leaps off of Tolkien's pages and becomes frighteningly real (credit also goes to the amazing use of motion capture technology). On a different note, one thing that also deserves mentioning is the way that Jackson and crew really made you feel the malevolence of the One Ring. Throughout the trilogy there are moments where almost all background noise is muted and all we hear is either a strange tone or a strange "whoom" sound. The effect is nothing short of hypnotic and it makes us understand why whenever characters hold the ring before their eyes, they feel compelled to just stare at it. Best example of this effect? The scene at the end of The Two Towers where Frodo, Sam, and Smeagol, captured by Faramir and his men, pass through the ruined city of Osgiliath, under siege by Orcs. Suddenly, the fearsome Nazgul and their lizard-like winged beasts soar overhead, and right on cue the sound gets turned down and people start to move in semi-slow motion as that "whoom" effect pulses from the speakers. Frodo, as if in a trance, eerily mutters "they're here" and walks up some steps, out into the open. Not missing a beat, we see one of the Black Rides rise up on his steed, the great leathery wings slowly propelling them up. The first time I saw that scene in the theater, I was so sucked in and so mesmerized, that when the Nazgul popped up I almost couldn't breathe. And that's just one of the many brilliant this magnificent (and LONG) trilogy got right. Many believe that either Fellowship or The Two Towers was the shining moment in the film trilogy, but I think that Jackson just kept topping himself, even with those 5 million endings. Yes it's long, but so were the other two, and even so there's soooooooooo much to love. Visually, this one may be the richest, grandest looking one, with grand vistas of Mordor, Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul, and the jaw dropping panoramas of the siege of Gondor and the Battle of Pelenor fields. The music is as gorgeous as ever, the bad guys as menacing, and the story as strong. Once again, Jackson is a master at making us "feel" certain situations, most notable when Frodo and Sam, beaten and exhausted, begin their ascent of Mount Doom. As they crawl up it's hard to not feel the weight that the Ring has put on them, and Sean Astin's delivery of the "I can't carry it, but I can carry you!" line, which could have been silly, is just fantastic and a wonderful testament to the story's underlying themes of friendship and loyalty. And don't even get me started on the collapse of Mordor. Call me a sicko, but it's one of the most jaw droppingly phenomenal scenes of destruction (but hey it's the bad guys, so give me a break) ever put on screen, and as it happens it's hard not to feel the sense of relief that washes over the characters. But even then it's not done. I still get chills and even a little teary eyed at the scene where Aragorn, at his crowning ceremony, sees the four Hobbits and says "you bow to no one" and everyone in the audience kneels before the four shortest people there. And with all of those endings, where did they finally cut it off? Annie Lennox's hauntingly beautiful song "Into the West". Icing on a glorious cake.

Final Grade: A++

Best Performance: Sean Astin and Ian McKellan

Best Scene: The very definition of epic - The Fall of Mordor