The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003) - #12

Empire top 301: #12
IMDb top 250: #9

Rating 10/10

Director: Peter Jackson

Writers: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin & John Rhys-Davies

"The board is set... the pieces are moving"

The final instalment of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The battle for Helms Deep is won and the remaining Fellowship Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry and Pippin join King Theoden to help defend Gondor's capital Minas Tirith from Sauron and his army of evil. Amidst this looming threat Aragorn finally becomes the man he was born to be to claim the throne and lead his army into battle. Frodo, Sam and Gollum venture deeper into Mordor towards Mount Doom to fulfil their task of destroying The One Ring, but not before Gollum leads them to the lair of giant spider Shelob. 

The Return Of The King is not as good as Fellowship for me but still deserves it's 10 out of 10 marking. It so beautifully filmed and written and filled with so much excitement and tension. Aside from the fifteen endings it has it is pretty perfect. I've viewed this movie so many times since it's release and it still has me near to tears during the final moments. 

The whole production is pretty astounding, from the costumes to the set designs, to the cinematography to the fight choreography. The special effects are superb and the score and music are stunning, I love Annie Lennox's academy award winning Into The West, such a gorgeous song. 

The cast are just as brilliant in this as they are in the previous two, great idea to shoot them back to back. The standout in this chapter is Sean Astin as Samwise, he really is amazing and his scenes with Frodo towards the end of the film are so touching. The character of Frodo does bug me a little in this film but Elijah still does a decent job. Eowyn is less annoying in Return Of The King and thankfully there are no Ents, so smiles all round. 

The battles scenes in Return are probably more impressive than those in Two Towers and the catapult moments during the opening of the Battle of Minas Tirith are brilliant. The scenes with Shelob are also fantastic and incredibly tense, probably more so for me as I really hate spiders!! They freak me out! The whole 15 endings thing does begin to grate after several viewings, just when you think it's over they add another scene! However, it's all tied up nicely and everyone gets a fitting send off. 

This is a perfect ending to an amazing trilogy. 

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) - #7

Empire top 301: #7
IMDb top 250: #12

Rating 10/10

Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin & John Rhys-Davies

"One Ring to Rule Them All. One Ring to Find Them. One Ring to Bring Them All and In The Darkness Bind Them."

Set in Middle-Earth, Fellowship is the first in a three part story about the Dark Lord Sauron, who is seeking the One Ring. 19 magical rings were created and given to the Elves, Dwarves and Humans however, another more powerful ring was created the One Ring. This ring was forged out of all of Sauron's evil and malice and allowed him to control the other rings and conquer Middle-Earth. During a battle Prince Isilidur cuts the ring from Sauron's hand and destroys his human form. The ring passes through many carriers over the next 3,000+ years but Sauron is bound to the ring and the ring to he and as he grows stronger the Ring wants to return to it's master. The ring falls to Hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) who volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom in Mordor to throw it back into the fires where it was forged to destroy it. Eight companions accompany Frodo on his Journey to Mordor; Wizard Gandalf (McKellen), Hobbits Sam (Astin), Merry (Monaghan) & Pippin (Boyd), Elf Legolas (Bloom), Dwarf Gimli (Rhys-Davies) & Men Aragorn (Mortensen) & Boromir (Bean) - The Fellowship of the Ring. 

I'll start by saying I absolutely love The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and of the three Fellowship might just be my favourite. I've never read the books but from online comments from die hard fans Peter Jackson seems to have made a pretty faithful adaptation. When I first saw this movie at the cinema in 2001 I came out completely amazed and couldn't wait for the 2nd part. 12 years later I watched it and felt the exact same way. 

There are so many amazing things about this movie. The New Zealand landscape provides an absolutely beautiful backdrop as Middle-Earth, the cinematography is just awe-inspiring and rightly so won an Oscar. The make-up is fantastic from the Orcs to the ageing of characters, the costumes and sets are beautifully constructed and look great on screen, everything from The Shire to Gandalf and Saruman's staffs. The special effects are superb and still look great today, the battle scene in the Dwarf City of Moria with the goblins and Balrog are still impressive and exciting. 

Each and everyone of the cast are exceptional. Elijah Wood and Sean Astin are great as friends Frodo and Sam and although they can come across as a bit wet and whiny, they're really sweet and you really care for them and hope that they survive. Ian McKellen's Gandalf is one of the best things about this movie and the subsequent Middle-Earth movies, he's strong and wise but funny and caring and McKellen is perfect. Whilst only in the movie for a little while both Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler deliver impressive performances that you remember, suppose a little easy when they're the only two speaking females in the cast, but really they are excellent. 

After seeing the movie quite a lot there are some bits that kind of annoy me now, like Merry and Pippin constantly causing problems and bringing dangerous attention to the group. If the fate of Middle-Earth was at stake they'd have been bumped off straight away. But this is just a small thing and doesn't take away my enjoyment of the film. 

At just a few minutes shy of 3 hours it is a bit of a stretch but it's filled with so much action, great acting and wonderful scenery those hours just fly by. The Lord Of The Rings series also has one of my favourite scores of all time. It's just brilliant. I'm a huge fan of fantasy movies so it was probably always a dead cert that I'd love this.

Honestly, one of the best movies ever!! 

Alien (1979) - #21

Empire top 301: #21
IMDb top 250: #40

Rating 9/10

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm & John Hurt

"You are my lucky star. You... Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky."

Commercial spaceship Nostromo is on a return trip home to earth carrying tons of mineral ore and 7 crew members in a deep sleep. The ship detects a transmission (possibly a distress call) from an unknown origin and awakes the crew to investigate, following orders stipulated in their contracts. The Nostromo lands on the planetoid and three members leave to investigate, they find a crashed alien ship where they discover a chamber full of eggs. Crew member Kane (Hurt) is attacked by a creature that latches onto his face when it hatches from it's egg. Foolishly, the three investigating crew members arrive back at the Nostromo with the Alien life form where it escapes and terrorises the shipmates. 

There's a bit of theme happening here, but I absolutely love this film and most it is down to the exceptional filmmaking of Ridley Scott. The guy is a genius and Alien is one of his greatest pictures. The atmosphere and sense of fear he brings to the movie with the remarkable camera work and editing is something that has and will be copied for years and years to come. Once the Alien is on board the Nostromo the tension never lets up, it's edge of your seat stuff to the end. 

The sound effects and music in Alien also play a big part in the atmosphere and tension. I've seen this movie so many times but the big "scare" scenes still make me jump out my seat because of the great use of sound. The movie is really claustrophobic and you really fear for Ripley and Co as this creature could be just around the corner. There's no where to run and as the brilliant tagline points out "In Space no one can hear you scream!" 

The fact that CGI wasn't used in the movie is also a massive plus. Scott had to really think outside the box in terms of camera angles and lighting to make the creature seem as scary as it should be. Nowadays it would be some ridiculous CGI Alien or full shot of a guy in a rubber suit (see AVP for more details) and it looks awful. The fact we never get full on shots of the Alien just adds to the atmosphere and the scares. 

Sigourney Weavers' Ripley is now iconic and rightly so. Here is a female character, who plays by the rule book but doesn't whine or seek revenge when she doesn't get her own way or is outranked. She just get's on with her duties for the protection of herself and her crew members. Whilst she was right not to let the investigating crew back on the ship with the alien, she doesn't rub it in their faces when things go tits up! She's a brilliant character and Weaver plays her beautifully. Not to mention she looks smoking in those little panties! The supporting cast including Jonesy are great too. 

Alien is a Sci-Fi classic and a must see!