Rings of Power, nightmarish Nazguls, ethereal elves, second breakfast, and dwarves who burrow into your heart and refuse to leave — The Lord of the Rings has it all. It’s surprising that, even after two decades since their release, the films still reign supreme in the hearts of millions around the world. The cinematography? Breathtaking. The music? Rousing. Aragorn, son of Arathorn? Let’s just say, if Viggo Mortensen goes to space today, the headlines would read “Aragorn Goes to Space.” And the action sequences? Where do we even begin? In the Meandering Mines of Moria or before the Black Gate? Or perhaps that is a rhetorical question. We begin, of course, in a fortress, one whose inhabitants will change the course of the war irreversibly.
This is why “The Battle of Helm’s Deep” is, without a doubt, the single best action sequence in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Battle of Helm’s Deep: Carefully Chaotic and Endlessly Enjoyable
“So it begins”, says Théoden (Bernard Hill) as he takes his stand in a battle whose effects would echo far beyond the reach of the Horn of Helm Hammerhand. And there he and his formidable friends have stood for two decades, on guard and unshakeable, just as mesmerizing as the first day we saw a golden-haired elf slide down the stairs on a shield. For no matter how hard, eager contenders have tried to copy or surpass this battle through the years, not many have come very close to this cinematic masterpiece.
The climactic moment of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the Battle of Helm’s Deep (or Hornburg), where King Théoden’s forces clash with Saruman’s (Christopher Lee). It is the first large-scale and drawn-out battle we witness in the War of the Rings, and it is a critical one, too, as Rohan and their allies could not afford to lose such an important defense point to Saruman’s forces. One could go so far as to say that the events of this battle lead to a domino crash that finally results in Sauron’s defeat. Its unending importance to the plot aside, there is a repertoire of reasons behind its unfading popularity. We have lovable villains, a suffocating sense of dread, hope, loss, and friendship. The Battle of Helm’s Deep gets everything right, and then some.
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In this sequence, the film proves that the grittiness and grim aesthetic of war don’t always need to be portrayed through a lack of light. At every point during the battle, the audience is aware of what’s happening since the entire scene has enough light to see everything that’s going down. And then there is the cinematography. The camera moves in a way that makes the entire sequence look like a long shot. It covers everything, moving over and beyond shots of our heroes caught in their own mini-battles, the walls of the fortress and the valley and fields beyond where the Uruk-hai move, and the innocents hiding in corners, holding on to their own for dear life. The audience is aware of what the entire battlefield looks like, how the forces are divided, and what is happening on which side overall.
This means we are aware of the shifting tides of the battle, watching strategies unfold, and our heroes become leaders. It draws the watcher in, right into the middle of the skirmish. We feel the Uruk-hai stomp their feet and chant death wishes. We see the first arrow let loose from the human side and feel its implication even before it sinks into the waiting collarbone of an orc. Elves, mighty and enchanted, fall before us. Friends share glances and final cheers and comfort across the field, even as hope dwindles.
The atmosphere feels tense, the skies are grey, and rain descends on armor, adding to the strange sense of discomfort. There are several other scenes that feel momentous. We watch as a young boy joins the war, with a sword taller than his body. “A good sword”, Aragorn calls it, turning from a hero to a leader. Unlike in the books, the elves arrive to offer their allegiance, reminding the audience that this is not just a fight of Men but of the free world. Gimli and Legolas’ banter soothes some of the scares, before slowly fading into nothingness. Yet, as dawn descends, hope rises from the east and the dreadful battle draws to a close, but not before engraving itself in the minds of every wide-eyed watcher for eons to come.
You can stream the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on Max or rent/buy it on Prime Video or YouTube.
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