The Lord of the Rings (2003) - Final stand and battle [1080p] 

"Surrounded and outnumbered a thousand to one, the armies of Men stood. In their darkest hour, on the brink of annihilation, the Last Army of Man did the unthinkable. They charged."

This trilogy aging like wine tho

He's by far not the only one deserving credit here, but man, does Viggo absolutely nails that razor's edge balance between vulnerability and strength. Perfect Aragorn.

Aragorn embodies what true masculinity is. It's not about being aggressive and pushing your weight around to dominate others. It's about service. Service to the people you love, to protect them, to lead by example and bring others up with you when they are down.

This great speech probably put so much courage into the 80 people close enough to hear him.

Fun fact: You have seen this film a thousand times and you still get goosebumps when Aragorn says "For Frodo".

When you fully understand who and what Gandalf is, you realize just how impactful this moment is for him. He's seen thousands of years of suffering, pain and death inflicted by Sauron and now it's over.

For those who don’t know. The lyrics the choir is singing are in elvish. They translate in English to “If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword.” The same words Aragorn said to Frodo in Rivendell.

The fact that they made this movie in Windows XP era is amazing

Gimli: “I never thought I would die fighting side by side with a elf” Legolas: “How about side by side with a friend?” Gimli: “Aye... I can do that.... Aragon is here”

“For Frodo.” Viggo’s delivery as usual is exceptional. Just 2 words. Soft Spoken. And they carry so much weight. Gets me every time. 🔥

This trilogy is a cinematic achievement that'll forever remain unsurpassed. Sad that no filmmaker since Peter Jackson has come up with something as groundbreaking as Lord of the rings. The entire trilogy combined for 11 hours will always remain my favourite of all time.

Frodo: destroys the ring, wiping out Sauron and most of his army Gimli: it still only counts as one!

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

Legolas running through crowds of orcs shouting aragorn's name and seeing an elf displays human emotions always brings me to tears.

God, 20 years later and this movie still hits home. The animation, the characters, the music, all of it is a gem to be shared for generations.

Friendly reminder : this is the technology of 2003

almost 20 years still better than most current films today.

The best part of this entire trilogy for me is when, right after the speech is done, Aragorn says, "For Frodo" and Merry and Pippin charge headlong into a battle that is almost certain death without so much as a single thought for their own regard. The courage of the Hobbits in this scene is so wondrous. The fact that they are the smallest beings of Middle-Earth holds no bearing on how big their hearts are.

I love how the troll is just like "nope im out" and is the first one to run away lol

The hobbits rushing in right after Aragon and before the other always gives me goosebumps. They don’t look back. They don’t care. They are just selfless and willing to aid Frodo to save the world regardless of their life. Hobbits are quite peculiar creatures indeed

This movie deserved every damn oscar it won, all eleven of them.

There is literally no other trilogy as good as this yet.

It’s so tear jerking to look at Gandalf and Aragorn’s faces while the tower is falling. It’s a combination of astonishment, relief and being utterly proud of Frodo succeeding. I want the people I love and look up to to look at me like that one day.

“For Frodo” no matter how many times I watch it, the feels are hit hard!

bruh imagine defending minas tirith with all you have and face the orcs at the black gate just to die a couple minutes before the whole middle earth is saved... props to all these forgotten heroes

Everything Sauron feared and stood against in this one scene: honor, courage, friendship, and selflessness.

I love how Aragorn with the troll reflects Frodo with the ring. Their strength spent after fighting for so long, they're faced with an evil they finally cannot overcome, a titanic beast about to crush them to death. Their most valiant friends, Sam and Legolas, are powerless to help them; this is truly the darkest hour.

My buddies and I were just talking about this. Before "Avengers assemble," there was "for Frodo." Still gives me chills nearly 20 years later.

You can tell just how much heart was put into this trilogy. “We had no interest in putting our messages into this movie. But we thought we should honor Tolkien by putting his message into it” -Peter Jackson, 2002 The trilogy is still a flawless 10/10 masterpiece in 2023, and will always be :)

What REALLY gave me goosebumps is the fact that we see Sauron as this almost mythical, mysterious, powerful evil being almost no screentime throughout the movies and seeing him with all his might and horrifying vast armies on top of his great tower of Baradur is all of a sudden being SCARED to his impending death and destruction. His cries, yelling and shivering or spasmic shaking and we see this terrifying eye become a little speck of ball until he explodes into nothingness. That really gave me goosebumps.

I've seen this scene like a thousand times over the past 20 years, but Aragorn's "Men of the West" speech STILL gives me goosebumps to this day.

Aragorn felt his whole life that his family legacy was cursed with the seed of corruption but here he finally realizes he is not like Isildur, he doesn’t fight for power or greatness, he does it for friendship and caring for the people, even the little ones. This is why he smiles, a true and sincere smile of nobility. Feels goosebumps every time I watch it.

The fact that Pippin and Merry were the first to follow Aragorn speaks volumes.

They had no right making every freaking battle so freaking epic

No matter how many times I repeat, seeing Merry and Pippin follow Aragorn to death without hesitation because their fellow brother is on the line. That moment hits me every time

Favorite part is when he says “ For Frodo” the first two without hesitation to run behind him are merry and pippin.

I love how Aragorn charges to battle first and he’s followed by Merry and Pippin, and the rest of the army is just like, “Screw it, why not?”

I watched extended versions of all the 3 movies in a packed cinema last week here in Dublin. This scenes and Rohan’s charge gave me the goosebumps. I’ll never forget these scenes in my life.

Viggo is such a great actor, so much emotion he puts into characters

Aragon: makes inspiring and motivational speech Soldier in the back: “WHAT?”

Legolas firing an arrow to make an opening for the King. It’s these little details. Still so damn epic 20 years later.

Can we just give props to whatever extra let loose that battlecry at 2:30? My man put his heart and soul into that battlecry.

I absolutely love that the first two to charge after Aragon are Merry and Pippin. Its not the godly wizard or career warriors and soldiers, its Frodo and Sams boys who charge and inspire the others along side Aragon. Love that brotherhood ♥

Guy at the back: “what he say?” Guy in the middle: “he’s got a new sword, and is showing everyone” Another guy at the back: “doesn’t seem like the best time”

In 50 years this movie will still hold up like hardened steel.

"For Frodo." 2 of the strongest words ever spoken in all movie history!!!

I don't think there will ever be a better audience experience in a theaters than what these movies provided. Unless you've been there you have absolutely no idea. The level of emotional investment felt through the air. There were so many tears, and then literally entire theater cheered and celebrated as if their life depended on what was happening. It was magical. And can't help but notice incredible use of silence in this movie, and this scene in particular. That moment where everything goes quiet before Aragorn whispers "For Frodo" made it crash down on you like a hammer, and have an impact it would've not otherwise.

Personally, I just want to thank all the 1000's of talented people, known and unknown who worked together to produce these three films on so many different levels. You nailed it. THANK YOU.

Aragorn’s face at 2:17 is the expression of a man who has accepted that he’s charging headfirst into his death. Outnumbered so many times over he knows he and his group of war weary survivors more than likely will not survive, but he’s willing to do it anyway. “These things we do, that others may live”

If the dictionary needed a visual picture for the word “perfection,” this scene is it. I never fail to cry.

Aragorn may be one of the most strong-willed humans in Middle Earth. Not only did he resist the direct influence of Sauron, but the Onering couldn't even manage to tempt him. I think the only person less interested in the ring was Gimli, who tried to destroy it himself with zero hesitation

I absolutely love the friendship that's developed between Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in this trilogy. You can just see and feel the mad desperation Legolas feels when Aragorn is being threatened by the troll. He is willing to fight and die for his friend. Jackson may not have been 100% accurate with his interpretation of the LOTR but he captured the soul of the books like no other.

5:48 I just love that proud look Gandalf have in his face when he realizes that the near impossible task he had given Frodo and Sam succeeded.

I personally love how the vibe of the scene changes from "nobility in the face of death, we stand together" during the speech, to the charge and a "fuckin get'em" vibe

Thats what humanity has to do now stand together and fight....that movie is such an inspiration .....thank you Elena ❤❤❤

That's exactly what Sauron feared. The courage of men.

Gandalf: What's our plan? Aragorn: Wait til we're completely surrounded and then attack. Gandalf: Anyone else wanna be king?

20 years later, and still the best full scale battle scene ever.

Peter Jackson is amazing for how he brought this story to life. God bless him. This movie trilogy is a cinematic treasure.

FAQ 1) Why do they even fight? To make Sauron focus their attention on them, and to lure out saurons army and nazgul. Otherwise Frodo and Sam would have needed to walk through an army to get to mount doom 2) Why let the enemy encircle them tho? Because Aragorn needed Sauron to think he was a cocky, overconfident young king, falling prey to the power of the ring. He has shown himself in the Palantir, taunting Sauron. He made Sauron think he has the ring. He put up camp right in front of the main gate, sounding the horns, demanding for Sauron to come out and kneel in front of the „lords of the west“. If he had put up a good defensive position or ambush sauron would have been careful. He might have sent out his nazgul to keep their eyes open for suprises. He might have kept back some of his forces for an encirclement, to intercept an ambushing force or to make sure no one would run away with the ring (again!). By letting Sauron encircle them Aragorn made sure all enemy troops would come out and Sauron would put his attention fully „on the price“ 3) So basically eagles save the day - again! No, not really. At this point the ring would have made it anyways. They saved quite a few lives, but thats it. Also considering Sauron is literally a god and always has all the advantages its only fair for manwe to slightly tip back the scales a bit from time to time (Eagles being strongly associated with manwe) 4) where did aragorns horse go? In the books they actually had a mounted force with them, but they were removed from the movie for whatever reason. Aragorn riding in on a horse, which then disappears is - at this point - just a continuity error. 5) No one on the back even heard what Aragorn was saying This is a common problem - we know of quite a few historic pre-battle speeches. A lot of them probably were added later on, but a number of them must have happened. Here are a few ways to look at it: The speeches might have been repeated multiple times for different parts of the army. People from the front might have repeated them to the ones behind them. The speeches might have just been for the leadership, expecting the common solider to just follow the signal/banner/leaders or you might have preplanned the speech and have multiple people read them. Neither of those things would have fit the mood here, so it was probably right to just omit it from the scene. Also: In a world full of magic, orcs and dragons you could just give them this amount of leeway, right? 6) Isnt it a bit too convenient the ground just stops breaking in front of the good guys Sure. If you want you can call this Manwes or even Illuvatars intervention. But there might be a better reason: The destruction of the ring does more than just kill Sauron. He bound his power and fate to this ring. The destruction of this ring fulfills saurons fate, and of those whose fate he bound to himself. His work becomes undone. The power of the ring reverts against its owner and his labours. 7) The bad guys still couldve won Probably, yes. In the book it is described that the armies were bound to Saurons willpower. Quite a few amongst those orc, goblin and human tribes fighting for Sauron werent exactly best friends either. With Sauron dead the will that bound them together vanishes. Also they just saw a god die and half a country become ripped in half. So most of them run. Even in our history most battles were won because the opposing force routed, sometimes even numerically superior forces. 8) How did Saurons eye not see Frodo? There are multiple answers for this. First of Aragorns plan worked out. He made Sauron focus on him. Sam and Frodo also were somewhat protected by their fate, Galadriels cloaks and their nature. The hobbits always seemed to have some resistance to the rings allure. And by resisting the ring they resisted it pulling them over into the spirit plane where they would have been open to saurons gaze. The ring only had power relative to its wielder. The book describes that it made its wielder powerful by their own standard. The hobbits were neither powerful, nor did they desire power. Thus the rings was relatively weak in their hands. Weak enough to not be noticed. But the most important thing is this: Sauron is very intelligent and cunning. But he has one fatal flaw - the biggest advantage the fellowship has: He could never, every imagine someone destroying the ring. Use it against him? Yeah. Even hide it? Maybe. But go to mordor to throw it into mount doom? Unthinkable. Not only did he think this is unlikely or even impossible....the very thought was so foreign to him he never once thought about it.

2:06 Gimlis face is nightmare fuel. 😂

Seeing this in theaters when I was 8 and now 20 years later, still hits exactly the same. One the greatest scenes of all time

I will forever respect Aragon's sheer courage and selfless, above and beyond in the darkest hour.

The guys in the middle of the circle just vibing while the front lines get destroyed.

There will never be a greater epic of good vs evil than this trilogy.

Aragorn: "For Frodo!" Sam: "👍"

One of the greatest moments in cinema history

5:50 You can see in Gandalf's face the extraordinary pride he has in Frodo for completing the mission he set him on, and the relief of the end of hundreds of years of battling the dark.

fun fact: Viggo Mortensen insisted on fighting a real cave troll for this scene.

The tone shifts in all of the major battles in this film are just so good. Triumphant at the beginning, but as the battle continues and sauron adds additional troops like the nazgul and trolls, the tone shifts towards more of dire circumstances. And once aragorn is kicked down, the tone shifts once more to extreme consequence and it is so spectacularly expressed in the film

The best detail i love here in this scene it wasnt the epic speech or the charge but the fact that the ones that instantly went it wasnt the men nor the elves nor the dwarf but two little hobbits that have never been in the front lines of such army running fearless to what could have been their certain deaths, that detail with the rest always makes me cry

I don't know if anyone else feels the same but I love the moment from 1:50 when Sauron is speaking to Aragorn. You can see Aragorn going forward like something is calling him, at the same time you can see Gandalf and Legolas glimp of woriness. Right there, where Aragorn is putting his sword down and keeps going forward everyone is curious about what he is about to do. I believe this is a beautiful contrast between Aragorn and Isildur. When Isildur heard a voice calling him he gave up to it, however, Aragorn has seen through it and knows what his mission is here.

You know shit is about to get real when Gimli and Legolas aren't counting their kills...

Always gives me goosebumps seeing the eagle come in and snap the Nazgûl fellbeast's neck at 3:31. They thought they had an easy fight.

Merry and Pippin tried their hardest to keep up with everyone. You can see how their courage increased all through the movies

Aragorn: "For Frodo!" Gondor Soldier #396: "Whose Frodo?"

The Troll was the smart, everyone stood and watched, he ran immediately.

Imo no movie was able to top this, even to this day. I still watch this trilogy once a year and still gives me goosebumps. This is the Goat movie for me.

3:11 People fail to realise that the Eagles are connected to the Gods, They do not interfere with Mortal Businesses but with Sauron they had to intervene. This scene is powerful AF.

It's wild how a scene can just give you instant goosebumps every time

I recently watched all three extended editions in theaters in one day and the moment when Aragorn is giving his speech was so, so moving. It was the end of the journey, but a great one at that. When they all charged you could feel what they felt, and it was beautiful

Best effects even now way ahead of its time

They just survived the most brutal battle of their age and are ready to charge on.... True legends. All of them. This is what men fantasize about being

I’m pretty sure Frodo just got the biggest multi kill of all time

I love the change in music when the fighting begins. As they're charging we get the uplifting fellowship score, but as soon as the forces collide the orchestra is replaced by a choir and their singing is dark and almost chilling. The moment that happens reality sets in that unless Frodo is still alive, which from their point of view is highly unlikely, they are done because for the first time they are truly in an unwinnable fight. They have no ace in the hole and no more allies to call upon, this truly is the end. Then the eagles appear the singing becomes ever so slightly lighter. But then Sauron discovers Frodo's presence and the music gets somber again. Great editing

THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE!!!!!

Merry and Pippin charging right behind Aragorn without a moment’s hesitation gets me every single time

Merry and Pippin: *on this quest entirely by accident* Also Merry and Pippin: *first to charge after their king*

I like how you can interpret the line „For Frodo.“ not only as a way of saying „Let’s fight so Frodo has a clear path“ but also as way of saying „Let’s revenge our fallen friend“ because at this point in the movie they don’t know if Frodo and Sam are dead and even in Aragorns face you can see some form of despair and something I would call a selfreflecting foolish form of hope in the knowledge that it all may be for nothing, but Aragon believes too much to turn back now not just in Frodos success but also in the cause of why Frodo is pursuing that goal.

2:13 I love how we see Gandalf wave his hand as if he thinks Aragorn has been corrupted and he’s trying to release him from the spell. Only for Aragorn to smile at him as if to say “Don’t worry, I’m still here.” For Frodo

Soldier 1: Are we charging? Soldier 2: No, he's making a speech. Soldier 1: What? We need to block the gateway before they can storm out to get into formation! Soldier 2: Shhhh! I'm trying to listen! Soldier 1: What's he even saying? I can't hear him. Aragorn : ..shields crashing!... we fight!... this day!... earth... stand... men! Soldier 1: Oh, crap, here they come. NOW can we charge? Solider 2: No, he hasn't given the order yet. Soldier 1: If they keep moving forward they'll have room to surround us! Can we do SOMETHING? Solider 2: He hasn't given the order yet! Soldier 1: Did he just get off his horse? Why's he just standing there? Soldier 2: Holllld... Soldier 1: Aaaaaand now we're surrounded. Great. Aragorn : For Frodo! Soldier 1: What did he say? Far doodoo? Did he shit his pants? Soldier 2: Wait, I think we're charging. Soldier 1: We can't charge now, we're surrounded! They'll attack us from behind! We need to form a shield wall and focus on defense! Soldier 2: Yup, he's definitely charging ... there he goes. Soldier 1: Man, what a total asshole.

I don’t hear it mentioned often, but I also find it beautiful that he says “on this GOOD Earth.” Something that both Morgoth and Sauron loved to do in many occasions was trying to convince the Children of Ilùvatar that the Valar and Ilùvatar himself didn’t exist, and/or were deceiving them about the origins and the true nature of the world. That the world was in fact created by Morgoth, was ugly and evil by nature, and therefore that Morgoth himself - or Sauron in this case - was its rightful ruler. Well, just by saying “this good Earth”, Aragorn is calling bullshit on all that. He’s not only defying Sauron, he’s implicitly defying Morgoth too, by reminding his brothers that, despite all the evil that the dark forces poured into it, the world, at its core, does remain good. And, as Sam said, it’s worth fighting for.

This masterpiece wil never be old...and always a treat to watch....watching in 4 December 2023❤

Truly Masterpiece

Soldier in back: what he sayin Soldier halfway back: ...something about we all gonna die one day...

gotta love how the hobbits are the first to follow him before any other men, dwarf or elf

Oh to only have been an extra during this. I was born too late for it, but I envy those who have been there for this amazing moment, a piece of historic filmography.❤

Almost 20 years! We were blessed!

4:12 there's something about these next few shots when Aragorn goes down and it cuts to Legolas. The look of blind terror and panic on his face when he realizes Aragorn could legitimately die here. And then again at 4:22. Legolas is always composed, always graceful, you see it in the way he fights, the way he moves, even the way he talks. /None/ of that is present here. He's abandoned all of his usual battle tactics and he's literally /shoving/ orcs aside with his bare hands. Watching him desperately claw his way through the throng to even just try to reach Aragorn in time always breaks my heart a little.