The Best Films of the Zeroes: 15

15. THE LORD OF THE RINGS. (2001, 2002, 2003)
Directed by Peter Jackson

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Peter Jackson’s adaptation of JRR Tolkein’s beloved tome was the cinematic event of the zeroes. In a decade in which cinema’s premier blockbuster filmmakers from previous generations failed to deliver, Jackson presented us with three films, which can easily be treated as one, that provided more than could rightly have been expected.

Jackson wasn’t much of a name until these films; his previous work was good, but largely unknown, his two highest profile films were THE FRIGHTENERS (a flop on release) and HEAVENLY CREATURES. Add in a few splatter-horrors like BAD TASTE and BRAINDEAD, and you wouldn’t necessarily have expected a movie trilogy that would gross nearly $3 billion at the global box office, and sell millions of DVDs, as well as cleaning up at the Academy Awards™ in 2004.

Jackson is now one of the world’s foremost directors (although THE LOVELY BONES is a disaster), and his cast – as odd a bunch as the characters they portrayed have (mostly) gone on to have interesting and lucrative careers. What the films have is an immense sense of scale. From the first moment of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) to the final scenes of THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003), you can’t help but be awed by the sheer scope of Jackson’s vision. He utilised computer generation as skilfully as anyone else, before or since, using his own effects company WETA for CG and more tangible effects.

He garnered good performances from everyone (standouts in the trilogy include Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Sir Ian McKellen and Bernard Hill), but more than that makes you care about , and understand, the characters, using shorthand, when compared to the lengthy nature of the source material. Jackson’s major achievements come from his ability to stage sequences, though. Each of the films has at least one standout set-piece, from the battle with the cave troll, culminating in the Balrog scene in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, to the phenomenal battle at the denouement of THE RETURN OF THE KING. In the middle comes the trilogy’s best sequence, the rain-sodden Battle of Helm’s Deep in THE TWO TOWERS (2002), in which all of Jackson’s visual flair comes out, in thrilling style.

He keeps a close eye on the smaller story, as well, following the quest to destroy the ring with a keen interest. It’s those scenes that contain the greatest technical achievement (and performance) of the trilogy: Gollum. The first truly believable, if not awe-inspiring, computer generated character in a live action film, Gollum is a wonder. Voiced, and portrayed, in fact via motion capture technology by Andy Serkis, Gollum is the films’ crowning achievement. The films have their flaws, but given the excellence that dominates almost every frame of film, it would be churlish to hark on at them. The Extended Edition DVDs last for almost twelve hours in total, and every second is worth watching.