The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Now this is my favourite one of the trilogy, I think most people agree. The people of Rohan are cool as hell. Their culture is a clear mix of northern European like the Vikings and Saxons and Central Asian like the Huns. Their land is much like Whiterun Hold in Skyrim. Their king King Theoden is such a dude too, he's a good man and a bad-ass, a serious threat to Sauron and Saruman.

Saruman is pretty damn cool in this, it's probably the booming voice of the mighty Christopher Lee that makes him. It's a common thing and always cool having a good looking wizard or sorcerer being the bad guy. It makes you wonder why we still see these dudes as good guys when they turn so often and easy.

We're also introduced to Gollum, properly, for the first time in this and it's no disappointment. You really can see how everyone started to use the technology used for Gollum after this. He's such an iconic character too and more for this movie than anything else. Andy Serkis is a true master of the art. It still gives me goosebumps every time he speaks to 'himself'.

One of the reasons this is the best in the trilogy is because it has one of the most epic and perfectly choreographed battles in the history of cinema. The siege of Helms Deep looks fantastic as a small group of men and elves defend the keep against the largest force of orcs ever seen (until the next movie) in the pouring rain. These aren't normal orcs either, they are Saruman's 'fighting Uruk-hai.

It's pretty cool when the elves show up too as it was a hell of a good surprise the first time I watched it. They look pretty damn cool too.

There's also another pretty lady introduced in this movie, Miranda Otto plays Theoden's ass kicking niece Eowyn.

I think another reason this movie is so good is, as Gandalf says, it's "the turn of the tide".