=4. Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki) 
Ten year old Chihiro and her parents are moving home and travelling through the Japanese countryside. Chihiro is sullen and unhappy about the move. Stopping along the way they discover a deserted amusement park where her parents feed themselves on fresh food. Chihiro wanders off and meets a boy named Haku. Haku tries to warn her to escape but when she returns to her parents she finds they are turned into pigs as a punishment for their gluttony and a river blocks her way out of the park. The amusement park leads to a health resort for the Gods and spirits soon fill the grounds. Chihiro has to get a job in the bathhouse from the owner, the evil witch Yubaba. Chihiro enlists the help of the spider-like Kamajii in order to gain employment, but finds she is forced to give up her name so that Yubaba can keep her in slavery forever. Chihiro is put to work bathing the clients of the bathhouse, she has to come to terms with her new world if she is to ever save herself and Haku from Yubaba's clutches.
Spirited Away is often described as Alice in Wonderland reimagined, and I can understand the comparison. Both works use a rift between worlds as a metaphor for a young girl's journey to adulthood. The surreal, spirit-filled, worlds they enter are the transitional phase in their lives, a necessary rite-of-passage if they are to overcome their childish ways. When Yubaba steals Chihiro's name it's the symbolic death of her identity until that point in time. When Chihiro regains her name it's because she's suffered and matured. Miyazaki also takes on a recurring theme in his work, the pollution and destruction of nature, here personified as a river spirit who has been so heavily polluted that it's become a foul, stinking wretch. Chihiro's ability to cleanse the river spirit speaks to the faith that Miyazki still has in people, even though he acknowledges that it is people who first cause the pollution.
But beyond any of the film's deeper themes, it's an exhilarating tale. A work of dark fantasy that's multi-layered, beautiful, distressing, intelligent and has the ability to work on a number of different levels, meaning adults and children can take away different things, but still know they've watched something amazing. The supporting cast of characters, from the melancholy No-Face to the vile Yubaba are a testament to Miyazaki's imagination. Miyazaki deserves to be acknowledged not just as one of the greatest creators of fantasy currently working, but one of the greatest who ever lived. Spirited Away owes a debt to Carroll's Alice, but I think it deserves to stand alongside it as a work of equal brilliance and importance.
Rawlinson =4. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003, Peter Jackson) 
2. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002, Peter Jackson) 
1. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001, Peter Jackson) 
Passed to him by his uncle Bilbo, young Hobbit Frodo Baggins becomes the unlikely and unwilling bearer of The One Ring of power, an instrument of unparalleled evil. And so Frodo, along with his three Hobbit chums, the wizard Gandalf and a swordsman named Strider, set out on an epic quest.
Ok this is my only Cheat but I feel these films are sufficiently joined up to consist as one entry. Although to be fair I've awarded it 3 spaces.
After I walked out of the cinema of this I said to my dad that all other film makers may as well give up as this is unbeatable as a trilogy. Ok so that was a Hyperbole, but either way this is an epic story and set of films with a very high bar.
shool -------
Despite the fact that it hasn't quite taken the top spot in the decade, I'm still comfortable in saying that Jackson's fantasy trilogy is the bravest and most stunning accomplishment of the last ten years. He has taken Tolkien's wordy and near-impenetrable volume of three books, streamlined it without losing the texture and detail that has made it so beloved and turned in three towering epics that truly transport you to another world. Quite how the effort didn't kill him, I'll never know. I can't really pick a favourite out of the three, I find it impossible to view them as anything other than one entity now (in their extended forms, naturally) - but they work best when viewed alongside each other, where their storytelling rhythms complement each other, the plots and journeys become clearer and the number of endings the final film has all make sense and seem worthwhile. Innocent Hobbit, Frodo (ElijahWood) comes into possession of a ring that could either unite Middle Earth in peace or see it destroyed if it falls into the hands of evil entity Sauron. Protecting him on his journey to destory it by throwing it into a volcano, is Gandalf the wizard (Ian McKellen), the ranger and eventual king of men, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the elf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the dwarf, Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and his fellow hobbits Merry, Pippin and best friend, Sam (Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin). The first film, Fellowship of the Ring, establishes just what we should come to expect from the rest of the trilogy. Opening with a flashback to a battle what was waged against Sauron centuries earlier, it's a jawdropping glimpse of spectacle and darkness that Jackson is confident enough to merely tease us with. What comes next is arguably even more impressive, as Gandalf visits Frodo and in an eye-popping bit of cinematic wizardry we see Wood sat happily alongside McKellen, but shrunk to less than half his size. It's utterly convincing and is key to how these three films work, by making the impossible seem logical and natural. After the first 20 minutes you forget that this is a camera trick and merely accept the existence of minute Hobbits alongside normal-sized men. Fellowship starts in a gorgeous, bucolic manner (I could happily have an extended cut of Hobbiton for hours on end) but gradually darkens as the threat to Middle Earth reveals itself. As they hurry along the roads to their rendezvous with Aragorn, the Hobbits are forced off the ride by a shadowy figure on a horse, which turns the very nature of Hobbiton itself into a wormy, disgusting mess. And this is exactly why these films work. Not just the casting - all of whom give convincing performances, with Mortensen in particular being spectacularly good - but because every film is littered with great moments and little scenes that resonate just as much as the spectacular battles. In Fellowship it may be Arwen's (Liv Tyler) escape on horseback with the injured Frodo as the Black Riders gain on her slowly but surely. It might be the psychedelic rest the Fellowship take in the realm of the Elves. Or it may be the final, bloody, brutal fight as Aragorn takes on dozens of Orcs single-handed to ensure that Frodo and Sam can escape with the ring.
In The Two Towers, the Fellowship are fractured, with several different journeys taking place and new characters such as King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his warrior daughter, Eowyn (Mirando Otto) introduced. The stakes also become higher as evil wizard, Saruman (Christopher Lee, in a role that drips with malice) creates army upon army of Orc to wipe out mankind. The revelation of this army - and the single tear that rolls down the cheek of his subordinate, Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) as he realises what will happen to mankind - is another one of those moments. As is the clash between the escaping human tribe of Theoden's kingdom and the Warg Riders where Aragorn is seemingly lost to them. Or then, of course, there's the introduction to the most memorable character of the trilogy, Gollum (Andy Serkis) a former Hobbit twisted into an abomination of himself by the power of the ring. Agreeing to take Frodo and Sam to where they need to be, Jackson makes Gollum the most fully convincing CGI creation we've yet to see and Serkis' performance of both motion-capture and voice is a sibilant, hissing, malicious turn of conniving evil and spite (the end of the film, where Jackson drops the soundtrack down to an eerie, low hum as we hear Gollum outline his plans for the Hobbits to himself is a tremendous cliffhanger) and means that there are no plot strands less interesting than the other. Hell, even Merry and Pippin's adventure with Treebeard and the Ents have a trippy wonder to them. This all leads to the astonishing battle of Helm's Deep, a fortified castle where Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli try to rally mankind to one last stand against the forces of Sauron. Set in the dead of night, it's an intoxicating mix of Lean, Kurosawa and Kubrick and is truly a battle of blood and grit and Legolas sliding a shield down a flight of stairs, firing arrows as he goes which is the single coolest moment in action cinema this decade.
And this is just a prelude to Return of the King. The final battle of Pelenor Fields, is nothing less than biblical. The Fellowship are reunited as Aragorn's responsibilities as saviour of Middle Earth comes down to one last battle - and what a battle it is. As dragons assault city walls, elephants the size of sky scrapers charge into the fray, trolls smash their way through dozens upon dozens of soldiers and an army of the undead are summoned to tip the balance of the war in Middle Earth's favour it's a spectacle the like of which we've never seen before and have yet to see again. It is thrilling, jaw-dropping, astonishingly confident storytelling and the kind of thing that cinema was invented for. Return of the King is the film that ties up the loose ends and finally gets Frodo, Sam and Gollum to the goal of Mount Doom, after battling a giant spider to get there. And as Sam drags the dying Frodo to the lip of the volcano, it is clear just how much has been taken out of them along the way. Gone are the cheerful, cherubic Hobbits, with only wearied, gaunt and emotionally-scarred people in their place. Few epics achieve the effect that the Return of the King does here, which is completely convince you of the epic and daunting journey that the characters have gone through. It is a heroic effort that the characters go through, which makes the multiple endings all the more satisfying once you appreciate why they're there.
And through it all, Jackson takes us places we have never seen before. Not just the way that his camera swoops and glides through the battles and scraps in a way that is never bitty or incoherent. Not just the way that he utilises the natural beauty of New Zealand to conjure up a world both realistic and tangible, but convincingly otherworldly, too. But by the sheer detail that he invests in the world. The costumes, the armour, the weapon, the dirt and ash beneath the characters' feet as Middle Earth becomes progressively darker and darker. It's not just some of the most exciting cinema you're likely to see, it's some of the most beautiful too; and through it all, Jackson is clever enough to always make sure there's an emotional heart to every film. In Fellowship, you have Boromir (Sean Bean) sacrificing his life in battle to save the Hobbits and dying in the arms of his king, Aragorn. In The Two Towers, you have Gandalf riding to the rescue of mankind at the last minute. And in Return of the King, you have Gandalf comforting Pippin with a beautiful mental picture of the afterlife as they prepare to face their doom as the city falls around them. It is for these reasons that this trilogy is still the most accomplished piece of fantasy cinema not just this decade, but for decades before it, too.
Key moment - from Fellowship - the entire Mines of Moria sequence from battling a cave troll to the appearance of the Balrog and Gandalf's sudden drop. From The Two Towers - the amazing sequence where Gollum converses with himself, his good and bad side battling for control of his crazed mind. From The Return of the King - Aragorn, newly-anointed king of Middle Earth, bows to the Hobbits.
matty_b -------
One Ring Synopsis: Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
Back in December 2001, the world needed some escapism. The events of just three months previously had shaken the globe and people were reordering their priorities. Being offered the opportunity to escape the harsh realities of the world for three hours was a very appealing idea, and with the first instalment of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, such an escape was offered. From the moment the first trailer was shown months earlier, with the release dates of each of the three films, I knew that what we were going to have was something very special, the likes of which would be hard-pressed to be repeated. It was a surprising excitement considering my ambivalence towards the books. I read them when I was younger and never made it past the middle of “The Two Towers” – I suspect it may have been the Ents that done me in. I tried again more recently having seen and loved the films, and didn’t make it much past Tom Bombadil this time. The films take the best bits of the book, and respectfully excise the rest. So it was that this was going to be more than a few films, but an event to mark the decade. Similarly, the films were filmed and thus presented as a single story – as Tolkien’s original book was, only split because of his publisher’s misgivings on a single-volume story – and as such it is as a single story that I view them, and am reviewing them. To me, the films are inseparable. They are indelibly linked, with each referring to, and building on, the previous film, taking the story to the next level. How can we forgo the joys of The Fellowship of the Ring with its Hobbit introduction and the Mines of Moria, or denounce The Two Towers as “the middle bit” when it has such jaw-dropping, seat-quiveringly amazing scenes as the siege of Helm’s Deep, or dismiss The Return of the King as “just the end” when we have the battle at Minas Tirith, and the Lighting of the Beacons? Simply put, these films are a law unto themselves. While I am reviewing them as a single entity, I am obeying the laws of these lists and sacrificing three places for them. Rather than look at each film separately, to avoid repeating myself where possible, I’ll instead concentrate on different aspects of production across the full three-film spectrum.
I think I have said previously that two things that draw me absolutely to a film are a strong visual element, and an effective, compelling soundtrack. From the opening montage mini-history of Middle earth, narrated by the mellifluous, mesmerising voice that matches in pure beauty the visual impact we later experience of Cate Blanchett, with the sweeping shots of mass upon mass of orc armies in hand-to-hand combat with the realms of men, we get a fairly impressive idea of what is to come over what would become nearly 14 hours of near-perfection. So, I will begin with the soundtrack. I am the proud owner of the complete Lord of the Rings recordings and in this, Howard Shore has composed his masterpiece, his magnum opus – when he dies, it will be the first line in his obituary. It is a work to rival Richard Wagner (his most clear influence with his use of leitmotifs) at his best. The score works as an accompaniment, but also as a work in its own right. The pleasure of listening to a good score on its own is how well it conjures the images that are irrevocably linked to it when one hears it. In this way, Shore’s score is perfect. Each tune is associated with a character, or a place, or an ideal, and the way Shore introduces them, reinforces them, harmonises, undermines, contrasts and compares them is outstanding. The themes range from the simple innocence of the Hobbit’s theme (which later on becomes something more maligned and twisted as the journey travels ever nearer Mordor) to the proud nobility of the Rohan’s theme. The music swells us up, it knocks us down, it carries us along and strikes us where we stand – it does all this without ever being overbearing nor unwelcome. Despite the wealth of memorable themes, perhaps my favourite musical sequence comes in The Return of the King, when against Denethor’s wishes, in a bid to unite disparate bands of men, Pippin scurries to the top of the beacon of Minas Tirith and lights it, setting off a series of beacons that stretch all the way back to Rohan. It’s a stunning scene the score to which makes it all the more magical. Music is often described as another character inappropriately – yet here it is truly the 10th member of the Fellowship.
Before 2001, Computer generated imagery, or CGI as it is now universally known by everyone, had never been used to quite the same extent as it would be in Lord of the Rings. There had been characters, places, times that had been created or recreated by CGI, but with these three films the bar was raised. But the genius behind the effects used in the trilogy was not its CGI creations, but the decision to use any and every type of effect possible (a decision sadly not replicated for 2005’s King Kong, an admirable if ultimately flawed production). Whether using CGI, or miniatures, or “bigatures” or forced perspective, the viewer never knew exactly how the effects were being produced, restoring some of the magic that is oft-times seemingly lost today – until we all watched how it was done in the comprehensive DVDs, that is. Remarkably, the knowledge doesn’t ruin the impact of the scenes – rather a newfound respect for exactly how much went into the production. (The level of detail for instance, that extended to things that would never be seen by the camera, such as the stitching inside Theoden’s clothing.) Knowing that detail is there enriches the visual imagery on show and helps to maintain the illusion of a fully fledged world created from top to bottom in its entirety. What is significant is that, despite the overt nature of the CGI (Gollum being the most obvious example) it never seems to be showboating, but is truly a tool to create the places and creatures sketched out by Tolkien half a century ago. The battle scenes are immense, using technology since used by vastly inferior productions like 300 (entertaining, but not much to it) and mixing this with live action fighting that brings grime and dirt to add to the CGI, a tool that makes films infamously “clean”. Interestingly the films chart points in my life. When I saw Fellowship of the Ring I went with my girlfriend. When I saw The Two Towers I went with my pregnant wife. When I saw Return of the King we booked a babysitter. But it was during the siege on Helm’s Deep, when the Uruk-Hai becomes Middle Earth’s first suicide bomber that we realised that maybe the cinema had its sound system cranked just a little too high, and the entire cinema itself shook. It was awesome for me, but next to me, my unborn son woke up and wriggled through the rest of the film, much to my wife’s annoyance. Whether we’re swooping above battles, drifting through Elven forests, dancing through Hobbiton, sleeping through the Forest of the Ents, trembling behind the gates of Minas Tirith, creeping across the plains to Mount Doom, scrabbling up those volcanic, firestruck rocks, the technology of today allows us to utterly lose ourselves in the film and be a part of that journey too.
Of course, while I see a grand score and fine visuals as a bonus, the meat of a film lies in the story itself, and those who perform it. Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens have produced a remarkable film script, distilling, reordering, compressing, finessing, and polishing the books into a form that works perfectly for the screen. Clearly I cannot make a direct book-to-film comparison, given that I have not read the trilogy in its entirety, but nevertheless I can comment on the vastly different reaction I have of the film to that of the book. Where the book (that portion of it I read) was overly detailed, forgoing information for plot, plodding along drawing little interest for the – literally – fantastic creations within, the film draws out the salient information and pushes them to the fore, revelling in the wondrous creations. While I cannot deny the impact of the book, of its importance on the literary landscape of today, and of Tolkien’s significance as the father of fantasy, I personally far, far prefer the films over the book, and I don’t often say that. To fully make the most of a good script, one needs a fine range of actors to breathe life into it. A then-little-known Elijah Wood, Sean Astin (the Goonie, and the weakest link of the film for me) Sir Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Sir Ian Holm, John Rhys Davies, Christopher Lee, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Hugo Weaving, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Dominic Monaghan, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Sean Bean, David Wenham, John Noble, Karl Urban, Marton Csokas, Brad Dourif… It’s a vast and diverse cast, and all of the main characters have a recognisable arc, some challenge to overcome. In a story spanning 14 hours, to give so many characters space to breathe and become real, and loved, and manifest, is an achievement.
Whether Peter Jackson, a director formerly known for gore-filled shock films, a fairly good ghost comedy, and a superb true-story drama, had intended to create an event of such magnitude is not known. Yet it is unarguable that The Lord of the Rings is a distinctly unique achievement. There is nothing that has gone before that has been on quite the same scale as this story. Certainly there have been multi-part films, or mini-series that deal with many and various themes, but budgetary limitations necessarily reduce their impact. With this trilogy there is such a conflux of talent – acting, musical, technical, artisan, technological, direction – that it was as if it was meant to be. It’s very hard to compare the trilogy to any other film. When considered as a single entity, little else comes close. But, while I have run these films consecutively, to give other films a fair chance I have considered them individually when compiling this list. Needless to say, The Lord of the Rings is one of those experiences that I am proud to have had as it happened. It is this generation’s Star Wars (as Clerks II so memorably compares them) – only it’s much, much better. It is, quite simply, perfection.
homersimpson_esq -------
Yeah, not bad.
Gimli The Dwarf
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