History Film / TheLordOfTheRings

* LargeHam: Gandalf gets lines like "I will draw you Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound!" and "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis YOU...SHALL NOT...PASS!]]. Also see "Evil Is Hammy" above.
* LeaveNoSurvivors: In the films both Saruman and the Witch-King tell their minions to kill everyone in Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith, respectively.

* {{Determinator}}: Sam is Frodo's only companion to stay with him clear from the Shire to Mt. Doom, in spite of being turned away by Frodo twice, and in spite of Frodo and the others twice secretly conspiring with regards to the journey without Sam or the other hobbits. He also saves Frodo from an EldritchAbomination and Orcs, then carries him partway up Mt Doom on his own back. The only incentive he gets to do any of this is when Gandalf says, "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee" once, right at the beginning.

** To the Creator/RalphBakshi animated ''Lord Of The Rings'' (the Nazgûl emerging from the tree as the four Hobbits hide in the roots), ''Shaka Zulu'' (the pre-Battle Of Helms Deep build-up), ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' (Aragorn's dazed horse ride to Helm's Deep; Frodo being carried by the Eagles).

* DaylightHorror: The Ringwraiths are frightening at night. They prove to be just as frightening when they chase Arwen and a sickly Frodo across a bright green field in the middle of the day.

* RatedMForManly: [[AdaptationDistillation Gimli's personality in the film]], as opposed to the book. The Dwarves in the book, as conceived by Tolkien, are far more dignified. But Gimli's part in the film has been written partly to provide comic relief and partly to provide a contrast to Legolas as played by Orlando Bloom and therefore he got a comically-exaggerated masculine attitude: almost-suicidally brave, gruff, deep-voiced, tremendously proud and braggart, [[StockAnimalDiet fond of malt beer and red meat off the bone]], DeadpanSnarker to the best, spiteful towards those who don't live to his standards of bravery.
--> '''Gimli''' (in the caves of the Dead): ''You waste your time, Aragorn! They had no honour in life, they have none now in death!''

* ManOnFire:
** [[spoiler:The Steward of Gondor and nearly Faramir.]]
** Also the [[spoiler:Nazgûl that Aragorn throws a torch at]] on Weathertop.
** Also includes an Ent on fire at one point. Dousing the flames as the dam on the River Isen burst is a fairly notable FunnyBackgroundEvent.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Frodo and the Hobbits are the obvious examples, but Lady Galadriel also goes barefoot.

* BladeOnAStick: Elf King Gil-Galad's spear in the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring, and the Chinese style polearms carried by Haldir's Elves at the Battle of Helm's Deep.

* TheSiege: The battle of ''Helm's Deep'', ''Osgiliath'' and ''Minas Tirith''. Osgiliath is the only battle the heroes lose.

* ShutUpHannibal: Aragorn's response to the Mouth of Sauron's taunts is to [[spoiler: cut his head off]].

** Despite ostensibly serving as one of his protectors and being a member of the Fellowship, Legolas says exactly three words directly to Frodo: "And my bow". Justified in that the two are separated for most of the story - they meet at the House of Elrond, split up at the end of ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', and don't see each other again until the tail end of ''The Return of the King'', but awkward nonetheless. Legolas primarily interacts with Aragorn and Gimli, barely even looking at anyone else in the fellowship.
** Gimli has a similar problem to a lesser degree than Legolas. As he's mostly the comic relief to the Three Hunters trio of himself Aragorn and Legolas, he rarely talks to anyone outside that dynamic. He never once spoke to Boromir or Sam.

* StupidStatementDanceMix:
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard]]"
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr_01rYKQLg Po-tay-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.]]"

** [[spoiler: In the prologue of Fellowship of the Ring, we see Sauron explode once the Ring is severed from his hand. Though this may be subverted as the affected scores of Men and Elves were more likely blown off of their feet than killed.]]

** In ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogy, a giant elk ridden by Thranduil as a steed is inspired by the large prehistoric deer ''Megaloceros'', particularly the giant antlers.

* OffscreenInertia: PlayedForLaughs. In the extended version of ''The Two Towers'' (but not the theatrical version), the last thing we see Merry and Pippin doing before the film ends is [[TheStoner lighting one up,]] and they're ''still'' smoking away several in-movie days later at the beginning of the next film.

* KerbStompBattle:
** [[spoiler: Ents vs. Isengard]].
** [[spoiler: Army of the Dead vs. Forces of Sauron]], unlike the book, which describes it as a long day of battle.[[note]]In the books, the Dead don't fight at Minas Tirith but rather disperse after killing the Corsairs of Umbar, allowing Aragorn to lead the living men of the region north to join the battle.[[/note]]
* KerbStompCushion:
** While the Rohirrim's battle against the Haradrim outside Minas Tirith is nearly this, as the Mumakil the Haradrim ride are basically unstoppable juggernauts that impale, crush, and swat horsemen away with impunity, the Rohirrim give a good accounting of themselves, managing to bring down a number of Mumakil by taking advantage of their greater numbers and maneuverability, though it still takes the Army of the Dead to tip the scales in Middle-earth's favour.
** Nearly all of the battles of the soldiers of Gondor against the forces of Mordor. When the trolls break through the gate of Minas Tirith the soldiers manage to kill at least one troll and in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzk91QqbEA this video]] you can see at least one soldier who spears down an Orc.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Elvish archery in general; see for example the Elves in the prologue shooting Orcs off the slopes of Mount Doom at what looks like over a ''mile away''. And there's Legolas specifically, of course, who shoots Orcs in the head while shield-surfing.

** Probably the cruellest one in film history is when Gandalf sends Balrog off the bridge and begins turning back...only for the tips of its whip to catch Gandalf by the foot and leave him dangling off the side of the bridge.

* HopelessWar: The War of the Ring was very much this trope for the Free People of Middle-earth. Sauron's power and forces were growing stronger by the day, the odds of the Quest's success were becoming increasingly slim, and all the while the armies of Gondor and Rohan were struggling to bring their tactics up-to-par with that of the Enemy.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Not a typical example, as it takes place at the same time, rather than before, the main conflict--but in the extended edition of [=RotK=], there is a moment when Gimli says that he wishes he had Dwarf warriors beside him. Legolas replies that he fears the Dwarves are already at war; anyone who has read the appendices knows that ''both'' of their homelands (Erebor and Mirkwood, respectively) are indeed fighting Sauron's armies in the north. The Dwarves even lose their king in the conflict. The fighting around Gondor is a sideshow by comparison to the scale of the attacks on Erebor and Mirkwood.

** At the climax of the story, Gollum dies while falling into Mount Doom with the Ring, but the book and the film depict the exact circumstances a bit differently. In the book, Gollum trips and falls over the precipice while celebrating his retaking of the Ring. This was filmed, but when translated to film this ending came off as too anticlimactic. A couple of other scenarios were tried, and what eventually made it to the screen was that Frodo, still caught in his own desire for the Ring, started struggling with Gollum for it again, eventually resulting in both falling over the precipice together. Gollum fell into the lava with the Ring, but Frodo managed to grab the ledge, and Sam managed to pull him up and out of immediate danger.

* CoolMask: The Witch-King spiky, crowned helmet, which immediately sets him apart from the other Nazgul.

** If counting where Bilbo and Frodo's sword, Sting, received its name in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' [[spoiler: killing the giant spiders of Mirkwood as they attacked the ensnared dwarves]], it's perhaps one of these or a BrickJoke that Samwise uses Sting to defeat Shelob.

*** In the film, Theoden refuses Gandalf's advice to fight Saruman in the open on the grounds that his main force is too far away with the banished Eomer, so he must abandon vulnerable Edoras for the fortress of Helm's Deep. However, this plan is treated as inherently wrong by Aragorn and Gandalf, the later of whom rides off to retrieve Eomer apparently in defiance of Theoden even though the king only said summoning him was unfeasible, not unwanted. In the novels, by contrast, Theoden [[JumpedAtTheCall immediately accepts]] Gandalf's advice to call up all his forces and immediately leads his household guard to join the forces already defending the Westfold while the rest of his forces assemble.

** Eomer gets in a good one when he finds [[spoiler:Eowyn's body]] on the battlefield(only in Extended Cut).

* BadassBoast: [[InTheNameOfTheMoon "I am a servant of the Secret Fire]], wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn![[note]]There is some debate about ''exactly'' what Gandalf is invoking here, but he is generally considered to be saying that he is a wielder of the flame of creation (and thus an immensely powerful being, on a par with the Balrog's own power), and that the Balrog's power (dark fire) will not overcome his (flame of Udûn is apparently a way of referring to the Balrog itself). See [[http://tolkien.cro.net/else/gdfire.html here]] for more info[[/note]]. Go back to the shadow... YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

* BadassBoast: [[InTheNameOfTheMoon "I am a servant of the Secret Fire]], wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the shadow... YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"