Sauron shows no signs of stopping even as Isengard crumbles. His eyes are on Minis Tirith, the last beacon of hope for Gondor. While Merry and Pippin are reunited with the Fellowship (though not for too long), Frodo and Sam are now right under Sauron’s eye, behind the gates of Mordor. There’s treachery afoot, battles to win, fathers to impress, and cities to conquer. And a king to return.

Will Middle Earth succumb to evil? Will Sam ever see the Shire again? Will Pippin be a fool until he dies?

Will Frodo destroy the ring?

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we are counting down the most impactful, hilarious and memorable moments from the gripping conclusion of Peter Jackson’s fantasy saga, for this: the 10 Best The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Moments.

Follow @thefilmagazine on X (Twitter).

10. Mount Doom Erupts

Inside the volcano things aren’t moving fast enough. The ring isn’t melting. Just as it looks like our King will be defeated, Sauron’s tower falls and the eye implodes. The ground surrounding the heroes disintegrates, taking the orcs and trolls with it.

It’s over. They’ve won.

Or have they?

In the seconds after everyone’s elation, Mount Doom explodes. Everyone looks crestfallen as Sam and Frodo are still up there. This device has been used before with Gandalf and the Balrog, Aragorn and the warg. For a second, this feels different. There is a moment when we truly believe that Sam and Frodo made the ultimate sacrifice.

Recommended for you: 10 Best Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Moments

9. Merry and Pippin Lead the Charge

Vastly outnumbered, Aragorn and his followers head to the black gate to draw Sauron’s eye while Sam and Frodo make the final leg of their journey into Mount Doom. Aragorn’s “not this day” speech is stirring and emotional. This is it. It’s now or never.

“For Frodo!” Is the battle cry.

And, in an army of a thousand experienced soldiers, it is Merry and Pippin who run first. They’ve come so far from the firework stealing miscreants of the first film. They are warriors as brave as any man or elf.

Batman, Spider-Man, The Avengers and more have become the new Hollywood A-List, and the movies of Marvel, DC and so on, have proven to be greatly influential when it comes to the direction of Hollywood itself. Their importance is unquestioned, their power and dominance unrivalled; but what are the films that brought us here? Which comic book movies have been the most important in establishing the genre, shaping it, moulding it?

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we offer the 10 Most Important Comic Book Movies Ever. These films have been judged with regard to their importance to the landscape in which they were released, their lasting influence, and their roles in bringing about change and revolution to both the comic book genre and, further, cinema itself.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

1. Superman (1978)

There were superhero films released before Superman in 1978, but besides the TV movie Batman (1966) there was little by way of memorable fare or major productions. Richard Donner’s big budget studio-driven offering changed all that.

By 1978 Superman was already a cornerstone of American culture, a poster boy for the best of the best and the values we should all strive to uphold. He was America’s unproblematic hero in a time of great division, heightened paranoia, and conspiracy come to life. Warner Bros put an astonishing $55million behind bringing him to the big screen, which in relation to modern day $200-300million movies may not seem like a lot but in context to releases of the time was an astronomical amount: just a few years earlier The Godfather had been made for $6million, Jaws for $9million, and Star Wars for $11million; even 80s hits like E.T., Indiana Jones and Back to the Future were made for under $20million. But Superman embodied society’s need for escapism and, as such, the budget seemed well spent. Superman birthed the modern superhero’s position at the top of the box office, crowning its run with close to $300million in box office receipts at a time of great financial destitution, but perhaps most importantly it reminded the world that Hollywood could still offer the best form of fantastical escapism, the burgeoning television market left in the dust.

Clean cut, better-than-good heroes have rarely been so exceptional, and the superhero genre would not be what it is without Donner and star Christopher Reeve in particular. The themes, tropes and expectations founded in their work have since proven to be the backbone of every film on this list.

Recommended for you: Superman Movies Ranked

2. Blade (1998)

A studio actioner led by an African American was important even before the mainstream conversation caught up, and Blade was probably the first non-Batman comic book adaptation to look and feel like the superhero juggernauts to come.

Without Blade we would not have got the next film on this list, nor many of the comic book films released in the 2000s. Wesley Snipes’ vampire hunter was brought to life in a sub-par era headlined by Steel and Judge Dredd, and yet it burst through the narrow expectations set by other films in the genre to become something altogether more memorable. It was, in the midst of the late 90s’ boom of youth culture, embraced as the antithesis of the campy, family-orientated, (mostly) cheap movies that had made up the comic book adaptations of the decade, its R rating (18 in the UK) giving it an edge that the rebellious teens of Generation X ate up as readily as their hardcore wrestling and Nu metal. Blade all-but saved superhero cinema after its brief Batman bubble was brutally burst by Joel Schumacher and Warner Bros in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, and set a new template for what comic book adaptations could be. The rest is history.

The proof of Blade’s importance as an early comic book film comes via this one simple fact: before Blade, Marvel had only ever allowed one of their properties to be adapted for film and released in cinemas, the box office dud Howard the Duck – after Blade, they partnered with studios on eighteen different releases in the next ten years, two Blade sequels included. This 1998 film was revolutionary for comic book IP licensing and thus the future of the blockbuster landscape, and Wesley Snipes’ on-screen presence helped to legitimise the comic book film adaptation as a concept whilst reinforcing the importance of representation on screen.

The A24 film (The Witch, Minari), which was delayed in an announcement back in July just weeks from its proposed 6th August release date due to growing concerns regarding the pandemic, will be distributed by both Amazon and their ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV series partners Entertainment Film. According to Variety, Amazon and A24 have been in discussions for most of the past month, with A24 being keen to ensure a theatrical release in the United Kingdom.

In The Green Knight, Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield) stars as Gawain, the reckless nephew of King Arthur, who embarks on an epic quest to find the mythical Green Knight in order to prove his worth. Helmed by David Lowery, the acclaimed director of the philosophical A Ghost Story and the more commercially friendly Pete’s Dragon, The Green Knight is expected to mix large scope with an introspective plot.

This release strategy seems beneficial for all parties, with producers and distributors each getting their own benefits from the theatrical/streaming co-release strategy and audiences being afforded the choice to watch The Green Knight on the big screen or from home.

In North America, The Green Knight out-performed expectations in its opening weekend, earning $6.8million against a projected $4million, debuting at number 2 in the box office charts behind Disney family blockbuster Jungle Cruise. As of writing, The Green Knight sits at a worldwide gross of $17.3million from a production budget thought to be around $15million.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Screenwriters: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey, Abraham Sofaer, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron

Not many metaphysical romantic dramas open with two jokes, but Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death does. First we get the disclaimer – “Any resemblance to any other world known or unknown is purely coincidental” – closely followed by the (British) Voice of God observing, “This is the universe. Big, isn’t it?”. It’s one of the many reasons this film has left such an indelible mark over time.

British Lancaster Bomber pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) is shot down over the English Channel, and according to the governing laws of the universe, should have been killed instantly. But when the angels make an almighty administrative error, Peter is left in limbo and must justify his continued existence to Heaven itself with the help of the woman he fell in love with while dying (Kim Hunter) and an eccentric village doctor (Roger Livesey).

The opening scene is one for the ages, running the gamut of human emotions and every level of craft reinforcing the power of the sequence. Peter and June meet for the first, and seemingly last time over the radio, behave calmly and professionally, and try to figure a way out of Peter’s hopeless situation, before realising there is absolutely no hope so chat a while instead. June’s world is only soundtracked by an incessant ticking clock, whereas Peter is surrounded by a terrifying cacophony of wind, failing engines and straining metal. The pair have an instant rapport, and even manage to joke about Peter’s certain doom, discussing love, the afterlife, home – in short life, the universe and everything.

As well as being a swooning romance, a grand morality debate and a stunningly realised work of fantasy, A Matter of Life and Death is also all about an afterlife governed according to logic. Writers like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett must have been influenced by such a presentation of the otherworldly run by bureaucracy. Everything happens to Peter on his miraculous journey because of an admin error, an invoice going astray. How delightfully British. As Dr Reeves observes of Peter’s apparent delusions, “Nothing he invents is entirely fantastic. It’s invention, but it’s logical invention”. In this reality, the “Conductors” are the administrators of this heavenly plane, all trying their utmost to keep on top of their demanding caseloads like overworked social workers, hoping everything goes off without a hitch. They’re all stuck with the appearance and attitudes of the time periods they died in, to particularly entertaining effect with the foppish French Conductor 71 (Marius Goring).

There’s a very British vein of humour throughout – dry and colloquial and witty. Peter’s death is foiled by a “pea souper” over the Channel. Peter himself threatens his green cane-carrying heavenly messenger to “Take that bit of Barley Sugar away”. Following a cheap jab at the “make do” way the post-war British live, Dr Reeves submits that the heavenly court “is concerned with the life of Peter Carter, not past history or present plumbing”.

This view of heaven, with the golden stairway and famous figures wandering around has been borrowed countless times over the years. In terms of striking imagery, A Matter of Life and Death features some of the most iconic moments in any film. The intimacy, clever use of space and framing and near-death small talk of the opening crash scene; the switches back and forth between living colour and afterlife black-and-white; the vastness of the heavenly courtroom like an imposingly organised glacier.

There are some really ahead of their time stylistic touches, from the design and scale of the afterlife to colour bleeding in and out of scenes, the POV death on motorbike and the giant lids closing over the camera lens standing in for Peter’s eyes as he goes under for surgery. You also have a character (Conductor 71) seemingly aware of the artifice of film, looking and speaking direct to camera on occasion: “One is starved of Technicolor!”.

American and British colonialist ideals are skewered throughout (but especially at the end) in fantastic(al) fashion. This film, which ends up being not only about love transcending life, death and the universe, also becomes about criticising the arrogance of victors throughout history. “He might be prejudiced” / “He hates your guts!”. At a point Peter’s trial becomes a dick measuring contest between the outgoing world Empire and the incoming one – what is worse for a country to become, a monotonous nation with boring sports and constant talk of the weather (UK) or a vapid nation slowly being taken over by so-called popular music (USA). Not many films released in 1946 would have so boldly acknowledged how many countries the British Empire wrecked, or how so many in the Land of the Free still struggled. Released immediately post-war as it was, the film’s surface level themes might have connected, but its wider treatise probably wouldn’t have gone down too well with the brass.

A Matter of Life and Death is a towering metaphysical masterpiece, an as-near perfect conceptual, thematic and soulful story of love overcoming the workings of the universe as you’re likely to get. If it’s somehow passed you by until now, put some time aside to correct that and you might find the clocks freeze in wonderment.

24/24

Fantasy Island (2020)
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Screenwriters: Jillian Jacobs, Christopher Roach, Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Lucy Hale, Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Austin Stowell, Ryan Hansen, Jimmy O. Yang

If you are a big Lucy Hale fan from being slightly (very) obsessed with ‘Pretty Little Liars’ (like me), you will probably enjoy this film. If you are a horror film buff, or just like a film to have a good and logical plot, you might want to skip this one.

Produced by Blumhouse Pictures, known for the horror box office smash hit Get Out (2017), Fantasy Island had a lot riding on it – especially for horror fans. The various trailers suggested a nail-biting, eye-squinting horrific thriller, but the cinematic reality was not quite up to that standard. Not Get Out levels of scary anyway.

Fantasy Island is adapted from a 1970s American TV Show of the same name which similarly explores the narrative of a magical island run by Mr. Roake (played here by Michael Pena) who brings each guest’s fantasies to life. Here, director Jeff Wadlow adapts the thrilleresque original into much more of a thriller/horror, and it is through these horror elements that the film is most let down.

Five guests are chosen at random (or so they think…) to win a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to a remote tropical resort and are able to watch their deepest fantasies be brought to life by the magical island. However, none of them seem to have read the terms and conditions properly. This dream vacation soon turns into the holiday-from-hell as each of the group’s fantasies are twisted and definitely do not live up to their expectations at all.

For those die-hard Lucy Hale fans, the film is a decent watch because she leads the narrative and manages to nicely portray a variation of emotions and personalities within the hour and 50 minutes. Hale plays Melanie Cole, an over-confident, bitter, twenty-something woman who longs for revenge on her childhood bully. This fantasy soon becomes reality when she realises the supposed “hologram” of her bully is, in fact, the real deal. After this realisation, Melanie decides to release Sloane (her bully, played by Portia Doubleday) from her torture, and the two of decide to stick together and escape the island of misfit fantasies.

Spoiler alert… Melanie is not what she seems. Much like the island.

Hale doesn’t play the usual sweet girl that she is normally typecast as – this time she gets to let loose her evil side. Impressively, she manages to pull it off – what don’t work as well are the other choices of characterisations.

With five guests, each with a lot of screen time, the narrative seems to get lost in the fantasies of each guest. Obviously, their stories are important to acknowledge, but the film starts to drag around halfway through as less interesting characters are explored too much. This helps to make the film’s major plot twist feels rushed and underwhelming by comparison.

The cinematography and mise-en-scene are some of the stronger elements of this film, with location and colour playing a huge part in the visual storytelling. The fantasy island was shot on location in Fiji, which created such a beautiful movie to look at and really conveyed the mystical sense of the island. The idyllic location created a clever contrast with the dark themes of the island’s reality.

One of the reasons that the horror felt lacking was because of the regular splash of comedy in the narrative. This mainly came from the characters Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) and J.D (Ryan Hansen), who were the jokey brothers of the island, with a joint fantasy of “to have it all” – aka a giant house, with a ridiculous house party every night and an absurd amount of money. These two provided the comic relief, which was an interesting touch, but at times took away from the seriousness of the horror at the film’s centre.

Conclusively, the first half of this film was genuinely quite gripping, yet the second half (in which a lot of the major plot points occurred) let it down – the horror was too slow and the plot twist was underwhelming.

Fantasy Island had many strong factors, and a fair few weak ones, but overall it was a decent watch. The hints of horror that were included made for enjoyable moments if not necessarily thrilling ones, and the acting of the central cast was arguably one of the better parts of the film – it was great to see Lucy Hale in a complex role so different to her usual output. The concept was also a very cool one, which carried large parts of the film, but this was far from a great horror movie overall and more an average take on a creative idea.

13/24

Written by Sophie Cook

You can support Sophie Cook in the following places:

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Border (2018)
Director: Ali Abbasi
Screenwriters: Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklof, John Ajvide Lindqvist
Starring: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jorgen Thorsson, Ann Petren, Sten Ljunggren

Films that collide age-old mythology and ancient folklore with the hustle and bustle of the contemporary world and modern sensibilities always leave an impact. Societies across the globe were built upon myths and legends passed down from one generation to the next, on traditions of storytelling and imparting moral lessons to live your life by. Border, among other things, is an extremely twisted version of that.

The film adapts “Let the Right One In” author John Ajvide Lindqvist’s short story about a Swedish border guard (Eva Melander) who has grown up to believe she has a chromosome flaw but is in fact a troll. When a fellow member of this ancient faerie race (Eero Milonoff) passes through customs, Tina discovers who and what she really is and comes to realise what a dark place the world has become under humanity’s rule.

First, a word or few on Magical Realism…

Academic Matthew Stetcher defines it as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe”. When ancient, forgotten and invisible worlds invade our spaces, what does this mean? Is it simply the human brain resorting to flights of fancy to avoid confronting something awful? In films like Pan’s Labyrinth, the lead character’s perception of reality is up for debate – Ophelia is going through a traumatic time of change and may have dreamt up a fantastical coping mechanism. Likewise, in Bridge to Terabithia, Jess has suddenly lost his childhood friend under tragic circumstances and would not be able to carry on without resorting to his imagination. With Border, I think we’re supposed to take things a bit more literally.

The prosthetics work here (over 20 artists were required to create two flawless characters), transforming Melander and Milonoff into the unrecognisable Tina and Vore but never masking the actors’ nuanced performances. It’s key that either an actor’s lower or upper face is left malleable; Melander is able to twitch her upper lip and nose as her otherworldly senses kick in and Milonoff’s beguiling smile can transform into a snarl when threatened.

The film features a troll sex scene, which really is something else. A troll’s anatomy isn’t quite like a human’s and leave it at that for the sake of taste. It’s not a sequence without purpose either, as it acts more as a key moment of character growth and self-actualisation for Tina in addition to being more than a little bizarre and incredibly funny.

Humanity does not come out of this well at all. The trolls and who knows how many other ancient and otherworldly species are all-but gone, persecuted, experimented on and driven underground by humankind. No wonder Tina is tempted to join Vore after a life of mistreatment and dishonesty even from those who claim to love her – her father (Ljunggren) is suffering from dementia but was never upfront about the circumstances of her adoption even before the fog enveloped him, and the man she lives with (Thorsson) expects her to support him financially while he breeds show dogs and emotionally abuses her.

Where this story takes you is unspeakably dark. Grimm’s Fairy Tales have nothing on Border, then again Snow White and Cinderella didn’t have the day jobs of sniffing out criminality. Countless tales have been told at night to children over the centuries, we now all live in a much more terrifying world – people are not monsters from storybooks hiding under bridges or just beyond the veil, they are monsters because they are human. Vore won’t forgive humanity for what they’ve done or what they’re still doing, while Tina is torn between finally feeling like she belongs and not being able to forgive her partner’s sinister plans on any moral level.

The horrific ideas and morbid material thankfully never gets too oppressive thanks to moments of touching serenity, both of the natural world and creatures who long predate the coming of man living in harmony with it. It’s impossible not to smile at Tina and Vore swimming in a storm, laughing at their freedom and holding each other to protect against the lightning that is attracted to their kind. The caged show dogs, as “man’s best friend”, tellingly react aggressively towards Tina because she is something other, in opposition to their masters. But wildlife, foxes and deer feel at peace around her as she is at peace with them – for a few moments it’s like she’s become the most unconventional looking Disney princess around.

Border is disdainful of humanity and yet strangely hopeful for life on Earth. It’s beautiful and grotesque, romantic and pragmatic, ethereal and grounded. It’s one campfire story you’re not going to forget in a hurry. People come and go across borders, through customs checks and between worlds ancient and modern; you’ve got to decide for yourself where you fit into the world.

21/24

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I’ve always considered fantasy movies to be the producers of many a moment of escapism into another land engulfed with marvelous mythical beings and riveting realms that have often originated from the mind of a literary prodigy. I think the fantasy genre is something special and, most recently, ‘The Hobbit’ has been added to my ‘favourite franchise list’.

The phenomenal ‘Hobbit’ films (much like Lord of the Rings) are beautifully broadcast, encapsulating Tolkien’s story with such honour. Peter Jackson (one of my favourite film directors) transformed the written series into a saga that has captured the hearts of Tolkien fans, like myself, not only for the presentation of its astounding acting, but also for its setting, plotline and overall ‘feel’.

I was in awe of the acting from the cast whilst watching all three films – Richard Armitage’s portrayal of Thorin Oakenshield was so convincing that at some points you forget that Armitage’s dwarf depiction is an ‘act’ – and I saw Thorin as a ‘real’ person, which seems strange but I have found this notion previously, with other characters, both in the ‘Hobbit’ (Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo Baggins), as well as in other film franchises.

I always find that I get attached to characters – both heroes and villains – as there would not be a story to tell without the correlation of good and bad. Even Bolg (which is a bit Orc-ward… budum tshh) makes a fantastic CGI villain – I always root for the hero of the tale, but a good villain disrupts the equilibrium, thus making the plot more adventurous and entertaining overall. The characters of the saga each possess an interesting quality and link together with great intricacies, thus making the film flow proficiently.

I won’t give too much away for those who haven’t seen any of the films, but there are certain iconic scenes that really cement the franchise as being the epitome of fantasy-based adventure. Much of this is experienced in the second ‘Hobbit’ film ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ where the heroes of the tale, such as Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and Kili (Aidan Turner) are freed by Bilbo Baggins after being captured and seized by Thrandruil (Lee Pace). Baggins hides his companions in empty barrels which, once released, end up in a fast-flowing river. The sequence, of course, does not run smoothly, as a barricade of orcs encounter the heroes and begin their inevitable attack, which is aided by the High Elf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Both sides battle it out in an intense manner, with the rapid-flow of the river complimenting the quick-paced nature of the fight itself. I won’t include how it ends, but it is definitely one of the most adventurous scenes of the entire franchise, barring the battle scenes (the most important of which is the final duel that is featured in ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ between Thorin and Azog). It’s heart-racing to say the least, and possibly one of the best battle scenes in the fantasy genre of all time.

Overall, ‘The Hobbit’ will always be one of my favourite film franchises, not only for the epic scenes and brilliant cast of amazing actors, but for the element of familiarity for myself personally, as I am a huge fan of Tolkien’s work. To see such fantastically wondrous work brought to life visually is something truly special indeed.

We live in a world which has seen the release of seven Fast and the Furious movies (with at least two more on the horizon) and will be seeing a third different version of Spiderman in fourteen years, so sometimes it’s easy to forget that movies don’t have to be based on anything more than an idea by a screenwriter. I hope to celebrate some of the truly original screen gems of the modern era.

The main standard-bearers of this are science fiction films which, somewhat understandably, have it a bit easier in regards to bringing fresh ideas to the table, and while some unquestionable classics have been based off a source material – A Clockwork Orange is based on an Anthony Burgess novel, while Blade Runner was originally Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick – there appears to be a small trend, at least compared to other genres, for films to be original. To me, the perfect example of this is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman.

  Eternal Sunshine follows the story of Clementine and Joel, two strangers who are immediately drawn to each other. And for good reason too – they’re not strangers, but former lovers who, after a turbulent relationship each had the other removed from their memory. The true beauty of the film though, and make no mistakes this film is utterly beautiful, is the way Joel’s memories unfold on screen, portrayed flawlessly by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. As much drama as sci-fi, a love story and so much more, Eternal Sunshine is a film unlike any other.

Flicking genres now, I’d like to wax lyrical on what, for me, is the perfect modern fairytale – the story of a lost princess trying to find her true identity, and her place in the world. TANGL… I mean, Pan’s Labyrinth. Written by the relentlessly geeky Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is much more than your classic fairytale, and juxtaposes genre tropes against a backdrop of 1944’s fascist Spain, following young Ofelia as she discovers a secret labyrinth and is set three tasks by the faun that lives there, three tasks that will return her to her true life as a princess of a mystical world. Whimsical, however, this film is not, as Ofelia is also dealing with a violent step-father as he hunts rebels in the hills. It’s hard to do a film like this justice – watching is the only way – but it’s safe to say that it’s a film that the Grimm brothers would be proud of.

This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, but rather me trying to show love for the originality and uniqueness of two films I love dearly. I hope you have films like this too.

Written by Greg Forrester