Oscars outrage: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was snubbed in these 5 races
Sure, 28 Oscar nominations and 17 wins aren’t to be sniffed at. But the remarkable thing about Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is that it should have been nominated for more. Only one of the cast was nominated for an Oscar across all three films — that was for Best Supporting Actor for Sir Ian McKellen in 2002 for “The Fellowship of the Ring” — while there were a few other curious snubs that, in hindsight, just don’t make sense. So, there was actually more room to nominate this rightly-heralded trilogy of astounding films. With that in mind, here are five more Oscar nominations “The Lord of the Rings” should have landed.
Best Original Score: “The Two Towers”
The music of “The Lord of the Rings” has gone down as one of the best scores ever committed to film. Howard Shore‘s adored score is so top drawer it leaves you clamoring for more. The composer won Best Original Score in 2002 for “The Fellowship of the Ring” and in 2004 for “The Return of the King while he was also nominated for Best Original Song for the latter alongside Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. Shore then picked up a fourth Oscar bid in 2012 for “Hugo.”
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However, it seems curious that Shore missed out on a musical bid for “The Two Towers.” The sophomore movie introduces some key themes for brand new characters and realms, not least the music that accompanies King Theoden and Rohan, as well as the soundtrack that adds to the tension and epicness of the Battle of Helm’s Deep. Hop on over to Spotify and give the following tracks a listen and you’ll realize how criminal and confusing it is that Shore wasn’t nominated here: The Riders of Rohan, The King of the Golden Hall, Evenstar, Samwise the Brave, and Gollum’s Song.
Best Costume Design: “The Two Towers”
This list could have been filled up exclusively with “The Two Towers” slots. The film is under-appreciated compared to the other two “Rings” pictures and is actually Jackson’s favorite film of the three. But it’s the same story for this film’s costume design as it was for its music. This movie expanded the world of Middle Earth and introduced a whole new kingdom in Rohan — they had their own, distinct look, and costume designers Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor gave this entire country an identity and history with their costumes.
Dickson and Taylor also created costumes for the Easterlings, an army who march to Mordor to help Sauron, and men from Gondor battle the Orcs of Mordor, with both sets of characters wearing wonderfully crafted costumes. Plus, key characters such as Faramir (David Wenham), King Theodon (Bernard Hill), Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), and Eomer (Karl Urban) all feature distinct costumes that help to add to their characters. Dickson and Taylor should have scored a nomination here.
They were nominated in 2002 for “The Fellowship of the Ring” but lost to Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie for “Moulin Rouge!” They then won in 2004 for “The Return of the King.” That is Dickson’s only Oscar win to date, although she was nominated for another film in 2004 with “The Last Samurai.” Taylor, mean, has four other Oscar wins to his name, due to his versatile nature as a filmmaker. He won two Oscars for “The Fellowship of the Ring” — Best Makeup with Peter Owen and Best Visual Effects with Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, and Mark Stetson. He also won Best Makeup with Peter Swords King for “The Return of the King” and added another Best Visual Effects win to his name in 2006 for “King Kong” alongside Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, and Christian Rivers.
Best Supporting Actor: Andy Serkis for “The Two Towers”
Yep, another “The Two Towers” one. This time it’s for onscreen talent rather than behind the screen. Andy Serkis is the godfather of motion-capture performances and has provided a number of Oscar-worthy roles in this format, including the titular part in “King Kong,” and his role as Caeser in “The Planet of the Apes” films. It all began, however, with his role as Gollum. Originally intended as a voice-only part, Serkis’ physical performance was so good that Jackson and the filmmakers created a whole new way to capture Serkis’ characterization of Gollum.
I’ve written extensively about Serkis’ mind-blowing performance already but every facial expression, twitch of a muscle, physical movement, and intonation in voice seen and heard in Gollum/Smeagol is entirely Serkis’. Plus, that dual monologue between Gollum and Smeagol is nothing short of Shakespearean brilliance. If Gary Oldman can win Best Actor for “Darkest Hour,” then an actor should be able to win for a motion-capture performance. It’s just digital makeup as opposed to physical makeup or prosthetics. Serkis has never been nominated for an Oscar before but he should have been won in 2003 for “The Two Towers.”
Best Supporting Actor: Sean Astin for “The Return of the King”
Truthfully, I could have picked any one of the excellent cast to feature in this list but Jackson himself called Sean Astin‘s performance as Samwise Gamgee the “heart” of the film, so I’m sticking with that. Astin’s arc as Samwise is an actor’s dream — from something of a scaredy cat who doesn’t want to leave the Shire to perhaps the bravest being in all of Middle Earth. I may have had my eyes closed when Sam defeated Shelob (fellow arachnophobes will sympathize) but they were wide open to Astin’s emotional performance in the final “Rings” movie.
It’s Sam who sells the emotional climax of this series as he refuses to give up, fights his way through Orcs and Uruk-hai in Cirith Ungol, ensures the ring’s safety, and then carries Elijah Wood‘s Frodo up to the mouth of Mount Doom. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” is one of the most soaring moments in the entire film series and it’s actually a great Oscars moment that should have landed Astin an Oscar nomination. Oh, and by the way, Astin executes a very difficult rural English accent, which goes overlooked. That’s no mean feat, especially for an American actor. Astin, like Serkis, has never been nominated for an Oscar before for acting. As noted by one of our eagle-eyed readers (see below), he did contend for Best Live Action Short back in 1995 for “Kangaroo Court.”
Best Cinematography: “The Return of the King”
This one is just perplexing. “The Return of the King” was nominated for 11 Oscars and won all of them to become the film with the joint-most wins in Oscars history alongside “Titanic” and “Ben-Hur.” But why on Earth was the film not nominated for Best Cinematography? Director of photography Andrew Lesnie won Best Cinematography in 2002 for “The Fellowship of the Ring” but was never nominated again. He should have been nominated for both “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King” but it’s the latter snub that feels most egregious. This climactic movie was unanimously agreed upon by Oscar voters to be the best film of the year across pretty much every area of filmmaking. Why was cinematography not deemed to be that?
Lesnie captured stunning battles including the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of the Black Gate, while he helped Jackson return to his horror roots with the entire Shelob sequence. The sweeping vistas of both Gondor and Rohan were both shot beautifully while there were some real intimate moments with Gandalf, Pippin, Denethor, Frodo, and Aragorn that Lesnie’s lens work made that much more powerful. The use of CGI surely can’t have hindered it. Mauro Fiore won Best Cinematography for “Avatar” in 2010. This, then, to this writer, at least, remains a baffling Oscars mystery,
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