The Lord Of The Rings Battle Scene That Brought New Zealand Citizens Together

In brilliantly bringing to life the sprawling fantasy realm of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novels "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" on-screen, director Peter Jackson's trilogies feature a wide variety of meticulously staged battle scenes. In this regard, Middle-earth buffs are served up an Orc-filled, warrior-packed, axes-and-broadswords-flailing array of breathtaking clashes between the forces of good, the forces of evil, and a few creatures still deciding which side to back. The movies' Middle-earth battlefields range from the Pelennor Fields to the mountain fortress of Helm's Deep to the pivotal confrontation at the sinister Black Gate.

Discussing the 45-minute-long battle in "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," Jackson noted to Entertainment Weekly, "There's a lot of logistics that have to be thought through. We have dwarves and men and elves and orcs, all with different cultures, with different weapons, and different shields and patterns and tactics." Considering this, which battle scene from "The Lord of the Rings" brought New Zealanders together in a somewhat surprising fashion?

As any hard-core fan of the "Lord of the Rings" films can tell you, they were filmed entirely on location in New Zealand, turning the varied topography of the country into Middle-earth with shoots in over 150 locales in the North and South Islands (via 100% Pure New Zealand). One actor who is an eyewitness to one of the more spectacular clashes in the films is New Zealand native Karl Urban, who saddles up as Eomer, leader of the Riders of Rohan in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and its sequel, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

In a video of Karl Urban breaking down his most iconic characters for GQ, the actor recalled that when Peter Jackson wanted to fill out the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in "The Return of the King" with live fighters, he turned to the public to reinforce the film's ranks. "They put out a call in the South Island to all able-bodied horse riders to bring your horse to this location on this day, and hundreds and hundreds of people turned up," Urban explained. Even many female equestrians, who were appropriately made up for their parts when "they slapped beards on them and put them in these fantastic costumes," answered the call.