← Apex Mountain

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2002 · directed by Peter Jackson · 179 min
27,993 feet · Prominence
17th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredThe 17th highest film on the mountain, and The Rewatchables has never done it.

How this film scores

Draw86

Lifetime worldwide gross $926m, re-releases included; about $1.70bn in 2026 money.

Rank38 of 11,051In 20021 of 253

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise94

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics91 baseAwards70 signal → +3 lift

Oscars2 won Visual Effects, Sound Editing4 nominated Picture, Production Design, Film Editing, Sound
Golden Globes2 nominated Best Picture, Screenplay
BAFTAs1 won Craft and other3 nominated Film, Directing, Craft and other
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy87

Judged directly: Helm's Deep, beloved fantasy centerpiece.

Verdict87 of 100IMDb8.8 from 2.0mWikipedia53k views a monthAge24 years

Scored beside it · 49 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 86 praise 94 legacy 87averages 89, placing it at27,993 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Elijah Wood▲ John Rhys-Davies

In these careers — elevation for this film

Viggo Mortensen20,399 ftIan McKellen20,150 ftElijah Wood19,964 ftAndy Serkis19,758 ftSean Astin19,476 ftOrlando Bloom18,414 ftJohn Rhys-Davies18,240 ftCate Blanchett17,682 ftHugo Weaving17,679 ftChristopher Lee17,676 ftBrad Dourif17,673 ftLiv Tyler17,671 ftKarl Urban17,669 ftDavid Wenham17,651 ftMiranda Otto17,645 ft