WWI talk
So I suddenly realized what's up with the Battle of Helm's Deep in the Jackson films. It's a WWI analogy! PJ's interested enough in (especially the NZ experience) of that war that he actually treats the whole thing relatively seriously. If Gondor, seat of empire, is the Britain analogy then logically the allies Gondor denigrates yet desperately needs would be Australia and New Zealand. And "highly mobile cavalry plus people really to young to be in a war trapped in one defensive position" is definitely the ANZAC experience of WWI. Helm's Deep resonates more with PJ than the triumphant chaos of the Pelennor Fields.