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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Two Disc Theatrical Edition) [2002]
from Entertainment in Video
starring Elijah Wood|Ian McKellen|Viggo Mortensen|Orlando Bloom
directed by Peter Jackson

Features:

• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

With The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the focus of Tolkien's epic story moves from the fantastic to the mythic, from magic and monsters towards men and their deeds, as the expanding panorama of Middle-earth introduces us to the Viking-like Riders of Rohan and the men of Gondor. Which is not to say that Peter Jackson's three-hour second instalment doesn't have its fair share of amazing new creatures--here we meet Wargs, Oliphaunts and winged Nazgul, to name three--just that the film is concerned more with myth-making on a heroic scale than the wide-eyed wonder of The Fellowship of the Ring.

There's no time for recapitulation, as a host of new characters are introduced in rapid succession. In Rohan we meet the initially moribund King Theoden (Bernard Hill); his treacherous advisor Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif); his feisty niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto); and his strong-willed nephew Eomer (Karl Urban). Faramir (David Wenham), brother of Boromir, is the other principal human addition to the cast. The hobbits, though, encounter the two most remarkable new characters, both of whom are digitally generated: in Fangorn Forest, Merry and Pippin are literally carried away by Treebeard, a dignified old Ent; while Frodo and Sam capture the duplicitous Gollum, whose fate is inextricably intertwined with that of the Ring.

The film stands or falls with Gollum. If the characterisation had gone the way of Jar Jar Binks, The Two Towers would have been ruined, notwithstanding all the spectacle and grandeur of the rest. But Gollum is a triumph, a tribute both to the computer animators and the motion-captured performance of Andy Serkis: his "dialogues", delivered theatre-like direct to the audience, are a masterstroke. Here and elsewhere Jackson is unafraid to make changes to the story line, bringing Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath, for example, or tipping Aragorn over a cliff. Yet the director's deft touch always seems to add not detract from Tolkien's vision. Just three among many examples: Aragorn's poignant dreams of Arwen (Liv Tyler); Gimli's comic repartee even in the heat of battle; and the wickedly effective siege weapons of the Uruk-Hai (which signify both Saruman's mastery and his perversion of technology). The climactic confrontation at Helm's Deep contains images the like of which have simply never been seen on film before. Almost unimaginably, there's so much more still to come in the Return of the King.

On the DVD: The Two Towers two-disc set, like the Fellowship before it, features the theatrical version of the movie on the first disc, in glorious 2.35:1 widescreen, accompanied by Dolby 5.1 or Dolby Stereo sound options. As before, commentaries and the really in-depth features are held back for the extended four-disc version.

Such as they are, all the extras are reserved for Disc Two. The 14-minute documentary On the Set is a run-of-the-mill publicity preview for the movie; more substantial is the 43-minute Return to Middle-Earth, another promotional feature, which at least has plenty of input from cast and crew. Much more interesting are the briefer pieces, notably: Sean Astin's charming silent short The Long and the Short of It, plus an amusing making-of featurette; a teaser trailer for the extended DVD release; and a tantalising 12-minute sneak peek at Return of the King, introduced by Peter Jackson, in which he declares nonchalantly that "Helm's Deep was just an opening skirmish"! --Mark Walker

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Not as good as the first film .... a bit too Hollywoodised.
  The first film (Fellowship of the Ring) was closer to the book in content and in the overall feel of the film. Sadly, this film suffers from what the first film did not .... its a little too 'Hollywoodised' and Peter Jackson could be accused of George Lucas-esc tackyness. Unlike the first installment, this movie differs too much from the book. The films ending is corny with an over the top Hollywood-esc speech from Sam which was a little too cringfull. The main battle at the end of the movie is visually... more info

• My favourite of the trilogy
  
  Quite possibly the most beautiful film of all time, this is an epic one-of-a-kind story of love, loss, friendship and hope, and a war of good vs. evil.
  A magical film, pure and simple.

• Part of the Greatest Story Ever Told
  I truly believe that 'the Lord of the Rings' is one of the greatest stories ever told. The tale of Frodo Baggins and the ring of power continues in the second part of the trilogy, where Frodo and Sam are continuing their relentless qyest to Mordor to destory the ring, only to be joined by the sinister yet pitiable creature known as Gollum. Meanwhile, Merry & Pip try their hardest to escape from the evil orcs who captured them at the end of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', whilst gimley, Legolas and Aragorn... more info

• Epic
  As those of you who've read my review of the first movie, you'll know that The Lord Of The Rings isn't a great movie. It's a very promising part of a potentially excellent whole. And The Two Towers is but the second slice of the trilogy. Sadly, like the first, the McGuffin of a plot is still flimsy, despite the effort and hard work of the team who made the film, and the whole epic experience -and make no mistake it is unapologetically epic - is frankly overdone.
  Sometimes less is more. And what we see... more info

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