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The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 54 Reviews)

A truly fantastic epic adventure FULL SKULL BABY!

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the continuation of last year's Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo the ring bearer (Elijah Wood) and his trusted companion Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) find themselves going in circles while trying to get to Mordor. They realize they're being followed by the ring obsessed creature Gollum, they capture him and Frodo decides to use him as a guide to Mordor. Gollum is exactly the way I imagined him in the book, well except for the fact I pictured him green. Well anyway he's very well done, he steals the show in fact. After the movie he's all people talked about. While watching it I even found myself thinking too bad the actor that plays Gollum "but was replaced by CGI of course" can't be nominated. Gollum by the way is absolutely no Jar Jar Binks, he's what George wishes Jar Jar could be like . I especially wouldn't mind seeing The Hobbit get made and get some more light shed on Gollum's past.

Well besides Frodo and Sam's adventure Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf who has returned more powerful have to defend Helm's Deep from Saruman's huge army of Orks. Also Merry and Pippen escape from a gang of Orks and stumble apon a talking tree named Tree Beard. They try to convince him and his group of other talking trees named Ents to fight against Sauruman and his army as the world is at stake.

To sum it all up this movie is just fantastic. The visuals, the locations, the action and the cast are all just incredible. Also I have to say that I don't agree with Roger Ebert's complaints at all in his review. He really needs to read the books he claims he knows so well again. There's something wrong when you give the Harry Potter movies 4 stars and the LOTR movies only 3 stars. If he read Potter books he'd see those movies aren't entirely faithful to the books either.

Yes the other characters such as Aragorn have a bigger part to play than the Hobbits but can't say I found that to be any different in the books. They are taught to be braver by people like Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and get braver by the 3rd book. So if he'd be patient, will probably be the same with the movies. He acts like Peter Jacksons version will have J.R.R. Tolken rolling around in his grave which I don't think is the case at all. He takes making the adaption from book to screen seriously and you can tell that just by looking at the scenes with Gollum. The part where Gollum is in the sacred pond catching a fish and Frodo has to convince him to leave is exactly the way I pictured it while reading the book. The way Gollum has conversations with his other personality Smeagol is just simply awesome, it's scary, funny and pure genious at the same time. Pure genious is exactly what should be said about this masterpiece of an epic adventure. To add to my review it's nice to that the Two Towers has been nominated for best picture. I can't imagine why Peter Jackson hasn't been nominated for best director again though. Also 2 actors that deserved to be nominated are Miranda Otto as Éowyn
Bernard Hill and Théoden. Miranda Otto is as gifted of an actress as she is beautiful, she really makes you feel her love for Aragorn. Bernard Hill is wonderful as well, I've seen a few names nominated for best supporting actor this year that I don't think deserve it more than him. Of course they should of found some way to nominate Gollum as well as he steals the show almost completely.

Special Features List from Pop-Up On Official Site!!!! FULL SKULL BABY!
FEATURE (approx. 214 minutes) -
A new version of the second installment in the epic trilogy! The film includes over 40 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film, made especially for this video release:

Widescreen (2.35:1) version of the Special Extended Edition
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
Stereo Surround Sound
Four audio commentaries by director and writers, the design team the production team and the cast featuring more than 30 participants including Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom and Academy Award® winners Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, Randy Cook...and many more

DISCS 3-4: THE APPENDICES

Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers:

DISC 3
Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film
Designing and inspiration for locations in Middle-earth
Storyboards to pre-visualization
Weta Workshop visit - See sculptors in action as they create the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures from the film
Atlas of Middle-earth: Tracing the journey of the Fellowship
An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process
Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists
And much more!

DISC 4
Sending actors to battle - preparation for sword fighting
Principal photography: Stories from the set
Digital effects including motion capture and "Massive" (a program to create armies of Orcs)
"Bigatures" - A close-up look at the detailed miniatures used in the film
Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos
Post-production - editing it all together
Sound design demonstration
And much more!

DVD-ROM CONTENT: Includes access to exclusive online features

Great Movie, all time favorite FULL SKULL BABY!
Director Peter Jackson's movie version of The Two Towers pays full respect to the most sorrowful part of J.R.R. Tolkien's mighty Lord of the Rings trilogy.

This is a sadder, more frightening film than The Fellowship of the Ring, but it is also more exciting, more visually dynamic and more sweeping in its vision. This, film fans, is an epic with a capital E.

FILM REVIEW
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(PG-13; epic battle sequences, scary images) Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen. Directed by Peter Jackson. 179 minutes.
The story picks up almost exactly where Fellowship ended, with the original adventurers separated, and Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) facing the next perilous journey alone. All we see from the first film is the wizard Gandalf's apparently fatal plunge into the center of the Earth as he battles the horrendous Balrog monster - a special-effects scene as masterful as modern technology and artistic imagination will allow.

A short while later, an even more astonishing techno-wonder awaits in the character of Gollum, a creature generated entirely by computers based on the body and voice of actor Andy Serkis. Gollum has been kept largely under wraps in advance of the movie, the better to astonish audiences with his shocking authenticity. This is by far the most expressive, least mechanical, computer-generated figure ever seen on screen, and the movie's most engrossing character to boot.

Once a Hobbit-like being named Smeagol, Gollum was corrupted by the One Ring that Frodo now carries. Gollum dogs Frodo, hoping to steal the ring back. Frodo's appeal to the part of him that is still Smeagol reveals a divided person who carries the battle between good and evil in his own head.

Frodo's goal is the ring's destruction in the pit where it was forged, thereby stopping the resurrection of the disembodied Sauron, who has set his wicked wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) to the task of wiping out beauty, peace and freedom among humans, hobbits and their friends.

The movie crosscuts from place to place as Frodo and Sam struggle toward Mordor, tracking friends Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) in a magical forest overseen by ancient, tree-like beings called Ents, as well as the race by dwarf Gimli (voice of John Rhys-Davies), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) to save their friends.

The action peaks when the Fellowship warriors find a reborn Gandalf (Ian McKellen in another sharp, detailed performance) and rally the humans of Rohan to fight Saruman's massive forces. (Be advised that the movie earns its PG-13 rating with thrilling but often horrific combat.)

Mr. Jackson, who wrote the screenplay with Philippa Boyens and Stephen Sinclair, interprets Tolkien's stormy vision with tremendous insight and empathy. Frodo's weakening spirit, Gollum's pathos, Sam's loyalty, the fury and dread of the final assault on Helm's Deep - it's all there on the screen, as powerfully as it was on the pages of the great novel. Mr. Jackson has taken a few liberties with the book, but none that destroy its sense or sensibility.

Plot complexities are explained in part with flashbacks, flash-forwards and narrative recaps. It is possible the tale could confuse some who are not familiar with the books, but even non-readers of Tolkien stand to be swept up in the film's urgent pace and emotional intensity - not to mention its breathtaking visual riches.

The Two Towers is every bit the momentous event fans have been hoping for. All it lacks is three more hours of the story. That comes Dec. 17, 2003. Mark the date.

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