The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers (WGA):

J.R.R. Tolkien (novel)
Fran Walsh (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 December 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

A New Power Is Rising.

Plot:

Frodo and Sam continue on to Mordor in their mission to destroy the One Ring. Whilst their former companions make new allies and launch an assault on Isengard.

Plot Keywords:

Ring | Army | Middle Earth | Mission | Orc

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 65 wins & 76 nominations

Cast

Bruce Allpress	...	Aldor
Sean Astin	...	Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee
John Bach	...	Madril
Sala Baker	...	Man Flesh Uruk
Cate Blanchett	...	Galadriel
Orlando Bloom	...	Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd	...	Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
Jed Brophy	...	Sharku / Snaga
Sam Comery	...	Éothain
Brad Dourif	...	Grima Wormtongue
Calum Gittins	...	Haleth
Bernard Hill	...	Theoden
Bruce Hopkins	...	Gamling
Paris Howe Strewe	...	Théodred - Prince of Rohan
Christopher Lee	...	Saruman the White

Also Known As:

Der Herr der Ringe - Die zwei Türme (Germany)
The Two Towers (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images. (also special extended edition)

Runtime:

179 min | 223 min (special extended edition)

Country:

USA | New Zealand | Germany

Language:

English | Sindarin | Old English

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) (re-rating) (video) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Malaysia:U | UK:12 (video rating) | UK:12A (original rating) | Hungary:14 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | Finland:K-15 (special extended edition) | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12 | Ireland:12 | Israel:PG | Italy:T | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39418) | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Between takes, Brad Dourif stayed in character by continuing to speak with an English accent until all his footage had been completed. This was so convincing that, at the end, when he spoke with his normal voice again, Bernard Hill thought that his English accent was real and that his American accent must be fake.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after Sam says "How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?" we cut to a shot of Aragorn which is a reversed shot - the scar on his lip is on the wrong side.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gandalf: You cannot pass!
Frodo: Gandalf!
Gandalf: I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Go back to the shadow. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun! You shall not pass!
Galadriel: The power of the enemy is growing. Sauron will use his puppet Saruman to destroy the people of Rohan. Isengard has been unleashed. The Eye of Sauron now turns to Gondor, the last free kingdom of men. His war on this country will come swiftly. He senses the Ring is close...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Go God Go (#10.12)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Evenstar

Better Paced than the first, the battle for Isengard was excellent

We have been waiting an entire year for this one!!! The Two Towers picks up right where last years Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring leaves off. The director, Peter Jackson, did not include a recap of the last movie, so if you don't remember what happened in the first movie you better rent it and refresh your memory before you head off to the theater.

When we last left our fellowship, it had splintered apart. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) continue there quest to return the all powerful and evil ring to Mordor where it can be destroyed. They take on the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis) as their guide to Mordor despite Gollum's obsession with getting `his precious' back. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) begin by trying to find the kidnapped Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), but end up getting caught up in a battle to save a race of humans. The evil wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), controlled by Dark Lord Sauron created a grand Uruk-hai army that is sent to destroy the race of Humans at the fortress Isengard. The presumed dead Gandolf (Ian McKellen) also returns to lend his assistance in battling Lord Sauron's troops.

This film was better paced than the first in the trilogy. There were still some breaks in the action that were a little dull, but the dialog was necessary to further the story. With three separate stories going on simultaneously between the three groups of the splintered fellowship, the film kept the action moving quickly. Clocking in at 179 minutes, it is just one minute longer than the first film. This time, I didn't mind the length. The battle for Isengard comprised about a third of the film, and it was very intense.

The rest of the film had a lot of the same excellent cinematic shots as the first movie. The shots tracking the actors from above (done by helicopter) with the beautiful New Zealand mountains and countryside in the background were just amazing. The landscapes helped to keep me involved with the story when the action slowed for dialog intensive scenes.

The creature Gollum played a very key roll in this movie, and the computer-generated character was very lifelike and amusing. He reminded me of Dobby the `house elf' in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Gollum and the Dwarf were the two main comic relief characters in this very serious film.

To conclude, we had to wait a year for this film, and it lived up to expectations! A final reminder…this is the middle film in the trilogy so you can expect another ending that leaves you wanting more! Not to worry though, the third and final film is due out next Christmas.