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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the video game based on the film, see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Theatrical Poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Produced by	Peter Jackson Barrie M. Osborne Frances Walsh
Written by	Novel: J. R. R. Tolkien Screenplay: Frances Walsh Philippa Boyens Stephen Sinclair Peter Jackson
Starring	Elijah Wood Sean Astin Viggo Mortensen Ian McKellen Andy Serkis
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Editing by	Mike Horton
Distributed by	- USA - New Line Cinema - non-USA - Various distributors
Release date(s)	December 18, 2002
Running time	Theatrical: 179 min. Extended Edition: 223 min.
Country	New Zealand United States
Language	English Sindarin
Budget	$94 million
Gross revenue	Domestic: $341,786,758 Worldwide: $926,287,400
Preceded by	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Followed by	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a fantasy epic film, directed by Peter Jackson and based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings. It was released on December 18, 2002, with a running time of 179 minutes.

Following on from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, it intercuts three storylines, as Frodo and Sam continue their quest to destroy the One Ring in Mordor and meet Gollum, its former owner. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come across the war torn nation of Rohan as well as the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting at the Battle of Helm's Deep, whilst Merry and Pippin escape capture and meet Treebeard, the tree-like giant.

The movie was critically acclaimed, although the adaptation was more controversial than the first film. It was an enormous box-office success, earning over $900 million worldwide, outgrossing its predecessor, and is currently the 5th highest-grossing film of all time. The Special Extended DVD Edition was released on November 19, 2003.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Comparison from the source material 4 Production 4.1 Production Design 4.2 Principal Photography 4.3 Special Effects 4.3.1 Gollum 4.3.2 Treebeard 4.4 Score 5 Reception 5.1 Critics 5.2 Awards 6 Cultural allusions 7 DVD release 7.1 Additional scenes 8 9/11 "controversy" 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

The film begins with a flashback to the first film, as Gandalf slips off the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and fights the Balrog as they hurtle down. Frodo awakes from his memories and continues his journey in Emyn Muil with his trusted & loyal friend, Sam, where they are attacked by Gollum, who wants to retrieve back "his precious" from the ones who stole it from him, but the Hobbits manage to tie him up with Elven rope. Sam wants to abandon Gollum, but Frodo has pity on him. Gollum agrees to guide them to the Black Gate of Mordor.

In Rohan, the Uruk-hai run with Merry and Pippin captive. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are in pursuit, following three days of running. They realize they are in Rohan, and Legolas surmises the Hobbits are being taken to Isengard. There, Saruman launches his attack on the country, and at the capital city of Edoras, King Théoden is mentally and physically weak because of the enchantments of his steward, Gríma Wormtongue, who was bought into the service of Saruman. Orcs freely roam the land and a band kills the king's only son. Théoden's nephew Éomer angrily realizes that Wormtongue has become Saruman's servant and furiously asks what the "promised price" was. When Wormtongue glances as Éomer's sister, Éowyn, Éomer angrily attacks Wormtongue. He is banished from the kingdom by Wormtongue for fighting back.

Frodo and Sam traverse the Dead Marshes, hiding from a newly seated Ringwraith on his Fell beast. They reach the Black Gate, only to have Gollum to tell them there is a less risky path south. Merry and Pippin escape their captors due to Éomer's men, who in turn tells Aragorn of the slaughter, and the Three Hunters find their tracks to Fangorn Forest. There Merry and Pippin meet an old Ent, Treebeard and a White Wizard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli discover this White Wizard is Gandalf reborn, having sacrificed himself against the Balrog. They travel to Edoras on horseback, where they exorcise Saruman's hold on Théoden and banish Wormtongue. Théoden is confronted with his dead son and open war, and decides to flee to Helm's Deep. Gandalf rides to find Éomer, and Éowyn seeks to know Aragorn better.

In Ithilien, Gollum banishes his twisted personality, and attempts to befriend Frodo and Sam. They also discover a battle and are abducted. Aragorn soon has to save the refugees from Saruman's Wargs. He falls off a cliff, and the survivors arrive in Helm's Deep grief-stricken. In Rivendell, Arwen is convinced by Elrond that the age of Elves is ending, and she leaves for the West. Elrond ponders whether the Elves should still help Men. Frodo and Sam arrive at Henneth Annun and meet Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir, who captures Gollum shortly after to learn of the One Ring. Faramir decides the Ring shall go to Gondor, so that he can "prove his quality" to his father. In Rohan, Aragorn awakens, and as he rides back to Helm's Deep, he sees Saruman's army: at least 10,000 strong. When he arrives, there is dismay, and 300 men, some too old or young, prepare for battle. 200 Elves from Lórien arrive to help them. At Fangorn Forest, Treebeard and other Ents hold a Council.

The battle begins, and the Elves manage to hold the Uruk-hai at the wall, but it is blown up and many are killed during the ensuing attack through the breach. The Uruk-hai also manage to break the Gate despite Aragorn and Gimli's best efforts, and they fall back to the Keep. In Fangorn, Treebeard and the other Ents decide not to fight, but once Pippin takes him to the forest Saruman has decimated near Isengard, he is filled with rage. At Osgiliath, Faramir and the Hobbits are confronted by a Ringwraith. As the gate to the Keep is attacked, Gandalf, Éomer, and 2000 Rohirrim arrive to push back the Uruk-hai, the Ents attack and flood Isengard and Sam and Faramir save Frodo from the Ringwraith's clutches. Sam narrates about how the story must go on, and Faramir frees them. Gandalf and company now know a full war is coming, and hope only rests with Frodo. After his mistreatment by Faramir's men, Gollum's darker nature returns and he considers betraying Frodo and Sam to "her."

[edit] Cast

• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: Frodo is the Hobbit who must destroy the One Ring. The burden of carrying it is becoming heavier.
• Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee: Sam is Frodo's best friend and travelling companion.
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: Aragorn is the heir-in-exile to the throne of Gondor, and has come to the defence of Rohan.
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: The Wizard who fell fighting the Balrog has now returned, more powerful than ever, to finish his task.
• Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck: Merry is a Hobbit who had been captured by the Uruk-hai, now an ally of Treebeard.
• Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took: Pippin is Merry's best friend and travelling companion.
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas: Legolas is an Elven archer who accompanies Aragorn. Legolas has very keen senses.
• John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: Gimli is a warrior Dwarf who accompanies Aragorn and Legolas. He is in competition with Legolas over their respective number of kills in battle.
• Andy Serkis provides the voice and performed motion capture for Gollum: Once a Hobbit, he possessed the Ring centuries ago, but now is leading Frodo on his quest. Secretly he wants the Ring back. He has an struggles internally between the "Sméagol" and "Gollum" aspects of his personality.
• Bernard Hill as Théoden: Théoden is King of Rohan, and is healed by Gandalf to lead his country once more.
• Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Éowyn is Théoden's niece. In love with Aragorn, she is an adept fighter.
• Karl Urban as Éomer: Éomer is Éowyn's older brother. He was Chief Marshal of Rohan, exiled by Gríma Wormtongue, now gathering troops to defend Rohan.
• David Wenham as Faramir: Faramir is the leader of the Ithilien Rangers tracking Sauron's troop movements. He captures Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
• John Rhys-Davies as the voice of Treebeard: Leader of the Ents, tree-like giants. He is unaware of Saruman's destruction to the forests.
• Christopher Lee as Saruman: The corrupt Wizard waging war upon Rohan and devastating Fangorn Forest. He has allied himself with Sauron.
• Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: Gríma Wormtongue is Saruman's agent at Edoras. He renders Théoden incapable of decisions, and desires Éowyn.
• Liv Tyler as Arwen: Arwen is the Elf whom Aragorn loves.
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond: Elrond is Arwen's father. He expresses doubt over her love for Aragorn.
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: Galadriel is the Elven Lady of Lothlórien. Elrond communicates with her telepathically about the future of Middle-earth.
• Craig Parker as Haldir of Lórien: Haldir of Lórien leads the Elves sent by Galadriel to defend Helm's Deep.
• John Bach as Madril: Madril is Faramir's 'right hand' man, who informs him of battle preparations.
• Ray Trickett as Bereg: Head Rohan Guard of the Gate of Helm's Deep, who informs another soldier that the Elves of Lothlórien are approaching.

The following only appear in the Extended Edition:

• Sean Bean as Boromir: Faramir's brother, he died in The Fellowship of the Ring. He appears in Faramir's flashback.
• John Noble as Denethor: Denethor is Steward of Gondor and father to Boromir and Faramir.

In the Battle of Helm's Deep, Peter Jackson has a cameo appearance as one of the men on top of the Gate, throwing a spear at the attacking Uruk-hai. His children also cameo as young refugees in the caves behind the Hornburg, and Alan Lee and Dan Hennah also cameo as soldiers preparing for the battle. Daniel Falconer has a cameo as an Elvish archer at the battle. ^[2]

[edit] Comparison from the source material

The Two Towers did not begin as a film: instead parts of it were the conclusion to The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of two planned films under Miramax.^[3] However, as the two films became a trilogy under New Line, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens shuffled their scripts. The Two Towers is known as the most difficult of the Rings films to make, due to having neither a clear beginning nor end to focus the script on.^[4] Nonetheless, they had a clear decision with making the Battle of Helm's Deep the climax, a decision affecting the whole story's moods and style.

The most notable difference between the book and the film is the structure. Tolkien's The Two Towers is split into two, one following the war in Rohan, the other on Frodo. The film omits the opening of the book, the death of Boromir, which was used for a linear climax at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. Also, to create a linear film structure, the story was realigned to fit the timeline only described in the book's Appendices, which means the film climaxes with the Battle of Helm's Deep, whilst the tail ends of the Fellowship going to Isengard and Frodo's confrontation with Shelob were left into The Return of the King.

One notable change in plotting is that Théoden is literally possessed by Saruman, but in the book he is simply depressed and deluded by Wormtongue. Afterwards, Théoden is still unsure of what to do, and flees to Helm's Deep. In the book he rides out to war, and only ends up besieged when he considers helping Erkenbrand. Erkenbrand does not exist in the films: his character is combined with Éomer as the Rohirrim general who arrives with Gandalf at the film's end. Éomer himself is present during the entire battle in the book.

On the way to Helm's Deep, the refugees from Edoras are attacked by Wargs. The scene is possibly inspired by one in the book cut from The Fellowship of the Ring where it is the Fellowship who battle them. Here, a new subplot is created where Aragorn falls over a cliff, and is assumed to be dead. Jackson added it to create tension.^[5] This scene also chimes with a new subplot regarding Arwen, where she decides to leave Middle-earth after losing hope in the long-term possibilities of her love. Arwen's role is primarily in the book's Appendices, and never considers such an act.

A larger change was originally planned. Arwen and Elrond would visit Galadriel, and Arwen would accompany an army of Elves to Helm's Deep, to fight alongside Aragorn. During shooting, the script would change, due to writers coming up with better ideas to show the romance as well as poor fan reaction.^[4][6] The new scene of Arwen leaving for the West was created, and the conversation scene remains, edited to a telepathic one.^[7] Nonetheless, one major change remained that couldn't be reverted: the Elven warriors fighting at Helm's Deep. However, Jackson looks upon the change as highly romantic and stirring that the Elves return to fight for the future of Middle-earth.^[4]

Another change is the fact Treebeard does not immediately decide to go to war. It adds to the tension and Boyens describes it as making Merry and Pippin more than luggage.^[5] Here the Hobbits make Treebeard see the full destruction, prompting anger. Another structural change is that the Hobbits meet Gandalf the White early on, possibly explain that the Hobbits don't react to his return when they meet him following the destruction of Isengard. This was explained in the book by Gandalf arriving at Isengard in the middle of the night to talk to Treebeard.

The filmmakers' decision to leave Shelob for the third film meant that Faramir had to become an obstacle for Frodo and Sam.^[4] In the book, Faramir (like Aragorn) quickly recognizes the Ring as a danger and a temptation, and does not long hesitate before letting Frodo and Sam go. In the film, Faramir first decides that the Ring shall go to Gondor and his father, as a way to prove Faramir's worth compared to Faramir's elder brother, Boromir. In the film, Faramir takes Frodo, Sam and the Ring to the Battle of Osgiliath, to which they do not go in the book. Jackson winks to readers with Sam's line, "By all rights we shouldn't even be here, but we are." After seeing how strongly the Ring affects Frodo during the Nazgûl attack, Faramir changes his mind and lets them go. These changes dilute (or at least reshape) the book's strong contrast between Faramir and Boromir, who in the Fellowship of the Ring attempted to take the Ring for himself. Boyens contends these plot changes were needed to keep the Ring menacing. Wenham himself, having not read the book, found the original character "dramatically dead".^[4]

Finally, the meaning of the title itself, 'The Two Towers', was changed. While Tolkien considered several possible sets of towers^[8] he eventually created a final cover illustration^[9] and wrote^[10] a note included at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring which identified them as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. Jackson's movie, which does not include Minas Morgul, names them as Orthanc and Barad-dûr, symbolic of an evil alliance out to destroy Men that forms the film's plot point.

[edit] Production

[edit] Production Design

Main article: Production Design of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

When Alan Lee joined the project in late 1997, Helm's Deep was the first structure he was tasked to design. At 1:35 scale, it was one of the first miniatures built, and part of the 45 minute video that sold the project to New Line. It was primarily drawn from an illustration Lee had once done for the book, though fellow illustrator and designer John Howe suggested a curved wall. Used in the film for longshots, Jackson also used this miniature to plan the battle with 40,000 toy soldiers.^[11]

As a pivotal part of the story, Helm's Deep was built at Dry Creek Quarry with the Gate, a ramp, and a wall with a removable section and the tower on a second level. Most importantly, there was the 1:4 scale miniature of Helm's Deep that ran 50 feet wide. It was used for forced perspective shots,^[12] as well as the major explosion sequence.^[11]

The film explores the armies of Middle-earth. John Howe was the basic designer of the forces of evil. The Uruk-hai were the first army approved by Jackson, and Howe also designed a special crossbow for the characters, one without the redundancy of opening to reload, the realization of an 18th century manuscript. Also created were 100 Elven suits of armour, with emphasis on Autumnal colours due to the theme of Elves leaving Middle-earth. 250 suits were made for the Rohirrim, which for Bernard Hill, even came with leather inside. Emphasized are horses and the sun, even into their swords, which took 3-6 days to forge.^[13]

The Rohirrim's capital of Edoras took six months to build on Mount Sunday, with thatched roofs, but that was simply the exterior: the buildings doubled as offices and lunch halls. The army created a road to the location, whilst the interior was filmed at Stone Street Studios with tapestries designed by Lee, and Théoden's wooden throne created by his daughter.^[12] Hill endured heavy make-up for the possession scene where his skin was pulled back and released for increased wrinkles. Dourif shaved off his eyebrows and put potato flakes as dandruff in his hair for unnerving effect.

The film also provides a look at Mordor and Gondor, in terms of Frodo and Sam's story. The Barad-dûr is seen fully in a tracking shot, a design which Howe called a mockery of Gothic Cathedrals. He and Lee fully created the Black Gate, though a typo in the script made the miniature into two.^[11] The Rangers and Osgiliath, the ruined city reflecting London during the Blitz.^[14] The set on a backlot was based around a bridge and reused some of Moria.^[12]

[edit] Principal Photography

The Two Towers shared principal photography with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King between October 11 1999 to December 22 2000. Scenes in Rohan were shot early on, and Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies' scale double Brett sustained many injuries. Mortensen broke his toe when he kicked an Orc helmet when he found the remains of the Uruk-hai and believes Merry and Pippin to be dead; this take is the one in the finished film. Bloom fell off his horse and broke his rib, whilst Brett dislocated his knee. All three spent two days of pain for the running sequence with these injuries.^[14]

Afterwards, they went on for three months filming the Battle of Helm's Deep. John Mahaffie handled most of the night shoots. Mortensen got his tooth knocked out during the nightshoots, and Bernard Hill also got his ear slashed.^[14] Nonetheless, the 700 extras had fun, insulting each other in Māori^[15] and improvising scenes, such as the Uruk-hai stamping their spears before the battle begins.^[14] They did get annoyed by the craftsmanship of the Art Department: the Gates were too reinforced for the Battering Ram scene.^[12] Mortensen greatly respected the stunt team, and head butting them became a sign of respect.^[15]

Wood and Astin were joined by Serkis on April 13, 2000.^[16]

[edit] Special Effects

For The Two Towers, Weta Digital doubled their staff^[17] of 260.^[18] In total, they would produce 73 minutes of digital effects with 799 shots.^[17] The film would feature their first challenge in creating a battle scene, as well as creating two digital characters who needed to act rather than be a set piece, unlike the previous film's Cave Troll and Balrog.

[edit] Gollum

Weta began animating Gollum in late 1998 to convince New Line they could achieve the effect. Andy Serkis "played" Gollum by providing his voice and movements on set, as well as performing within the motion capture suit later on. His scenes were filmed twice, with and without him. Originally Gollum was set to solely be a CG character, but Jackson was so impressed by Andy Serkis' audition tape that they used him on set as well.

Gollum's CG model was also redesigned during 2001 when Serkis was cast as Sméagol, Gollum's form before he is cursed by the One Ring, so as to give the impression Andy Serkis as Sméagol transforms into the CG Gollum. The original model can still be glimpsed briefly in the first film. So over Christmas 2001 the crew proceeded to reanimate all the previous shots accordingly within two months. Another problem was that the crew realized that the cast performed better in the versions of the film with Serkis. In the end, the CG Gollum was rotoscoped and animated on top of these scenes. Sometimes due to Gollum not being human, they fully animated some shots such as him crawling upside down. Serkis's motion capture animated the body whilst animators did the head. Gino Acevedo supervised realistic skin tones, which took four hours per frame to render.^[19]

[edit] Treebeard

Treebeard took forty-eight hours per frame to render.^[17]

[edit] Score

Main article: Music of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The musical score for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, who also composed the music for the other two films in the trilogy. While the scores for its prequel and sequel won the Oscar for Best Score, the soundtrack for The Two Towers was not even nominated. (Initially there was confusion over the score's eligibility due to a new rule applying to sequels, but the Academy did declare it eligible.^[20])

The funeral song Éowyn sings during her cousin Théodred's entombment in the Extended Edition is styled to be a traditional song of the Rohirrim, and has lyrics in their language, Rohirric (represented by Old English). The song does not appear in the book, and the tune is a variation upon a theme of the rímur Icelandic folk tradition; it can be heard as part of track 7 in the 1999 recording of a musical version of the Edda by Sequentia.^[21]

The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road. The soundtrack has a picture of Peter Jackson (barefoot), the composer, and two producers crossing Abbey Road, referencing the Beatles album of the same name..

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critics

On the reviewer aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has the most positive reception of the trilogy with a 98% fresh rating.^[22] The Battle of Helm's Deep has been named as one of the greatest screen battles of all times.^[23]

[edit] Awards

• Academy Awards
  • Winner: Visual Effects, Sound Editing.
  • Nominee: Best Picture, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Best Editing, and Best Sound.
• American Film Institute: Digital Effects, Production Design, Movie of the Year
• British Academy Film Awards: Best Costume Design, Best Special Visual Effects, Orange Film of the Year (voted on by the public)
• Empire Awards: Best Picture
• Hugo Award (World Science Fiction Society): Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
• MTV Movie Awards 2003: Best virtual performance (Gollum)
• Saturn Awards: Best Fantasy Film, Best Costume (Ngila Dickson), Best Supporting Actor (Andy Serkis)

[edit] Cultural allusions

The film features a reference to an Evil Dead film. As Wormtongue wonders how Saruman's latest invention (a bomb) will bring down Helm's Deep, Saruman immediately grabs his arm which holds a candle, as Ash had done in Army of Darkness. In the same scene, they walk to a balcony where Saruman sends his 10,000 strong army to Helm's Deep. The camera pulls back to reveal the numerous Uruks and their spears, similar to Triumph of the Will.

[edit] DVD release

The theatrical edition of the movie was released on DVD on August 26, 2003. The DVD was a 2-disc set with extras on the second disc. This was intended to be a simultaneous worldwide release, but some British stores began selling the DVDs on Friday August 22 because it was a Bank Holiday weekend, much to the ire of the film's UK distributor, which had threatened to withhold advance supplies of subsequent DVD releases.^[24]

The Two Towers followed the precedent set by its predecessor by releasing an Extended Edition (222 minutes) with new editing, and added special effects and music. This version was released on DVD November 19, 2003 along with four commentaries and hours of supplementary material. There is also a "Collectors Edition" DVD package containing the 4-disc set, a sculpture of Gollum, a booklet about the process of designing Gollum for the movie and a short DVD documentary on the process of designing collectible sculptures based on the movies' characters and artefacts. The original cut lasted 2:59. The extended edition lasts 3:43. There is also an Easter Egg on the film, found by going to the Scene Selection screen, selecting the last group of scenes, and pressing down until a gold ring icon appears next to the words "new scene". It shows Gollum's (very foul-mouthed) acceptance speech after winning the MTV Movie Award for Best Virtual Performance.

On August 29, 2006, a Limited Edition of The Two Towers was released. This Limited Edition contains two discs. The first is a two-sided DVD (also known as DVD-18) that contains both the Theatrical and Extended editions of the film. At the beginning of each side of the disc, the viewer can choose which version to watch. The second disc is a bonus disc that contains a new behind-the-scenes documentary.

In December, 2003 there were also limited back-to-back theatrical releases of the extended versions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, followed by premieres of The Return of the King — in all 10 hours and 32 minutes long.

[edit] Additional scenes

The opening is extended. After Frodo wakes up, there is a scene of Frodo and Sam descending a cliff with the help of the Elvish rope. The title now appears over a panoramic shot of the hills. There is a brief shot of Frodo and Sam huddled under their cloaks during a rain storm, with Gollum following. After his taming, Gollum debates whether to take the hobbits to Mordor or not.

Merry and Pippin have more scenes. It is made clear that there are two groups of orcs, one from Mordor and the other from Isengard, setting up the eventual fight. It is also made clearer they think they have the Ring. When Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard, he takes them to his home, and recites poetry that puts the hobbits to sleep. They also learn more of Entish culture, drinking a draught that makes them grow taller, are rescued from a rogue tree (echoing their encounter with Tom Bombadil and Old Man Willow in the original The Fellowship of the Ring) and learn of the Entwives, and just how slow they are at the Entmoot.

Gandalf's reappearance is longer, identifying himself as what Saruman might have been. Legolas notes that the Elves taught the trees to talk and Gandalf predicts that Merry and Pippin will rouse the Ents. During the ride to Édoras, they camp for the night, and Gandalf and Aragorn discuss the coming war and Frodo's quest.

There is more drama within Edoras. Éomer has some more scenes, such as finding Théodred at the Fords of Isen and bringing him back to Édoras. When he is banished, he is presented by Wormtongue with a banishment order signed by King Théoden. There is a brief funeral scene for Théodred which includes Éowyn singing. Later, after Aragorn stops Théoden from killing Wormtongue, he extends his hand to Gríma. Gríma spits on it and then runs off. This leads to a later scene with Saruman where he scoffs at Isildur's Heir. Another new scene has Aragorn calming Théodred's horse Brego and sets him loose, setting up his rescue later on. During the exodus, Théoden tells Aragorn about Éowyn. She serves Aragorn a vile-looking stew during the trip, he graciously manages to swallow a spoonful, and he tells her his remarkable age.

Faramir has more scenes. There is extra dialogue when he captures Sam and Frodo, emphasizing his dislike of war. When Frodo and Sam are brought to Henneth Annûn, they are told that Boromir's cloven horn was found. Faramir then remembers seeing Boromir's funeral boat passing him on the river. This leads to an extended flashback of Boromir and Faramir reclaiming Osgiliath from Mordor. Denethor (their father) expresses his disappointment with Faramir and then sends Boromir to Rivendell to claim the Ring. Faramir's men also beat up Gollum after catching him. One visual that was added was Minas Tirith in the background as the Rangers see Osgiliath burn, not present in the theatrical cut due to potential confusion over whether it was Helm's Deep.^[5]

The ending of the film is extended. After Treebeard discovers the destroyed part of the forest and sounds the alarm, thousands of Huorns depart to join the battle at Helm's Deep. When the Uruks retreat, they find a "forest" waiting to destroy them. The Uruk-hai-killing contest between Gimli and Legolas is settled, with Gimli the winner. After the destruction of Isengard, Merry and Pippin discover a rich larder of food, including a supply of pipeweed. Faramir shows Frodo and Sam a way out of the city, and realizes that Gollum's secret route is Cirith Ungol and advises Frodo not to take it, threatening Gollum and setting up the eventual betrayal.

[edit] 9/11 "controversy"

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, a 19-year old student using the alias Klerk posted a facetious online petition to have Peter Jackson change the name of the film The Two Towers, because the title could be associated with the Twin Towers. Klerk was unaware that Jackson did not choose the title for the film and was also unaware that The Two Towers was Tolkien's name for his second book. The petition was withdrawn. ^[25] In part, the petition read: "The title is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center. In this post-September 11 world, it is unforgivable that this should be allowed to happen. The idea is both offensive and morally repugnant."^[26] The petition mocked films such as Spider-Man and Collateral Damage, which were edited after 9/11 to remove elements that might be a painful reminder of the attacks, as well as the tendency of many at the time to make accusations of exploiting the memory of the attacks.

Reporting about the petition, the Los Angeles Times added:

But it wasn't just Web surfers who had issues. Earlier this year, New Line proposed making its New York premiere of The Two Towers a benefit similar to the one held for The Fellowship of the Ring, which raised $300,000 for the Twin Towers Fund. But the organizations they approached got cold feet.

"Apparently, they thought the name of the film was too close," said New Line head Robert Shaye. There was, he said, a conversation about changing the film's name. "Not going to happen," he said flatly.^[27]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official movie site
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the Internet Movie Database
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Box Office Mojo
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Metacritic
• Trailer

Films Directed by Peter Jackson
Bad Taste • Meet the Feebles • Braindead • Heavenly Creatures • Forgotten Silver • The Frighteners • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King • King Kong • The Lovely Bones