The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Four-Disc Special Extended Edition)
by Peter Jackson
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Actor: Bruce Allpress, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo MortensenDirector: Peter Jackson
Brand: Warner
Writer: Peter Jackson
Producer: Barrie M. Osborne
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Writer: Fran Walsh
Writer: J.R.R. Tolkien
Writer: Philippa Boyens
Writer: Stephen Sinclair
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, EP, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 223 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-18
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: N6504
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:
- Not seen in theaters, this unique version of the epic adventure features over 40 minutes of new and extended scenes integrated into the film by the director. DVD set consists of four discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries, commentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the film.Frodo Baggins and
DVD Reviews of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Four-Disc Special Extended Edition)
DVD Review: They pulled it off. (details)
Summary: 5 Stars
The three *The Lord of the Rings* films [all directed by Peter Jackson] have clearly made film history, chiefly due to their marked overall excellence. This film trilogy, shot entirely in New Zealand, is breathtaking at a minimum. Here, I'm reviewing the *Special Extended Edition* [as opposed to the much shorter Theatrical Version] of the second of these films on DVD, *The Two Towers*.
I'm sure that the story is familiar to most who would show an interest in this film but, for the unindoctrinated, the overall adult fantasy trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien chronicles a group of travelers which includes a wizard, two men, a dwarf, an elf, and four hobbits, ergo: "The Fellowship". They are traveling because two evil wizards have joined forces to eventually conquer and enslave all inhabitants of Middle Earth. At the behest of these dark and nefarious sorcerers are orcs, trolls, wargs, and other heinous minions.
One of the hobbits [Frodo Baggins] has inherited a magic ring from an aged relative [Bilbo Baggins, of *The Hobbit* fame, a fantasy written by Tolkien for young people] and it soon becomes clear that this is *The One Ring* which rules all other magic rings of power within Middle Earth. It was created by The Dark Lord [Sauron, the more powerful of the two evil wizards] but it was inadvertently lost for many years. As The Ring [which can render one invisible, with certain negative caveats] ultimately ends up in the hands of Frodo, it becomes his quest (along with the rest of The Fellowship) to destroy the ring at Mount Doom, a huge volcano which lies within Sauron's sinister and well-patrolled realm of Mordor.
In *The Two Towers* the viewer is brought back into the tale just after a partial dissolution of The Fellowship has occurred. This nuance is a deviation from the first film [*The Fellowship of the Ring*] which is a very linear tale. Here, the story diverges into three or more directions: the journey of Sam and Frodo to destroy The Ring; Aragorn's development as a warrior and as a prospective King, and; Gandalf the Wizard's plan for dealing with the Evil sorcerers, Saruman and Sauron.
One could rightly say that this film has no beginning and no end, being derived from the middle book of a trilogy; however, this movie stands on its own, especially in the Special Extended Edition version which is being reviewed here. One could watch this film with no knowledge of either Tolkien's trilogy of books or the other two films of the series and still enjoy it. If it doesn't actually have an ending, it does still feature a *conclusion* of a sort. I don't think viewers are left hanging.
Director Peter Jackson, the cast, and the crew got ever more proficient as they produced these three films. Jackson sort of viewed his task as making one long film, thus the scenes were not shot in sequence, quite typical of film-making, but noting also that most films are not nine hours in length. Naturally, many changes were adopted within the scripts of all three films as time rolled along... and thus each movie clearly became better than its predecessor.
I think that most of the *MAGIC* of this film trilogy came from Jackson's inclusion of multiple technologies and special effects techniques - he did not wholly depend upon Computer Generated Images but when he did they were effected in post-production with absolute perfection.
Additional film magic was manifested through Howard Shore's magnificent classical filmscore for the trilogy. There is little doubt from my view that the soundtrack from this second film of the series was the greatest of the three. One of the outstanding segments includes singing by Isabel Bayrakdarian, a terrific Canadian soprano who is currently my favorite of all. The *Rohan* score is equally inspiring.
Of course the Special Extended Editions contain much more original music than the theatrical versions and it's all a great joy to the ear, even including the gloom and doom facets of the three soundtracks. They are available as three individual sets: The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring (The Complete Recordings), The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (The Complete Recordings), and, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (The Complete Recordings).
Perhaps the most important facet of my review is to encourage you to not bother with watching the theatrical versions of these films on DVD, and this is especially applicable if you've never read Tolkien's books. The theatrical versions are very good but they were meant more for theaters to collect from patrons for two showings per evening rather than to convey the details of Tolkien's complex story. The Special Extended Editions are perfectly edited to be both impressive and informative but they are never boring.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! *The Two Towers* provides us with an exciting Battle at Helm's Deep between Saruman's minions and the men of both Rohan and Gondor [the elves help out too], as well as the Ents' assault on Isengard, the Tower of Sauron; the continuing flight of Frodo and Sam into Mordor itself in an effort to destroy The Ring, and; all the dangers and hazards which befall Aragorn, Legolis [the elf], two of the Hobbits, and Gimli [the Dwarf]. The story jumps around from place to place (and from story to story) but it's all quite well-done and coherent. Since Tolkien depicted several towers in Middle Earth we cannot precisely say this for certain but, it would appear that *The Two Towers* are those of Saruman and of Sauron -- or at least Christopher Lee thinks so and so do I.
Every facet of this film manifests the cutting edge of every aspect of film-making, from the technology, even extending to the acting [and motion capture] of Andy Serkis who plays the creature Gollum, who really develops in this second film of the trilogy. We get to experience a broad range of acting styles from Orlando Bloom (who was cast for the role of Legolis fairly fresh out of acting school) to the venerable Christopher Lee [Saruman] who has made more films than anyone else that I'm aware of. To a person, all were magnificent in their perfectly cast roles.
Fans of the trilogy should also be aware that even though the character Denithor [Steward of Gondor] does not appear in the theatrical version of *The Two Towers*, he does show up in this Special Extended Edition. It's also a chance to see Boromir [Denithor's eldest son] again and the segment is quite a good one.
This is probably a good juncture to detail what one gets in this boxed-set edition. There are two DVDs which make up the film and there are *multiple* sound tracks which can be brought up on each of these, depending upon whether you wish to watch the films themselves or listen to various available commentary tracks [for example, a track of cast member running remarks as the film progresses]. Two more DVDs make up the total of four: these two are the appendices which beautifully depict exactly how this film was made, cast and crew interviews, details of the musical score, and so on. All this lasts for at least as long as would the film itself and it's all quite fascinating and well-done. Finally, the set comes with a small pamphlet inside which is a sort of map of what to look for on the DVDs and where.
I can hardly convey an adequate number of positive comments about this film except to say that the final film [*The Return of the King*] is even better! I cannot state that this is the best film I've ever seen but I can honestly comment that I've never enjoyed any films *more* than those included in this Special Extended Edition trilogy.
Highly recommended.
More The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Four-Disc Special Extended Edition) reviews:
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Description of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Four-Disc Special Extended Edition)
The extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was perhaps the most comprehensive DVD release to date, and its follow-up proves a similarly colossal achievement, with significant extra footage and a multitude of worthwhile bonus features. The extended version of The Two Towers adds 43 minutes to the theatrical version's 179-minute running time, and there are valuable additions to the film. Two new scenes might appease those who feel that the characterization of Faramir was the film's most egregious departure from the book, and fans will appreciate an appearance of the Huorns at Helm's Deep plus a nod to the absence of Tom Bombadil. Seeing a little more interplay between the gorgeous Eowyn and Aragorn is welcome, as is a grim introduction to Eomer and Theoden's son. And among the many other additions, there's an extended epilogue that might not have worked in the theater, but is more effective here in setting up The Return of the King. While the 30 minutes added to The Fellowship of the Ring felt just right in enriching the film, the extra footage in The Two Towers at times seems a bit extraneous--we see moments that in the theatrical version we had been told about, and some fleshed-out conversations and incidents are rather minor. But director Peter Jackson's vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's world is so marvelous that it's hard to complain about any extra time we can spend there.Bestsellers in DVD
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