|
| |
Poster for the film
|
| |
0167261
|
| |
JRR Tolkien (novel),<br> Frances Walsh ,<br> Philippa Boyens ,<br> Stephen Sinclair ,<br> Peter Jackson
|
| |
Elijah Wood ,<br> Sean Astin ,<br> Viggo Mortensen ,<br> Orlando Bloom
|
| |
Peter Jackson
|
| |
Peter Jackson <BR /> Barrie M Osborne <BR /> Frances Walsh
|
| |
'''- USA -'''<BR /> New Line Cinema <BR />'''- non-USA -'''<BR /> Warner Bros
|
| |
December 18 2002
|
| |
179 min (theatrical), 223 min (special extended edition)
|
| |
English
|
| |
|
| |
$94,000,000 (est)
|
| |
''''
|
| |
''''
|
'' is a ''. It was adapted mostly from the
Second Volume of
J.R.R. Tolkien 's epic literary fantasy, ''
The Lord Of The Rings '', by
Fran Walsh ,
Philippa Boyens , and Peter Jackson. (In addition, Stephen Sinclair is credited as a writer: he worked briefly on the screenplay in 1997 before it was conceived as a stand-alone film). The movie was very well received critically and was an enormous box-office success, earning over $900 million worldwide (making it the fourth most successful film in history at the time of its release, ahead of its prequel).
In addition to many characters returning from the first film, ''The Two Towers'' features
Éowyn , a noble lady of Rohan who yearns to be a warrior;
Éomer , a stalwart Marshal of Rohan and brother to Éowyn;
Théoden , a troubled king, uncle of Éowyn and Éomer; and his treacherous counsellor,
Gríma Wormtongue . The human actors were supplemented by a number of
Special Effects creatures including tree-like
Ent s, the
Pterodactyl -like flying steeds of the
Nazgûl , and, especially,
Gollum , widely acclaimed as the best fully realized
CGI character in a live-action film up to that point. Many of his movements and facial expressions were modeled after the actor who provided his voice, Andy Serkis. Only glimpsed in the first film, Gollum here becomes a pivotal character with the potential to change the fate of the story's world. He wrestles with inner demons and becomes a source of friction in Sam and Frodo's previously unshakeable friendship.
The surviving members of the
Fellowship Of The Ring have split into three groups. Frodo and Sam face many perils on their continuing quest to save
Middle-Earth by destroying the
One Ring in the fires of
Mount Doom . Merry and Pippin escape from the
Orc s and must convince the
Ent s to join the battle against evil. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas encounter a mysteriously transformed Gandalf and battle
Saruman 's army at
Helm's Deep .
Jackson's ''The Two Towers'' differs from Tolkien's in several important ways. The Elves do not appear in the second book at all (with the exception of Legolas). Yet they are a major part of the film. Jackson felt it important to keep these characters from falling out of the story, as a major theme in both the books and the films is Middle-earth changing from an ethereal world of diversity to the more familiar world of mankind. In the books this largely happens "offstage", but Jackson needed to show it happening on screen.
Notably the meaning of the title itself, 'The Two Towers', has been changed. While the title was created abstractly (Tolkien wrote, "
{Link without Title} gets as near as possible to finding a title to cover the widely divergent Books 3 & 4; and can be left ambiguous") a note at the end
The Fellowship Of The Ring and Tolkien's final illustration of the towers defines them as
Minas Morgul and
Orthanc . Jackson's movie (as well as its trailers) name them as Orthanc and
Barad-dûr .
Tolkien divided ''The Two Towers'' into three distinct parts. The first related the stories of Merry and Pippin. The second told of Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf. The third concerned Frodo, Sam and Gollum. Jackson chose to intercut between the three to present the events in chronological order.
Jackson's structure changes the tale from a pure quest to a war story. Each of the film's three main threads make the point that the war has started and that our heroes are in the thick of it.
Jackson and his co-writers added several events to the story, notably:
- In the movie, Faramir speaks of taking the Ring from Frodo, for the defence of Gondor; in the book, he denies having any such desire: "Not even if I found it by the side of a road", he repeats. According to Jackson, this does not work dramatically, as Faramir has no "character arc" (i.e., he does not change as a person from his first scene to his last). Jackson felt this change important for two reasons. Firstly, the most important part of all three films is the Ring, and he felt Faramir's words undermined its power. (The books have the advantage of explaining the internal struggles of the characters and can empower the Ring in that way; a film can only do so through the external words and actions of the characters.) Secondly, Jackson felt Faramir would become more compelling in the films if the character had a personal journey.
- In the movie, Faramir takes Frodo, Sam and Gollum to the besieged city of Osgiliath , but subsequently lets them go. In the book, Faramir does not take them further than the forbidden pool. In the theatrical version it is not clear how Frodo and his companions get back from Osgiliath to Ithilien , but this is explained in the extended cut — they escape through the ruined city's sewers and so make their way out behind the enemy lines. (A line of Sam's seems to wink to the knowledgeable audience members that this is indeed a stark change: in the midst of his emotional monologue, Sam notes, "We shouldn't even be here.")
- An attack on the Rohirrim travelling to Helm's Deep by Orcs mounted on Warg s results in Aragorn's near death; he is revived by a vision of Arwen in a dream sequence. Nothing like this is present in the book.
- Galadriel persuades Elrond (via long-distance Telepathy ) to send Elven archers to Helm's Deep. Interestingly, they appear nonetheless to be Elves of Lórien , one of whom ( Haldir ) we met previously in the Golden Wood. Jackson originally planned to have Arwen herself fighting at Helm's Deep and filmed some scenes along those lines, but abandoned that track. It is still possible to pick her out in the battle, as some footage was used in the Extended Edition. This addition might have been inspired by a single line spoken in passing by Legolas, when he was waiting for the coming forces of Saruman at the walls of Helm's Deep: he wished that he could have had a hundred Elven archers with him to strengthen the defence.
- Arwen has a vision of her future which is taken somewhat loosely from ''The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen'' in the books' Appendices.
- Elrond almost forcibly sends Arwen "to the West". Her final decision on the matter, and her reason for making it, is revealed in ''The Return of the King''.
Three important events from Tolkien's ''The Two Towers'' do not appear in the film:
- Boromir's death takes place in the opening chapters and, and the events leading to it are explained a bit later on. However, the film trilogy covers all of this in ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.
- Gandalf and Saruman's confrontation at Isengard . This was originally intended to appear at the beginning of ''The Return of the King'', but a late decision by Peter Jackson meant that this scene was not part of the theatrical version, though it has since been included in the extended cut.
- Sam and Frodo's encounter with the monstrous .
Four of the characters in the film are presented somewhat differently than their counterparts in the book:
- requires much more convincing to let Sam and Frodo continue on their quest, whereas in the book he immediately recognizes the wisdom of permitting them to leave freely. He is shown as being much more flawed than in the literary version, but nonetheless someone who is still capable of wisdom, although some fans insist that the changes in the film have ruined his character. On the DVD commentary, Phillipa Bowens states that to include Faramir exactly as he appeared in the book would have dealt irrevocable damage to the character of the Ring. In essence, his immediate rejection of it would dismiss the idea that it is alluring (and thus, dangerous) to all. A similar example of this can be seen in the third film where, as opposed to the version of events portrayed in the book where he quickly dismisses any idea of keeping the Ring, Samwise Gamgee hesitates to return it to Frodo's hands in Mordor. It should also be noted that the extended edition of ''The Two Towers'' establishes Faramir's desperate wish to please his father and "show his quality", as well as Denethor 's desire for the Ring to be held in Gondor. Also, there is a line given to Faramir regarding a fallen Southron that belongs to Sam in the books, but is not out of keeping with Faramir's character. To read more about the changes made in Faramir's character in the films, see Faramir .
- , chief among the Ents, is unaware of the extent of what is happening on the borders of his forest and has to be "tricked" into attacking Isengard. In the theatrical release he is not seen sending Huorn s to Helm's Deep, but does so in the extended video version — see below.
- Continuing a trend from the first movie, (who doesn't appear in the book) is much more protective of Arwen and is almost antagonistic toward Aragorn , thus the Thingol portrayal and the Stereotypical "father-daughter theme" are both apparent.
- 's reaction upon learning of Gríma's treachery differs greatly from the novel: in the book, he offers Wormtongue a chance to redeem himself by riding to war with the Rohirrim, whereas in the film, a dazed Théoden tries to personally execute the traitor. Having achieved victory at Helm's Deep, in the third film Théoden offers Gríma the chance to return to him when they meet at Isengard in the extended DVD version. Théoden's attitude towards the coming conflict is also presented differently in Jackson's film: in the novel, Théoden chooses to ride to war, and only goes to Helm's Deep in order to assist Erkenbrand 's forces, which had been dealt a defeat by Saruman's armies. In the film, he opts to avoid open confrontation, and treats Helm's Deep as a shelter for the civilian population of Rohan. Only the ensuing orc siege forces him into battle. The King's sense of self-doubt is greatly magnified in the film, in order to provide him with a character arc, as was done with Faramir.
See Also: The Lord of the Rings music
- 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
- Apex Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Viggo Mortensen), Best Production Design, Best Original Song Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Make-up
- 2003 Art Directors Guild: Best Production Design (Period or Fantasy feature Film)
- Australian Film Awards: Best Foreign Film
- British Academy Film Awards: Best Costume Design, Best Special Visual Effects, Orange Film of the Year (voted on by the public)
- Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Digital Acting Performance (Gollum)
- Central Ohio Film Critics: Best Cinematography
- Cinemarati Awards: Best Film, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Director (Peter Jackson), Best Film Editing
- Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics: Best Director (Peter Jackson)
- Empire Awards : Best Picture
- Golden Satellite Awards: Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble, Best Visual Effects
- Golden Trailer Awards: Best Action Trailer
- Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hairstylist Guild Awards: Best Character Makeup, Best Character Hair Styling, Best Special Makeup Effects
- Hugo Award (World Science Fiction Society): Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
- International 3-D Awards (computer graphics industry): Best Feature Film VFX (Weta)
- Kansas City Film Critics: Best Director
- Las Vegas Film Critics: Best Director (Peter Jackson), Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects
- MTV Movie Awards 2003 : Best virtual performance (Gollum)
- and sung by the Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini .
- Rotten Tomatoes Awards: Best Film
- Saturn Awards: Best Fantasy Film, Best Costume ( Ngila Dickson ), Best Supporting Actor (Andy Serkis)
- Visual Effects Society Awards: Best Special Effects, Best Effects in Art Direction, Best Visual Effects in Photography, Best Models and Miniatures, Best Performance by an Actor in an Effects Film, Best Character Animation in a Live-Action Feature Film, Best Compositing and Visual Effects in an Effects-Driven Film
- Followers of the Oscars predicted that the movie had a poor chance of winning Best Picture, because it received no other nominations in the major Oscar categories ('', to be released so that they could honour Peter Jackson for creating such a successful and acclaimed film trilogy. The third film was awarded 11 Oscars in 2004.
The theatrical edition of the movie was released on VHS and 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 videos 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 video releases.
The Two Towers followed the precedent set by its prequel 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. One of the additional scenes features Sean Bean and John Noble, who do not appear in the theatrical version, in a flashback in which brothers
Boromir and Faramir are seen together with their father, Denethor. This is available on VHS and on a 4-disc DVD set, with the movie on discs 1 and 2 including four audio commentaries by the crew and actors, and extensive bonus material on discs 3 and 4. There is also a "Special 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.
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.
In the ''
Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends '' episode "Duchess of Wails", the climax is a homage to the attack on
Helm's Deep from the movie. Certain lines are used in the scene's dialogue as well as memorable visual moments, like the initial volley of arrows (tomatoes in the episode) are also used.
In an episode of
Malcolm In The Middle there is also a homage to ''The Two Towers'' when the employees smash into Craig's office.
After the
9/11 Attacks , an
Internet Troll ,
Klerck , posted an
Online Petition to have Peter Jackson change the name of the film ''The Two Towers'' due to its coincidential name associated with the Twin Towers.
- Though Jackson's trilogy refrains from delving too deeply into the religious aspects of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, when Aragorn addresses the Elven warriors at Helm's Deep in Elvish, he refers to them as "Eruchín". This means, "Children of Eru", with " Eru " being the creator (God) of Middle-Earth. Thus the phrase essentially means, "Children of God". While Tolkien clearly established the existence of Eru in his Middle-Earth, the being is not mentioned in either ''The Hobbit'' or ''The Lord of the Rings''. (He is alluded to as "the One" in the part of ''The Lord of the Rings'' Appendix A that speaks of the downfall of Númenor ).
