Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4980 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-26
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 179 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
With The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the focus of Tolkien's epic story moves from the fantastic to the mythic, from magic and monsters towards men and their deeds, as the expanding panorama of Middle-earth introduces us to the Viking-like Riders of Rohan and the men of Gondor. Which is not to say that Peter Jackson's three-hour second instalment doesn't have its fair share of amazing new creatures--here we meet Wargs, Oliphaunts and winged Nazgul, to name three--just that the film is concerned more with myth-making on a heroic scale than the wide-eyed wonder of The Fellowship of the Ring.

There's no time for recapitulation, as a host of new characters are introduced in rapid succession. In Rohan we meet the initially moribund King Theoden (Bernard Hill); his treacherous advisor Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif); his feisty niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto); and his strong-willed nephew Eomer (Karl Urban). Faramir (David Wenham), brother of Boromir, is the other principal human addition to the cast. The hobbits, though, encounter the two most remarkable new characters, both of whom are digitally generated: in Fangorn Forest, Merry and Pippin are literally carried away by Treebeard, a dignified old Ent; while Frodo and Sam capture the duplicitous Gollum, whose fate is inextricably intertwined with that of the Ring.

The film stands or falls with Gollum. If the characterisation had gone the way of Jar Jar Binks, The Two Towers would have been ruined, notwithstanding all the spectacle and grandeur of the rest. But Gollum is a triumph, a tribute both to the computer animators and the motion-captured performance of Andy Serkis: his "dialogues", delivered theatre-like direct to the audience, are a masterstroke. Here and elsewhere Jackson is unafraid to make changes to the story line, bringing Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath, for example, or tipping Aragorn over a cliff. Yet the director's deft touch always seems to add not detract from Tolkien's vision. Just three among many examples: Aragorn's poignant dreams of Arwen (Liv Tyler); Gimli's comic repartee even in the heat of battle; and the wickedly effective siege weapons of the Uruk-Hai (which signify both Saruman's mastery and his perversion of technology). The climactic confrontation at Helm's Deep contains images the like of which have simply never been seen on film before. Almost unimaginably, there's so much more still to come in the Return of the King.

On the DVD: The Two Towers two-disc set, like the Fellowship before it, features the theatrical version of the movie on the first disc, in glorious 2.35:1 widescreen, accompanied by Dolby 5.1 or Dolby Stereo sound options. As before, commentaries and the really in-depth features are held back for the extended four-disc version.

Such as they are, all the extras are reserved for Disc Two. The 14-minute documentary On the Set is a run-of-the-mill publicity preview for the movie; more substantial is the 43-minute Return to Middle-Earth, another promotional feature, which at least has plenty of input from cast and crew. Much more interesting are the briefer pieces, notably: Sean Astin's charming silent short The Long and the Short of It, plus an amusing making-of featurette; a teaser trailer for the extended DVD release; and a tantalising 12-minute sneak peek at Return of the King, introduced by Peter Jackson, in which he declares nonchalantly that "Helm's Deep was just an opening skirmish"! --Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Special Features and Technical Information:

Disc 1: The Feature

• Feature (approx. 179 minutes)
  
• Widescreen (2.35:1) or Fullscreen version of the film
  
• Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
  
• Stereo Surround Sound
  
• English subtitles and closed captions

Disc 2: Special Features - Bonus disc featuring hours of additional content:

• 2 in-depth programs that reveal the secrets behind the production of this epic adventure, including:
  On the set – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  Return to Middle-earth
  
• 8 featurettes originally created for lordoftherings.net:
  Forces of Darkness
  Sounds of Middle-earth
  Edoras & Rohan Culture
  Creatures
  Gandalf the White
  Arms & Armor
  Helm’s Deep
  Gollum: Andy Serkis, Bay Raitt
  
• Exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  
• Emiliana Torrini "Gollum Song" music video
  
• Short film by Sean Astin The Long and Short of It + behind-the-scenes "making of"
  
• Preview of Electronic Arts’ video game, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  
• An inside look at the Special Extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

DVD-ROM Content:

• Exclusive online content

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround English\Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround English
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround
Animated Menus
Preview Of The Return Of The King
Secrets Behind The Production
A Look At The People And Places Of Middle Earth
Sean Astin Short Film The Long And The Short Of It
The Making Of The Long And The Short Of It
Gollums Song
Preview Of Video Game The Return Of The King
Preview Of Extended DVD Due In November 2003
Original Theatrical Trailers
TV Spots
English

Customer Reviews

Part of the Greatest Story Ever Told
I truly believe that 'the Lord of the Rings' is one of the greatest stories ever told. The tale of Frodo Baggins and the ring of power carries on in the second part of the trilogy, where Frodo and Sam are continuing their relentless quest to Mordor to destory the ring, only to be joined by the sinister yet pitiable creature known as Gollum. Meanwhile, Merry & Pip try their hardest to escape from the evil orcs who captured them at the end of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', whilst Gimley, Legolas and Aragorn meet a king and immediatley sense something is not right. Old characters return and new ones are introduced as the tale of the Ring grows closer to it's end.

The extended edition is far superior to the original, though the amount of time it takes to watch borderlines on ridiculous. There are many (necessary) explanations and more focus on various story arcs. I was especially pleased at the extra focus on Arwen and Aragorn, one of the main stories to hold my interest.

As with the 1st of the films, each shot, every scene is spectacular to watch, and as the viewer you never question the integrity of this fantasy world - for a few hours you truly are transported into Middle Earth, the characters do exist, the elves, dwarfs, orcs, ents and hobbits are all real. The soundtrack is breathtaking and the acting is superb - the characters all look and sound the part and the script is infallible. I don't really have any complaints, except (as I mentioned earlier) for the length of the film, but as this is the extended edition, and that no matter how long this film is it never once feels boring, all is forgiven on my part and I sincerely look forward to watching 'the Two Towers' again. This is how film adaptations from books are meant to be done. Those responsible for the Harry Potter and Narnia films would do to take heed and learn from the master.

The centre of Middle Earth
Chris Cooper's performance in 2002's Adaptation was skilful and memorable, but the Academy Award for Actor In A Supporting Role should surely have gone to Andy Serkis for his performance as Gollum in the second part of Peter Jackson's seminal movie trilogy. The Two Towers (correctly) received the Visual Effects gong, but the Academy may have missed a trick - we couldn't have felt pity for poor Smeagol without the Englishman's dazzling talent.

The Two Towers is the heart of the story in Jackson's (and Fran Walsh's, Philippa Boyens', and Steven Sinclair's) take on the tale. The book has been seriously and necessarily rejigged to suit the demands of the classical narrative. The battle of Helm's Deep, for instance, has been promoted beyond what was essentially a precursor to the final battle to something more immense: a grand, emotionally-driven climactic battle which represents arguably the best single action encounter of the trilogy.

But this last stand would be nothing were it not for the quality of the drama that precedes it. The Fellowship of the Ring set the scene; The Return of the King tore the scene to shreds on an awe-inspiring scale. The Two Towers, meanwhile, sows the seeds that will bloom into the enthralling narrative conflicts concluded in its sequel, as well as containing numerous character arcs of its own. The reluctant feud begins between Boromir (Sean Bean) and Faramir (David Wenham) for the love of their father, Denethor (John Noble); the adversity between nature and industry, represented by the mighty Ents and the tyrant Saruman (Christopher Lee), comes full circle; Grima Wormtongue's (a particularly superb Brad Dourif) fleeting power over the troubled king Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his adopted son, Eomer (Karl Urban) is a wicked war waged by an opportunist weakling. And I haven't even mentioned the surviving members of the Fellowship...

Pleasingly, Jackson et al continue their exploration of Arwen (Liv Tyler), as well as introducing another prominent female character. Miranda Otto's Eowyn is spiky and obstinate, and yet hauntingly bereft; a pale ghost wandering the prison of her uncle (Theoden). She's the most interesting female character in the series by far, deservingly foregrounded for the latter two movies.

Epic, exciting, heartfelt, and frightening - this is a brilliant hub for the trilogy.

Epic DVD Part 2!
The middle part of a trilogy is always the more difficult installment to create. It doesn't have a beginning, nor an ending, but rather bridges the two parts that do. Still, Two Towers is arguably the best section in TLOTR Trilogy.

This will be down to one thing: The epic canvas really expands in this installment. The characters are not in a safe Fellowship anymore, and find themselves all across Middle-Earth.

Frodo and Sam are trying to destroy the ring. Merry and Pippin are captured by Orcs. Aragorn, legolas and Gimli are trying to protect the kingdom of Rohan. And there's the return of everybody's fabourite wizard...

Storylines, therefore, are far more complex than Fellowship of the Ring, which had a simple story. There's more interwoven plot lines and the introduction of many new, exciting characters.

The kingdom of Rohan is pictured magnificently, and are real heroes to get behind. Particularly Bernard Hill as the King, and Karl Urban in a role yet to be bettered as Eomer.

But the real kudos in this part should go to Gollum - astounding, amazing, brilliant. Andy Serkis proves that Gollum is more than just a CGI creation, giving the character feelings, emotions, humour, sadness and scariness. Gollum is a true cinematic acheivement.

The Two Towers also holds the trilogy's greatest set piece - Helm's Deep. It may not have the open, savage fight as appears in Return of the King, but its claustrophobic feel, and tension filled battle really makes the stand-off between Rohan and the Orcs a real set-piece. The build-up is superb, the battle even better, as it is far more personal than any other fight in the series. We're there with the characters, and those who don't feel overwhelmed by the sight of the Orcs advancing hasn't got a pulse. Incredibly well paced, this is the best action scene ever put on film.

The extended edition improves on the theatrical version in many ways. There's more development between Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler's characters, giving them a rich backstory, and there's a bit more info about the giant Ent trees.

As before, the four disc set has the movie on two discs, with the bst commentary going this time round to Peter Jackson. He's a wealth of information and ideas, and points many ecxiting things out. I would have said the cast commentary, but while for the Fellowship of the Ring commentary they were all mostly in the same room, here they are'nt, and the commentary has been pieced together from separate sittings.

Once again, plenty of documentaries and art galleries. It's all far too much t owatch, so I'd recommend, again, the doc on Tolkein, the filoming doc, and anything you can find on the creation of Gollum and Helm's Deep, all of which is riveting viewing.