The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This article is about the film. For the book's second volume, see The Two Towers. 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
File:LOTRTTTmovie.jpg The Theatrical Poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Written by	Frances Walsh Philippa Boyens Stephen Sinclair Peter Jackson Novel: J. R. R. Tolkien
Produced by	Peter Jackson Barrie M. Osborne Frances Walsh
Starring	Elijah Wood Sean Astin Ian Mckellen Viggo Mortensen Liv Tyler Cate Blanchett John Rhys-Davies Bernard Hill Christopher Lee Billy Boyd Dominic Monaghan Orlando Bloom Hugo Weaving Miranda Otto David Wenham Sean Bean Brad Dourif Andy Serkis
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	Michael J. Horton Jabez Olssen
Music by	Howard Shore
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release dates	December 5, 2002 (2002-12-05) (New York City premiere) December 18, 2002 (2002-12-18) (United States) December 19, 2002 (2002-12-19) (New Zealand)
Running time	179 minutes 223 minutes (Extended version)
Countries	New Zealand United States
Language	English
Budget	$94 million
Box office	$925 million

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 fantasy-adventure film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the second film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that was preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and concluded with The Return of the King (2003).

Continuing the plot of 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 Ent and plan an attack on Isengard.

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 10th highest-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 60th most successful film in North America). The Special Extended DVD Edition was released on November 19, 2003 and is now discontinued.

Plot

The film begins with a flashback to the first film, with Gandalf battling the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf and the Balrog fall down into the immense chasm spanned by the bridge, fighting while in free-fall. Still wrestling, the duo reach some forgotten lake down in the depths of the Earth and there the flashback ends. Frodo awakens from this dream and continues his journey with his loyal friend, Sam. They are then attacked by the Ring-obsessed Gollum wishing to retrieve "his precious" from the ones who he thinks stole it from him. The Hobbits overcome him, binding him with Sam's Elven rope. Sam distrusts Gollum and wishes to abandon him, but Frodo understands the burden of the creature and takes pity on him. Realizing they are lost in the Emyn Muil and in need of a guide, Frodo persuades Gollum to lead them to the Black Gate of Mordor.

In Rohan, the pack of Uruk-hai from the end of the first film are running across the grass plains with their captives Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are in pursuit. After three days of running, the trio narrow the gap to the Uruks and Legolas sees that the Hobbits are being taken in the direction of Isengard, where Saruman is marshalling his Uruk-hai forces to do the bidding of Sauron. In the kingdom of Rohan, King Théoden is being mentally and physically subdued by the poisonous whisperings of his steward, Gríma Wormtongue, who is secretly in the service of Saruman. Orcs and Wild Men of Dunland, incited by Saruman, are freely roaming the land, burning villages, massacring the people and destroying crops. Recently, the King's only son Théodred fell victim to them, left mortally wounded in an ambush. Théoden's nephew Éomer interrogates Gríma, labelling him a spy: however, Gríma banishes Éomer, "on pain of death", for undermining his authority, and Éomer sets forth to gather the remaining loyal men of the Rohirrim and leave Rohan.

Frodo, Sam and Gollum traverse the Dead Marshes, passing the undead fallen warriors of the Battle of Dagorlad and evading an airborne Ringwraith, riding a fell beast. When they finally reach the Black Gate, they find the gate shut and heavily guarded by Orcs. However, as they watch, an Easterling contingent arrives and the gate opens for them to enter. Sensing a chance, despite the high probability of capture, Frodo and Sam make ready to move. However, they are held back by a clearly distressed and worried Gollum, who confirms their fears of capture and insists that any attempt to get in via the Black Gate will only end with the One Ring returning to Sauron. He then reveals that there is another way into Mordor, hidden and unguarded. Sam is immediately suspicious, but Frodo gives him the benefit of the doubt, pointing out that he has remained loyal thus far. Meanwhile, Éomer and his men ambush and kill all of the Orcs and Uruk-hai holding the two Hobbits captive at nightfall. During the battle, which takes place near the eaves of Fangorn forest, Merry and Pippin narrowly escape their captors by fleeing into the trees where they are aided by Treebeard, the oldest of the Ents of Middle-Earth.

Éomer later encounters Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in Rohan. He tells Aragorn that there were no survivors of the battle the night before and that the hobbits are most likely dead, slain by unhappy chance. Upon arriving at the battle site, Aragorn picks up the tracks of the Hobbits and deduces that they must have fled into Fangorn. The trio are approached and temporarily subdued by a wizard masked with shining white light. Initially fearing it is Saruman, the group are amazed when he reveals himself to be Gandalf reborn, now known as Gandalf the White. The quartet proceed to Edoras, where they exorcise Saruman's hold on King Théoden and banish Wormtongue. The now awakened Théoden has to come to terms with both his son's death and the threat of Saruman. Rather than risk open war and further hurt to his people, Théoden decides to flee to Helm's Deep, a large stronghold in the Mountains which in times of trouble has given the people of Rohan protection from invading armies. Gandalf realises that Helm's Deep's defences will not survive the Uruk onslaught that is surely to come. He leaves to find Éomer, promising to return within five days with the 2000 banished riders. As they lead the people of Edoras to Helm's Deep, Aragorn and Éowyn, Éomer's sister, form a close relationship. Aragorn tells Éowyn that Arwen, whom he loves, is leaving Middle-Earth to be with her people in the Undying Lands. In the meantime, Wormtongue has fled to Orthanc and informs Saruman of a weakness in the outer wall of Helm's Deep, which Saruman and his army of 10,000 Uruk-hai plan to exploit. Saruman dispatches his army to Helm's Deep, ordering them to spare no one.

The 10,000 strong Uruk-hai besiege Helm's Deep.

Having led the Hobbits south from the Black Gate to the land of Ithilien, Gollum is in inner turmoil. After an argument, his good half, Sméagol, ultimately banishes his "evil" half. The three travellers then play witness to an ambush of Southrons by Gondorian soldiers but Frodo and Sam are subsequently taken captive by them. Meanwhile, on the journey to Helm's Deep, the Rohirrim are attacked by Saruman's Warg riders. During the battle, Aragorn tangles with a Warg and is thrown off a cliff into a fast-flowing river below: Theoden, Legolas, Gimli and the others believe him dead and journey on to Helm's Deep. In Rivendell, Elrond comes to his daughter Arwen and implores her to leave on the ships departing Middle-Earth, escaping the troubles of these lands. When she refuses, Elrond, in a devastating speech, uses his powers of foresight and slowly tells her future if she chooses to remain in Middle-Earth with Aragorn. As he is mortal, even if he succeeds in defeating Sauron and becomes King of Gondor, Aragorn will die eventually and Arwen will be left to fade away with her grief when he is gone. Once again Elrond pleads with her and she yields to him. As she leaves Rivendell, the words of Galadriel, concerning the plight of Men to defy Sauron, come to Elrond in that moment. She questions whether the Elves should wash their hands of Middle-Earth and points out that the Ring has manoeuvred itself into the company of Men which it can easily corrupt. Galadriel asks if they should abandon Men to their fate, even if it condemns Middle-Earth to fall under Sauron's rule for all time.

Surely enough, Frodo and Sam have been taken to Henneth Annûn, a stronghold for the Men of Ithilien, and brought before Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir. Gollum had eluded capture and in order to save him from death at the hands of Faramir's hunters, Frodo accepts that he and Gollum are bound to each other. Faramir investigates further and learns of the One Ring that Frodo carries. Seeking to prove his worth to his father the Steward, he decides the Ring shall go to Gondor. In Rohan, Aragorn washes up on the river bank and is nudged awake by the horse Brego, which formerly belonged to Theodred, and which Aragorn had set free before leaving Edoras. On the verge of collapse, he wills his horse to take him to Helm's Deep, passing Saruman's army of Uruk-hai on the way. His arrival at Helm's Deep is met with relief, but is short lived as the news of the strength of the approaching horde casts doubt upon the likely survival of the defenders. As night falls and in the midst of despair, a battalion of Elves arrayed in shining mail and led by Haldir, arrives from Lórien, bearing word of alliance and aid from Elrond. In Fangorn forest, Merry, Pippin, Treebeard and other Ents hold a council to decide on the role of the Ents in the war with Saruman.

In the pouring rain, the battle of Helm's Deep begins with a flurry of arrows from the defending archers, cutting down dozens of Uruk-hai. Scaling ladders are thrown up against the Deeping Wall, and the Uruks swarm up to engage the defenders. At first the onslaught is stayed by the valour of the Rohirrim and of Aragorn and his companions. Suddenly, the gutter in the Deeping Wall is blown up by a crude explosive device Saruman has created, allowing the Uruks entry into the outer defences. Despite Aragorn's and Gimli's best efforts, the Uruk-hai manage to penetrate the main gate and soon the stronghold is overrun. In the midst of battle, Haldir is slain and the few remaining Elves fall back. In the Hornburg however, the Uruks have scaled the walls and have breached the gate, forcing the defenders to retreat into the Keep. In Fangorn, Treebeard and the other Ents have decided to not have any involvement in the war, deciding rather to "weather such things as [they] have always done". Despite this, Pippin manages to cleverly take Treebeard to the section of Fangorn Saruman has recently decimated near Isengard. Treebeard is filled with rage at Saruman's betrayal and commands all the other Ents to seek vengeance. The Ents gather and embark upon 'the Last March of the Ents', straight into Isengard itself.

Meanwhile, as Théoden despairs in the besieged Keep, Aragorn refuses to give in and, remembering Gandalf's words before he left Edoras, he takes Théoden, Legolas and the remaining Rohirrim on one last gallant ride to attack the Uruk-hai army in a desperate bid to allow the Rohirrim's women and children to escape into the mountains behind the stronghold. The riders storm out of the Keep and cut their way through to the fortress gate. As the riders emerge into the swarming mass of Uruks, the first rays of dawn fall down into the valley and there upon the eastern hill, Gandalf appears, accompanied by Éomer and his men. They rush down into the body of the stunned Uruks and rout them: the terrifed Uruks flee into Fangorn, where the Ents and their Huorn allies swiftly exact retribution. Meanwhile, at Isengard the Ents are taking control. They destroy the remaining Uruk population and release the dam placed upon the river Isen, which gushes forth into the plains around Orthanc, drowning the surviving Orc defenders, quenching the fires of its industry and stranding Saruman in his tower.

Away in the East, Faramir has had the hobbits bound and taken to Osgiliath, a ruined city on the banks of the river Anduin between Mordor and Gondor. There a small battle ensues with the Orcs of Mordor, who are led by a Ringwraith. With the help of Sam, Frodo narrowly escapes the Ringwraith's efforts to capture him and the Ring. In an inspired monologue, Sam reflects on the state he and Frodo are in, on how their story may yet come to have a happy ending, even when so much bad had happened. Frodo is doubtful of this, but Sam insists that they must still hold on to what they are fighting for: each other and the fulfilment of their quest. Approaching them from the throes of battle, Faramir overhears them and realises these unassuming hobbits have a high doom before them which he can no longer hope to interrupt. He sets them free and helps them on their way. Gandalf and the others now know that things have been set in motion that cannot be undone or avoided. Sauron will surely seek retribution for the defeat of his puppet Saruman and strike at Men again, only stronger and with greater fury: as Gandalf puts it "The battle for Helm's Deep is over. The battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin". He remarks that hope now rests with Frodo and Sam, who have resumed their journey to Mordor with Gollum. Feeling betrayed by Frodo when he delivered him into the hands of Faramir's men, Gollum's darker self re-emerges and he decides to reclaim the Ring by secretly leading Frodo and Sam to a creature he refers to only as "her". As the Hobbits approach, he puts away his evil thoughts and acts his normal happy, obedient self, urging them on towards the Land of Shadow far away.

Cast

From left to right: Karl Urban, Bernard Hill, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, and Viggo Mortensen. According to director Jackson The Two Towers is centred around Aragorn.

Like the other films in the trilogy, The Two Towers has an ensemble cast, and the cast and their respective characters include:

• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: the Hobbit who must destroy the One Ring, the burden of which is becoming heavier.
• Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Frodo's loyal Hobbit companion, better known as Sam.
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: the heir-in-exile to the throne of Gondor who has come to the defence of Rohan.
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: the Wizard who fell fighting the Balrog, who has now returned, more powerful than ever, to finish his task.
• Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: the Hobbit captured by the Uruk-hai, Pippin's best friend, better known as Merry.
• Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: the Hobbit captured by the Uruk-hai, Merry's best friend, better known as Pippin.
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas: the Elven archer and one of Aragorn's companions.
• John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: the Dwarf warrior and one of Aragorn's companions.
  • Also voices Treebeard: the leader of the Ents, who is roused to anger against Saruman.
• Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum: the devious Hobbit-like creature, owner of the Ring for centuries, who guides Frodo on his quest; voice and motion capture.
• Christopher Lee as Saruman: the Wizard waging war upon Rohan and devastating Fangorn Forest, who allies himself with Sauron.
• Bernard Hill as Théoden: King of Rohan, who is healed by Gandalf to lead his people once more.
• Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who is in love with Aragorn.
• Karl Urban as Éomer: Théoden's nephew and previously Chief Marshal of the Riddermark, exiled by Gríma.
• Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: Saruman's agent at Edoras, who renders Théoden incapable of decisions, and desires Éowyn.
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the Elven lord of Rivendell who expresses doubt over his daughter's love for Aragorn.
• Liv Tyler as Arwen: Elrond's daughter and Elven princess. Aragorn's lover.
• David Wenham as Faramir: the captain of the Ithilien Rangers, who captures Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: the Elven queen of Lórien, who discusses the future of Middle-earth with Elrond.
• Craig Parker as Haldir of Lórien: the leader of the Lórien Elves sent by Elrond and Galadriel to defend Helm's Deep.
• John Leigh as Háma: the loyal doorwarden of the Golden Hall and a majordomo of Théoden.
• Bruce Hopkins as Gamling: Théoden's chief lieutenant and a skilled member of the Royal Guard of Rohan.
• John Bach as Madril: Faramir's closest aide, who informs him of battle preparations.

The following only appear in the Extended Edition

• Sean Bean as Boromir: the former member of the Fellowship, brother of Faramir (flashback).
• John Noble as Denethor: Steward of Gondor and Boromir and Faramir's father.

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 and Elijah Wood's sister 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. Viggo Mortensen's son Henry appears as a reluctant young Rohirrim warrior. Daniel Falconer has a cameo as an Elvish archer at the battle.

Comparison from the source material

The screenwriters did not originally script The Two Towers as its own film: instead parts of it were the conclusion to The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of two planned films under Miramax. 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, having neither a clear beginning nor end to focus the script. 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 parts; one follows the war in Rohan, while the other focuses on the journey of Frodo and Sam. The film omits the opening of the book, the death of Boromir, which was used as a linear climax at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. Also, the film climaxes with the Battle of Helm's Deep, while the book ends with the Fellowship going to Isengard and Frodo's confrontation with Shelob, scenes which were left for the film adaptation of The Return of the King. This was done partly to fit more closely the timeline indicated by the book.

One notable change in plotting is that in the film Théoden is literally possessed by Saruman, but in the book he is simply depressed and deluded by Wormtongue. Afterwards, in the film, Théoden is still unsure of what to do, and flees to Helm's Deep. In the book he rides out to war, only ending 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. This scene also resonates with a new subplot regarding Arwen, where she decides to leave Middle-earth after losing hope in the long-term possibilities of her love. In the book, Arwen's role is primarily recorded in the Appendices, and she is never depicted as considering 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 changed, both from writers coming up with better ideas to show the romance, as well as poor fan reaction. The new scene of Arwen leaving for the West was created, and the conversation scene remains, edited to be a flashback to a conversation between them in Rivendell, on the evening before the departure of the Fellowship. A conversation between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlórien was edited to be a telepathic one. Nonetheless, one major change (already filmed) remained that couldn't be reverted: the Elven warriors fighting at Helm's Deep, although Jackson and Boyens found this romantic and stirring and a reference to how in the Appendices Galadriel and the Elves of Lothlórien, and Thranduil of Mirkwood were first attacked by an army out of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood, and then later counter-attacked and assaulted the fortress itself.

Another change is the fact Treebeard does not immediately decide to go to war. This adds to the tension, and Boyens describes it as making Merry and Pippin "more than luggage". Here the Hobbits make Treebeard see the full destruction, prompting his anger and decision to act. Another structural change is that the Hobbits meet Gandalf the White early on, possibly explaining why the Hobbits don't react to his return when they meet him again 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. In the book, Faramir (like Aragorn) quickly recognizes the Ring as a danger and a temptation, and does not hesitate long 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 his elder brother Boromir. In the film, Faramir takes Frodo, Sam and the Ring to the Battle of Osgiliath — they do not go there 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. On the other hand (which can be seen only in the extended version of the film), it is actually their father Denethor, who wants the ring and urges Boromir to get it, while Faramir only wants to prove that he also deserves his father's love. Boyens contends these plot changes were needed to keep the Ring menacing. Wenham commented on the DVD documentaries that he hadn't read the book prior to reading the script, so the movie Faramir was the Faramir he knew. When he later read the book and noticed the major difference, he approached the writers about it, and they explained to him that if he did say "I wouldn't pick that thing up even if it lay by the wayside", it would basically strip the One Ring of all corruptive power.

Finally, the meaning of the title itself, 'The Two Towers', was changed. While Tolkien considered several possible sets of towers he eventually created a final cover illustration and wrote a note included at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring which identified them as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. Jackson's movie names them as Orthanc and Barad-dûr, symbolic of an evil alliance out to destroy Men that forms the film's plot point.

Production

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.

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, as well as the major explosion sequence.

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.

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. 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. 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. The Rangers and Osgiliath, the ruined city reflecting London during the Blitz. The set on a backlot was based around a bridge and reused some of Moria.

Principal photography

The hill known as Mount Sunday, in Canterbury, New Zealand, provided the location for Edoras

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 Beattie 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 Beattie dislocated his knee. All three spent two days of pain for the running sequence with these injuries.

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. Nonetheless, the 700 extras had fun, insulting each other in Māori and improvising scenes, such as the Uruk-hai stamping their spears before the battle begins. They did get annoyed by the craftsmanship of the Art Department: the Gates were too reinforced for the Battering Ram scene. Mortensen greatly respected the stunt team, and head butting them became a sign of respect.

Wood and Astin were joined by Serkis on April 13, 2000.

Special Effects

For The Two Towers, Weta Digital doubled their staff of 260. In total, they would produce 73 minutes of digital effects with 799 shots. 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.

Gollum

Gollum eating a fish.

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' motion capture animated the body whilst animators did the head. Gino Acevedo supervised realistic skin tones, which took four hours per frame to render.

Treebeard

Treebeard took twenty-eight hours per frame to render. For scenes where he interacts with Merry and Pippin, a fourteen-foot-tall puppet was built on a wheel. Weta took urethane moulds of tree bark and applied them to the sculpt of Treebeard to create his skin. The puppet was shot against bluescreen.

Score

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

The musical score for 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 predecessor 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.)

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.

The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. 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.

Reception

Critics

On the reviewer aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 96% rating, along with an average score of 8.4/10. It also has a 100% rating when narrowed to only professional critics. The Battle of Helm's Deep has been named as one of the greatest screen battles of all time, while Gollum was named as the third most favorite computer generated film character by Entertainment Weekly in 2007.

Awards

• Academy Awards
  • Winner: Visual Effects, Sound Editing.
  • Nominee: Best Picture, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Best Editing, and Best Sound.
• 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)

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.

The Two Towers followed the precedent set by its predecessor by releasing an Extended Edition (223 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 extended edition of the film, found by going to the Scene Selection screen on disc one, 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. This feature is not included in the UK issued DVDs.

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 11 hours and 23 minutes long.

Blu-Ray edition

In May 2008, Jackson stated that he was working with Warner Bros. on releasing the trilogy in high-definition Blu-ray format, although no release date has been confirmed. On April 16, 2009, Warner Bros. announced that it would be releasing the theatrical versions of the trilogy on Blu-ray in a boxed set later in 2009. Jackson also said that the Extended Editions were in development for Blu-ray and would be released in conjunction with the theatrical release of The Hobbit in 2011. In July 2009, Jackson announced in an interview that the Extended Editions will be released sometime in 2010 on Blu-ray with possibly new special features to be made.

External links

• Official website
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at IMDb
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at AllMovie
• 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