The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Rating:
Summary: The winds of war
Review:
Picking up directly where THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) left off, this dark and near-despairing second chapter plunges the now-scattered band assembled in the first film into a cold hellish landscape of war and waste.
Plucky hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are traipsing torwards the dark kingdom of Mordor, where Frodo must destroy the malevolent ring of power in the burning maw of Mount Doom before it falls into evil hands. The scrawny, desiccated Gollum (acted and voiced by Andy Serkis), who once possessed the ring and was warped and twisted by its insidious influence, agrees to lead them, and Frodo is persuaded by the sorry creature's whining and cringing that the potential for good still stirs beneath hi wizened skin. Skeptical sam fears the ring is beginning to cloud Frodo's judgement. Meanwhile, fellow hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) remain prisoners of the fearsome Uruk-hai, unnatural warrior beasts created by the wicked wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) to destroy all human life in Middle Earth. In imminent danger of being eaten by their cannibal captors, the hobbits escape into the fearsome Fangorn Forest and fall in with an ancient, sentient tree (voice of John Rhys-Davies), who spends much of the movie deciding what to do with them. And in yet another location, warrior Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and his companions, Gimli (John Ryhs-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom)--a dwarf and an elf, respectivly--are en route to the Kingdom of Rohan, which lies directly in the path of a massive Uruk-hai army. They seek an alliance with king Theoden (Bernard Hill). who must first be liberated form a spell by the unsubtly named quisling Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Aided by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), now white-haired but otherwise inscathed by his apparently fatal encounter with a fire beast in the previous film, they join forces with Theoden to stop 10,000+ Uruk-Hai in their scaly-clawed tracks.

While the first film in Peter Jackson's epic adaption of J.R.R Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy was weighted in favor of establishing charactors and developing the relationships that bind them, this second installment is heavy on battle sequences, which will thrill most viewers more than others. Several significant charactors from the first film, notably Aragon's lover Arwen (Liv Tyler) and elf queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), make token appearences. New players are added, including Faramir (David Wenham), belligerent brother of the late Bormir, and no-nonsense princess Eowyn (Miranda Otto), who might be a new love interest for Aragorn were it not for the fact that romantic love in Tolkien's tales is so often unrequited.

Rating:
Summary: What's All the Fuss?
Review: When I first saw this, I didn't much like it.

So I went back and viewed it again, just to be sure.

I was right.

It's overlong, overwritten, dark, and pointless.

The first Lord of the Rings (the Fellowship) I liked better. There the characters were fresh, the scenery bright and varied, the plot silly but negligible.

Here the scenes are almost all DARK. Perhaps this is thematic: the journey has reached its nadir. But the unrelieved gloom goes on too long. And the characters, though unusual (Gollum, the Ents), are tedious.

Even worse is the writing. When Sam oh-so-ponderously speculates on whether he and Frodo will ever be remembered or written about, I can hear Peter Jackson and even J.R.R. Tolkein laughing up their baggy medieval sleeves.

This kind of self-referential in-joke may appeal to fanatics; to me it was just pointless preening.

The main problem for me--and it just gets worse in the third movie, the Return--is the silliness of the plot, here dragged out to torpid length.

As for battles, seen one seen 'em all.

Guys (almost always guys) hacking each other to bits.

Fine for 14-year-old (or 7-year-old) males--I'm sure George W. Bush would like it. But for adults it's a snoozer.

A lavish copious epic bore.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Middle movie
Review: This is the second installment of the LOTR trilogy. Even though this was a good film, I found it to be a little slow moving in some parts, but by the end your interest will be peaked and the ending will leave you salivating for the third installment. This movie does a great job of tying up some lose ends from the first installment and leaving you wanting more by waiting for the third installment to come out. I did not see any of the movies in theaters. So the one advantage I had was seeing two and being able to pop the third movie (LOTR: The Return of the King) into my DVD player right away, versus having to wait for the third installment to come out in the theaters.

The visuals for this movie are so amazing, and I really liked those trees. Walking and talking trees simply awesome. You see a lot more of Gollum in this installment and he is obsessed with "my precious" as he liked to call the ring. He hungered for the power and his split personality will leave you confused but intrigued. Gollum reminded me of a drug addict who had to have his next fix. You could see the hunger in his eyes, the wanting of that ring, and you knew he would do just about anything to get it. While the first installment focused on Frodo and his friends. This movies focal point is on Aragorn, the exiled king. Watching the battles was so incredible. I knew they would be even more awesome in the third installment. This is a perfect middle movie which will lead to a climatic third installment.


Rating:
Summary: Lacks the Intensity of the Theatrical Release
Review: This is the one Lord of the Rings movie that I feel is better in the theatrical release version than in the extended cut.

I found the drama of the Battle of Helm's Deep breathtaking in the original theatrical release. It was one of the most gripping battle scenes I have ever seen in a movie. The action never let up until the battle was over. Here, in the extended version, too much gets in the way of the flow of events. The battle sequence has too much talking mixed in, so the intensity largely disappears. I am not such a hardcore LOTR nut that I have sat down and compared the versions frame-by-frame, but I can definitely tell that the additional footage has bogged down the action.

I give it four stars because the character development is nice, and the relationships between the major characters are seen in more depth. I still found it disappointing that Saruman, such a fascinating character in the books, is no more than a cartoonish evil wizard in the movie. I was hoping that this extended version would go into more depth about the terrible internal struggles Saruman went through as he turned from virtue to corruption. It annoys me that some people think Tolkien wrote simplistic "good guys versus bad guys" stories. Developing Saruman's character would have been a good way to show just how deep Tolkien's understanding of good and evil really was. To the film's credit, Smeagol's internal conflicts are portrayed with a lot of sensitivity and skill.

If you are at all like me, you will buy the extended versions of all of these movies no matter what. If you want to have fun watching one of the most thrilling battle sequences ever filmed, then go with the theatrical release.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Best!!!
Review: The Two Towers Extended Edition is, by far, the best film of any of the Lord of the Rings endeavors. I know that's not the widely held opinion so I realize I'll have to give my reasons:
1. The action is constantly moving among the three story lines (Legolas/Aragorn/Gimle; Merry and Pippin; Sam and Frodo) so there's never a chance to look at your watch or get the least bit bored.
2. This movie introduces all kinds of new characters. The best of these is Treebeard, brought to life through the voice of John Rhys-Davies. But the people of Rohan are fabulous...Eowyn, Eomer, Theoden...what a great family. And of course we meet Faramir and, in this EE, Denathor. And this film introduces the amazing CG creation, Gollum.
3. One of the best scenes of the three movies: Boromir reclaiming Osgiliath for Gondor. How COULD they have left this scene out of the theaterical release?
4. The best "goose-bump" moment in the trilogy--Eomer and Gandalf leading the charge into Helm's Deep. The second best "goose-bump" moment in the trilogy...the elves marching into Helm's Deep under the leadership of the mighty cape sweeping Haldir.
5. The best battles in the trilogy...the Warg battle and the ultimate..."The Battle of Helm's Deep." Let me explain why I prefer this battle to Pelannor Fields....I feel a greater personal connectedness to those who are fighting at Helm's Deep. We've spent time in the city, seen the faces of the people of Edoras, seen their hardships. By contrast, we hardly catch a glimpse of the people of Minis Tirith before their city is under seige. Don't get me wrong...I love both films. I just love this one a little more!

So I make no apologies for the fact that The Two Towers EE remains my favorite movie of all time and probably will have that spot in my heart for some years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Ever Made!
Review: For 50 years no one has been able to bring Tolkien's legendary trilogy to life because of his rich writing style and detail. Now, I don't think anyone could have done a better job than Peter Jackson. The deliverance of the story, while noticeably different, is highly accurate at reflecting Tolkien's masterpiece. The actors delivered a commendable performance. What is most breath taking, however, is the special effects. The sets, the environments, the costumes, and the visuals are so finely detailed that the movie is teeming with life. Tolkien would have truly been proud.