The Two Towers Movie Photo Guide (The Lord of the Rings)

Rating:
Summary: A terrific book to have, a must-have!
Review: "There is now a union between the two towers - Barad-dur, fortress of the Dark Lord Sauron, and Orthanc, stronghold of the wizard Saruman."

In the second installment of the Lord of the Rings, "The Two Towers" has the fellowship of the ring broken up. Frodo and Sam are on their own as they continue on their way towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Uruk-Hai and it's up to Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to rescue them. Both new allies and new foes will be made as the battle for Middle Earth continues. What will happen to the fellowship, will Middle Earth ever be rid of the evil of Sauron?

"The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers Photo Guide" is the illustrated story from the epic New Line Cinema film. In other words, this is more like a picture book. Includes over 100 color photos which are of very high quality! LOTR movie buffs might have seen many of the pictures either on the Internet or somewhere else, but there are some photos which are new. Lots of the pictures have captions from the movie. It's easy to look through the book since at the top of each page there is like a title for each major scene in the movie (ex. "Plains of Rohan" or "Helm's Deep".

Some of the best pictures from the book include: Gandalf riding Shadowfax, Legolas riding a horse during the battle against Orcs and Wargs, Frodo keeping the Ring away from Faramir, Merry and Pippin in the capable 'hands' of Treebeard, and King Theoden riding into Helm's Deep. Plus plenty more!

Definitely not a replacement to seeing the actual movie or reading the original books by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I can still recommend this book for LOTR Movie fans and kids. My suggestion though is to watch the movie before reading this since in my opinion it's better to not know what will happen. Another reason to by this book is that there are some missing scenes from the movie. For example, in this photo guide it explains how the horse Brego was able to rescue Aragorn. And Faramir's plan will be pleased to see at the end he helps Frodo and Sam more than in the movie. And some more info on Gollum's past! Hopefully an extended edition of "The Two Towers" will come out including these missing scenes!

Also included at the back of the Photo Guide are stickers of the characters of "The Two Towers". Stickers include Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Saruman, Faramir, Merry and Pippin, King Theoden, Eowyn, and Arwen, which is altogether twelve stickers. Some people might be disappointed to find that there is no sticker for Eomer, who will come to be a pretty major character in the Lord of the Rings.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST Buy! Perfect for fans of all ages.
Review: Don't be fooled by the back cover that states "the official children's photo guide to The Two Towers." This great book is full of amazing photos from the upcoming Lord of the Rings film to delight fans of all ages!

The book itself is set up in a narrative style, which goes through the general movie plot with accompanying pictures. For instance, in the part where Merry and Pippin encounter the Ents, we are treated with a full-page picture of Treebeard (in all his glory!) holding Merry and Pippin.

The book has pictures of all the major (and minor) characters and locations in the film, including Theoden, Gollum, Faramir, Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo, Gandalf the White, the Warg Riders and Easterlings, as well as Osgiliath, Ithilien, Edoras, Helms Deep and Fangorn Forest.

One word of caution, however: This book goes through the general plot of the movie and also reveals where changes were made from the book. So if you want SPOILERS, this is the book for you! However, if you want to remain spoiler-free (at least until the film arrives), then quickly browse through the book but do not read it!

Of the 4 movie tie-in books that were recently released (The Two Towers Visual Companion, Two Towers Creature Guide and The Making of the Movie Trilogy), this is the BEST in terms of Two Towers-related pictures. The Visual Companion comes a close second. If you want behind the scenes info, then pick up The Making of the Movie Trilogy as well. The books go hand-in-hand with very little overlap in terms of content.

Rating:
Summary: Don't check out the Photo Guide until after you see the Film
Review: I certainly would not recommend "The Two Towers: Photo Guide" as a substitute for reading the book, but certainly this volume will help answer children's questions about what is happening in the film. Unlike Tolkien's middle-volume of the trilogy, which was divided into two "books" and kept the Frodo and Sam plotline totally separate from what was happening to the remainder of the shattered Fellowship of the Ring, the film version jumps back and forth between multiple plot lines. This can be a bit confusing to younger children, especially if they have not committed the entire Trilogy to memory. This book includes over 100 color photographs and actually refrains from giving away the twin climaxes of the film regarding Helm's Deep and Isengard, so bonus points for not ruining the film for any young readers who feel compelled to go through this Photo Guide before watching the film. Also included are Free Stickers, for those who care about such things, and the volume is certainly reasonably priced given the number of color photographs included inside. There are a couple of especially nice photographs of Treebeard and my only complaint would be in addition to omitting some of the really great shots of the defenders of Helm�s Deep waiting in the rain for the attack to begin that the three photographs of Éowyn are rather small and all side-views, but I am picky because the shield maiden of Rohan is one of my favorite characters in the LOTR Trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Good for pre-movie viewing, but pretty worthless after
Review: It's a good book, don't get me wrong. There's some magnificent pictures from the second installment in New Line's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's the whole movie plot simplified.

But this book is only worth something before the movie. Afterward, it just loses its luster. Since you've already seen the movie, why look at the pictures again?

Nonetheless, there are some interesting items that take place in the book that give some hints as to what some extended material for The Two Towers' extended release will be. (For instance, the plot line about Aragorn releasing Theodred's horse Brego, which rescues him in the movie after the Warg battle. In the movie, the horse just showed up, without prior mention of it)

There's also (at least in ours) a page of stickers in the back of the book, but since there's only one to a character, no one wants to remove them from the page.

Rating:
Summary: Very slim
Review: This book shouldn't be overrated. It's nice to see the storyline of the second film presented in it, and it has a couple of nice pics. But that's it. The commentary is absulutely worthless and adds nothing unless you're a complete Tolkien novice. Very much a children's book, I bought it for the film storyline (which once again deviates significantly from the books at certain parts) and some stunning pics, of which there are but a few. And the storyline of the film will be known to all soon anyway so it's only merit post-TTT release will be a few nice pics.

Gary Russell's Art of the Fellowship of the Ring would be a much more worthwhile purchase. I wonder if he'll do another one for TTT and RoTK...

Rating:
Summary: Good book for younger viewers
Review: Whether or not smaller kids will get to go to "The Two Towers" depends on their parents, given that this movie is frightening and violent and quite creepy in places. And even if they do go, some kis may be a little confused by the complex storyline. And, of course, adults who need to see the pictures.

It's basically a picture book, the events of the Two Towers and what happens to Sam and Frodo, who were last seen heading into Mordor; Merry and Pippin, who are kidnapped by orcs and receive some unexpected help; and Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli, who are pursuing Merry and Pippin, but are waylaid by an old friend whom they thought was lost. Be forewarned, this book is crawling over with spoilers about what happens in the movie.

The pictures in this guide are outstanding; most of them aren't featured in the other "Two Towers" guides coming out at this time. And many are captioned with various lines from the movie (such as a photo with Frodo and Sam, which is captioned with "What is it, Mr. Frodo?" "Nothing. Just a dream.") There are good photographs of old favorites such as Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin. There are also good shots of Gandalf in his new incarnation, the majestic ent Treebeard (a fantastic shot of a priceless character), the noble Theoden, the grotesque Gollum, and many others. The only problem I can think of is that a few of the shots never appeared in the movie, such as one pic of Frodo holding his cupped hand in front of his shirt, and Faramir watching him. And as with the "Fellowship" photo guide, some of the pictures are rather small.

Despite these minor problems, this is a good book for the "Lord of the Rings" movie fans, especially the younger ones who might need a few pointers, or the older ones who love photographs. This one has very little in common with the other "Two Towers" movie-related books, and it's worth a look.