Rating: 
Summary: ORC TRIPE!!!!
Review: Exorcisms? The Attack of Willard and the Giant Junkyard Rats? X-treme sports archery?Is this the The Two Towers that made J.R.R. Tolkien one of the ten best selling authors of the entire 1970's? Is this The Two Towers that forced a generation of gritics to admit that, yes, a book could be quality literature and entertaining at the same time? Is this The Two Towers sprung from the literary genius of Tolkien, whose towering imagination was fed by all that has been good in Western civilization, from Beowulf to the Bible to the heroism of Britain and the Allies in World War II? Answers: A) No. B) No. C) No. Peter Jackson is pretty much doing for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings what Sherman did for the South. He continues his ravaging of this milestone of human imagination, begun in LOTR 1 The Fellowship of the Ring, in his second installment The Two Towers. A lot of folks over the years have been telling us that artistic inspiration and ... just simply don't mix. If there was ever any doubt, The Two Towers sweeps it away in a flood of aesthetically senseless plot tinkerings that serve only to give Liv Tyler some much-coveted face time that Tolkien's story wouldn't have given her. Aragorn is given a dream sequence with Liv that makes him look like he isn't man enough to sit on the throne in his own bathroom, let alone the throne of Gondor. And then the poor guy has to go wounded and MIA so that Liv can come to his side and kiss the boo-boos and make them better in an out-of-body experience sort of way. [...] Tolkien's mighty tree-folk come out looking like they are made of balsa wood. But [Dominic] Monaghan gets to deliver a sermon on inter-species unity that would have done Captain Kirk proud. Jackson expands on his portrait of Saruman as polluter extraordinaire. The White Wizard watches his his orcs tear down oak trees and gleefully exclaims, "Living things will fall to the forges of industry!" Geez, we don't need Gandalf here. We need Ted Turner's "Captain Planet"! One thing The Two Towers has done for me is help me better appreciate the subtlety in Tolkien's masterpiece. Jackson's comparative clumsiness most strongly shows itself in his treatment of Gollum. Tolkien's Gollum was sort of an Everyman with a penchant for super-fresh sushi. Tolkien was able to evoke simultaneously both Frodo's pity for the poor creature and Sam's disgust at the twisted little vermin. I don't know if any movie crew could transfer this dialectic to the silver screen, but Jackson apparently didn't even think it worth trying. Seizing on the proclivity Tolkien gave Gollum for talking to himself, Jackson decides Gollum is a victim of -- ... -- Multiple Personality Disorder courtesy the Power of the Ring. This is a terribly important misstep, because fundamental to Tolkien's story is the idea that the Ring has power over men, hobbits, whoever, only to the extent that it can call out to the greed, power lust, fear, or whatever that is already inside them. Tolkien's Gollum is a magnification of the human condition. Jackson's Gollum just needs a good dose of prozac. There were more than a couple of places where Jackson could have avoided overkill just by MAKING THE CONFOUNDED MOVIE THE WAY TOLKIEN WROTE IT!!! Jackson's most egregious transgression here comes when Nameless Character A (avoiding a spoiler here) has come under Saruman's influence and Nameless Character B is going to set things straight. In Tolkien's book, Character B fixes the problem by essentially taking Character A out to the woodshed. But no, that's not good enough for Jackson. He has decided that what Tolkien should have done was give us a full-fledged exorcism. "Come out of him, Saruman!" "If I go, he dies!" "You will not hurt him and you will not hurt me! Come out!" "Gyaaahhhh!" Why didn't Jackson just finish the job and put in a couple of head spins and a gallon of green lost lunch? Other "improvements" include Orcs riding big, nasty warf rats. And Elf Legolas shooting arrows as he SKATEBOARDS DOWN A STAIRWAY!!! It's the stuff that the D&Ders want to see, but it rips the ozone layer away from the atmosphere that Tolkien created. Why, oh why, does Peter Jackson need to "improve" on Tolkien? Look Pete, on the one hand we have you: capable director. On the other hand, we have J.R.R.: out-and-out literary genius. Capable. Genius. Capable. Genius. Which one of the two of you should be improving on the other? There are alot of fantasy fans who will love this movie and will think I am crazy for being so derogatory. I'll try to explain myself: Think about it, folks. The Lord of the Rings is still going strong after pert near fifty years. How much thought have you given to any of the fantasy serials that you were reading just three years ago? Doesn't that make you think that there was maybe some "magick" in it that your other little entertainments just don't have? In The Lord of the Rings you have yourself a bag full of diamonds. Don't treat it like a hackey sack! --This text refers to the DVD edition
Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME MOVIE!!!!
Review: A lot of people complain that the movie had some completely unnecessary departures from the book it was based on. And I certainly agree that many if not all of those departures were unnecessary and very annoying, since the Director has essentially chosen to change the story line as he sees fit, rather than preserving the work as the Author had originally written it. But despite the validity of all of these arguments, the bottom line is that this movie is still so much better than the average movie that comes out these days that it clearly deserves all five stars. If you liked the first Lord of the Rings movie, do not miss out on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie All Things Considered
Review: This was a good movie considering the fact that there were only 3 hours to work with. With the depth and complexity of the encompasing mythology of Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings story itself, it would be impossible to fit every detail into the film. I have issues with some of the omissions as well as what I consider bad writing (more in The Two Towers than in The Fellowship of the Ring) such as the Ents. Otherwise It was pretty good, and at times truely excelent (such as Gandalf's battle with the Balrog). For the Tolkien purists such as myself all we can do is wait for someone to break the story up into the six parts that are present in the books, which should hopefully allow for the story to be told in all of its intended splendor. That being said, I am glad that this movie exists and hopefully it has inspired people who have not read the books to pick them up to see what the movie is based on (and why there are people such as myself who have valid issues with some of the liberties taken in making the films).
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait until August 26th
Review: Yes, I'll buy this DVD on August 26th. When November arrives, I'll buy the extended version. I'll see Return of the King on December 17th. I've seen the Two Towers four or five times in the theaters, the same for Fellowship of the Ring. And yes I've read the Lord of the Rings trilogy many times, since first reading it in the 1970's. Everyone in my family has read the trilogy except my 8 year old. And no, I'm not a purist. And no, I'm not complaining about what Peter Jackson--the director--did or didn't do in the making of this film. I'm simply glad that he did. I never thought that in my lifetime (past 50), I'd live to see Lord of the Rings brought to film in a way that would do it justice. I figured at best another animated movie. Or someone would try to cram the whole trilogy in one film, or at most two films, leaving out half the story. Or they'd film part of the story, then IF it was successful, film another part, a la Star Wars (meaning the characters would either age or be replaced as the tale unfolded--a bit disconcerting when the entire tale is told and watched consecutively at home on DVD later). Do I need to tell you about this DVD? If you haven't seen Fellowship of the Ring, rent or buy that first, because the Two Towers is the middle book of Tolkien's story (voted best literary accomplishment of the 20th century) and therefore has no real beginning or end, the story concluding with the Dec 17th release of the movie Return of the King. What you will see is an epic story, with epic battles, fought in a glorious land (filmed in New Zealand and each frame digitally enhanced), with characters and peoples with a rich culture and history. Part of Tolkien's genius was that he created separate languages, alphabets, architectures and cultures for elves, dwarves, men, wizards, orcs and so forth. And director Peter Jackson's attention to the detail is such, that you sense and see rich history and culture behind every character and scene you see. At times it's overwhelming. I don't think you can say this movie is better or worse than the first in the trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring. I personally liked the Fellowship slightly better (a bit more pastoral and musical), my teenagers liked the Two Towers slightly better (a bit more action and a grander scale). In any event, it's all part of the same story, and by August of 2004 both you and I will finally be able to sit down and watch the entire epic unfold on DVD all at one time.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely fabulous
Review: When I went to see this movie, I was skeptical, being not a big fan of the first Lord of the Rings installment and never having read the books, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, that's an understatement. I was blown away by the action, the acting, and most of all, the amount of effort everyone working on the movie had put into it. The battle of Helms Deep is spectacular, the cast is great (especially the intensely sexy Viggo Mortensen), but the animation is amazing. Gollum is just wonderful, he's my favourite character, and the ents are quite good. I can't say enough complimentary things about this movie, it's just something you have to see for yourself. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see something mind-blowingly exciting but not too intense.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Movies In The ENTIRE World!
Review: the Lord Of The Rings triloigy (that how you spell it??) is the best series of movies in the world!! the 2 towers has the amazing battle of helm's deep ( very gory and wonderful) and contines Frodo's and Sam's journey to mordor. the fellowship of the ring and this are wonderful in the extended versions w/ TONS of extra stuff and many more extended and new scenes. also in the two towers you meet another woman charceter (FINALLY) Eowyn (i think i spelled that wrongs to) plus many of the chareters devolpe more, like Legolas, my hottie hottie, who smiles many more times ( heaven at last) and does 2 amazing stunts i completely LOVE LOVE LOVE Legolas and Orlando Bloom all the way and they are SUCH HOTTIES!! THEY RULE ALL!!
Rating:
Summary: they did it again!
Review: Peter Jackson is a great director and this is an awesome film about the battle for Middle Earth! The effects are awesome and even though it's wicked long, it was still great! Remember, this is the second part of a trilogy so we have one more movie to go. See it now!
Rating: 
Summary: Aure entuluva and lets hope it gets better
Review: Three books were given to Peter Jackson under good intentions
Seven months was all he needed
Nine hours to watch
But we were all of us deceived
In the hills of New Zealand
In the wetter studios
The dark lord Jackson
Made in secret a different film
Filled with his variation and greed Ok so maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but I think I have good right. I for one choose to read the books before I turned 18, and so I did. I even tried my hand at the Silmarillion (shudders). Ok so lets begin, the fellowship of the ring was released with great anticipation and I felt although a few things could have been different it was a good film and stayed at least close to the values of the book. The Two towers is different, very different. The greatest saving grace of the fellowship was Sean Beans fantastic portrayal of Boromir but of course he died, things did not look good. The opening almost saved the film as Gandalf slaying the Balrog was awesome but unfortunately it slowly dissolved into drivel, from the mysterious warg riders and Aragorns little swim which seems to have been added only to introduce a pitiful cameo by Arwen and it continues. I seem to recall the directors explaining things like Tom Bombadill was taken out of the first film due to time restrictions....so why have they added these parts in. Helms deep was little more than an outpost defended by approximately one hundred men the rest were killed by the wargs (shudders again oh and no women of course, they cant fight) I almost thought the film could have been saved by the appearance of the massed armies but the massively hyped massive engine was not really that impressive. Although I must admit that Gollum was well done, of cause the fact that the deep and ultimately valiant battle between Smeagol and Gollum turned into a joke session. Faramir? Why, why did they do that. I seem to recall he wasn't the embodiment of evil but hey what do I know. I could go into final thoughts but there is more, Gimly has taken on sort of Jar-Jar Binks character and is the subject of many short jokes. Although it seams that Legolas could take on the entire horde of Morgoth single handily. In one word - Hollywoodised. The tears began to fall when the elves turned up for no real reason other than the elves by nature are impressive. There I think I will stop, as I cannot bear to think about this atrocity any longer. At least the Fellowship was a good film, if you had read the books or not, I don't believe this one was. Ah well we can wait with baited breath for the Return of the King and the return of scathing reports. Only three things gave this film life in my eyes and that is why it gained two stars, firstly the opening, just like the opening of the fellowship it was grand and exhilarating this goes for the Ent fight also. Two - Haldir, fantastic at least Jackson is getting his death scenes. Three, wurmtounge what can I say the casting guys did get it right some times. (I have a sudden image of Arwen fighting along side the hobits at the gates of Gondor.) Dantanium I apologise for any spelling errors but I'm deeply angered.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! What An Incredible Movie!
Review: "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" easily ranks as one of my all time favorite movies along-side its fantastic prequel "Fellowship of the Ring". Like its prequel "The Two Towers" is a great adaptation of the author J.R.R. Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" book trilogy. This movie has wonderful visual effects, a fantastic music (score), spectacular acting, and a brilliant plot! The action, adventure, drama, and suspense "The Two Towers" has to offer are all incredible! "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" will be a spectacular DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Review: The first two installments of this movie were so well done. Although they did not exactly follow J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpieces, the essence of his story was there and probably comes as close as any movie can to following such an involved tale in a book. I was impressed with the care taken in the special effects to make Middle Earth come alive and all the actors were well-placed and believable. What great story-telling!! I highly recommend this series of movies for the whole family; although little ones might be frightened by the monsters.
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