Rating: 
Summary: Rebuttal to a Rebuttal of purists
Review: First I would like to say that this was an excellent movie. Yes, there are differences from the book. As someone who loved the books, I was originally put off by the differences in the movie, but after watching the DVD a few times, I realized that my objection wasn't to the differences in how the movie flowed, but in how the producers seemed to view the audience. Both Faramir and Treebeard initially make decisions inconsistent with the book till a few scenes later where they switch their decisions back. I assume this was done for impact to the audience as Treebeard (being a shepherd of the forest) would have been aware of the destruction to the trees beforehand (as he did in the book) and Faramir - had he truly been under the influence of the ring and been in its presence long enough to travel to Osgiliath, would certainly have not released Frodo. Both of these seemed to be changed for the visual impact to the audience though it somewhat falls short in Faramir's case IMO. Adding the Elves to Helms Deep also seemed unnecessary as the same result could have been obtained by adding (as was in the book) more Riders. Last and probably worst for me was the twisting of the Elrond/Arwen role to that of a 14 year old girl vs. her father (presumably for the 14 year old girls in the audience). No aspect of that was in the books as both Elrond and Arwen knew their duties to themselves and others. In todays time of self-indulgence, however, maybe this would have been completely lost on the audience.People have said that it would have been a 15 hour movie to be true to the book, but these scenes actually added to the length unnecessarily IMO. I do not believe that attendence or sales of the film would have been hurt had those scenes been done more true to the book, but I am not a producer. All of that having been said, these things make up just a small portion of the movie. So much of the movie IS true to the spirit and letter of the book that it is more than worth the 5 stars I gave it. I am looking forward to seeing the extended scenes from the Two Towers as well as the Return of the King later this year.
Rating:
Summary: As good as the first time!!!
Review: Golum made my skin crawl. What a tormented soul! I'm in love with Aragorn. Who wouldn't be? Fantastic battle scenes. It was as good as The Fellowship of the Ring. Can't wait for the third installment! I know this review is short but, hey, everyone else has gone on and on about this film. All I have to say is: WATCH IT!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent sequel!
Review: One of the few sequels to truly live up to the original... and more. While there's not enough room to have more of what Tolkein wrote about in the novel present in this film, there's always the big extended version of the film to look forward to. But in its 3-hour theatrical form, it is really intense from start to finish! Looking forward to "The Return of the King"!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but story goes needlessly astray at times
Review: After seeing the FOTR, which was nearly flawless in my opinion, I eagerly looked forward to 'The Two Towers'. After all, since the entire trilogy was filmed all at once, how could TTT go wrong when FOTR was so right? But unfortunately, it seems that Peter Jackson's team radically deviated from the book with mixed results. Many Tolkien purists decry the change in Faramir's character, but Frodo and Sam's encounter with Faramir as written in the book probably would not have translated as well onto film. The episode in Tolkien's book is rather talky, with Faramir interrogating the hobbits like a courtroom attorney in a trial. Having Faramir carrying off the hobbits and Gollum to Osgiliath adds more tension and conflict to the story and works better on film. Besides, when the Nazgul sees Frodo in Osgiliath with the ring, it naturally leads Sauron to believe that the ring is being taken to Minas Tirith, thus encouraging his attack on the city. Another alteration to the story that Tolkien purists hate is having Haldir and a contingent of elves fight at Helm's Deep. Personally, I thought the idea was rather novel, but as other critics have pointed out, how could the elves have traversed the distance from Lorien to Helm's Deep ahead of the Uruk-hai when Isengard is much closer to Rohan? Hopefully, Peter Jackson will address this in his commentary on the forthcoming TTT:Extended Edition dvd. With regard to the Ents, it does seem illogical on the face of it for Treebeard to suddenly want to attack Saruman after seeing the damage his orcs have wreaked on Fangorn forest when Treebeard was already aware that this was happening. But as with the changes to Faramir, having the Ents quietly deliberate among themselves and deciding to go to war would not have the same dramatic impact on the screen. The changes from the book that do bother me is the exorcism performed on Theoden by Gandalf, as well as Theoden's behavior afterwards. For all of its flaws, the animated version of LOTR was truer to the book with regard to the Rohan portion of the story, and it worked much better, whereas this part of the film in TTT was somewhat muddled. For this reason, I give TTT 4 stars instead of the five I gave for FOTR. The digital creation of Gollum works very well in TTT, in spite of the fact that Gollum does not look 100% real, Andy Serkis does a great job in creating a character that you can't help but feel for. On the other hand, the Nazgul in TTT do not seem all that scary. We see Faramir's soldiers cringe from them in fear, but they do not do anything apart from flying around on their winged dragons and screeching. In the books, the terror they instill is palpably felt by those around them, which is hard to convey on film. Hopefully we will get to see them in action in ROTK. Viggo Mortenson's Aragorn is slowly beginning to accept his destiny as the heir of Isildur, with him taking a commanding role in the Helm's Deep battle. The friendship between Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf grows stronger, and while Gimli becomes something of a comic relief in TTT, John Rhys-Davies still makes him a likeable character. In TTT, we also see the ring beginning to take its toll on Frodo, and his identification with Gollum's plight puts him at odds with his faithful friend Sam. TTT is a visually stunning film, and the Helm's Deep battle, while perhaps a little too long, is truly awesome. The New Zealand landscape works to great effect in the movie, with the snowcapped peaks a sight to behold. Howard Shore also has created another excellent score, as he did in FOTR, and I play the TTT soundtrack on my CD player constantly. But I am holding out for the extended dvd in November. There will be flashback scenes with Faramir, Boromir and Denethor that will help put Faramir's actions with Frodo into context, plus I am sure a lot of people want to hear Peter Jackson's commentary explaining why he made the changes that infuriated so many Tolkien fans. But if you are happy with the theatrical version of the film and don't want to sit through hours snd hours of documentary about how everything in the film was created and how the cast became such great buddies, then this two disc set is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Magic in a DVD Case!
Review: For those of you who read my reviews on a regular basis, you may remember last years review of "The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring". You may also know that even though I saw the film in the theatre, I wanted for the DVD release so I could reveiw both the movie and discuss the DVD special features. An even better film then the first, "The Two Towers" begins where the first movie left off. Hobbits Frodo and Sam have left the Fellowship of went off to destroy The Ring of Power in the evil land of Mordor on their own. Met by a pervious owner of the ring, Smeagel, stuck with the evil Gollum, Frodo and Sam make him lead them to Mordor and the enterance known as the Black Gates. The second group of the broken Fellowship has been captured by a group of Orcs, creatures hunting to retrieve the Ring of Power and give to the good turned bad wizard Saurmen the White, working for Lord Sauren. Merry and Pippin, both hobbits, escape from the Orcs during battle and meet Treebeard, a giant talking tree who befriends them and leads them to the other trees to figure out what to do with the two hobbits. The third and second most important group of the Fellowship, head to the grand gates of King Theoden. Theoden has been possessed by his evil second Wormtouge who is in league with Saurmen. After saving the king and banishing Wormtouge from the kingdom, they head to Helm's Deep to prepare for battle with the Orc army. Fans of "The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring" will not be disappointed with part two. Whoever thought that the first movie ended too fast and wanted more will be angry. Part two ends with a more dire cliffhanger where someone is led into danger. More engaging and entertaining then the first, it also has become a DVD that you can't miss. This lavish 2 disc set has the actual two towers on the discs. Saurmen's tower on disc one with Saurens tower on disc two. Disc one is the movie in Dolby Digital with no specials. Disc two is complety special features and special they are. The in depth programs on this version are On the Set:The Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers and Return to Middle-earth. Very infomative and interesting these programs gave me more infomation on the background of the film. There are also eight making of featurette's created for www.lordoftherings.net. Not as many as on the first DVD they are still interesting.Trailers and television commericals are a small part of the video along with Emilliano Torrini's "Gollum's Song" music video. The spotlight are the three special sneak peeks. The first is an inside look at the extended edition version of this movie. Forty extra minutes are included already in the movie with a new musical score by Howard Shore. There is also a peek at the new video game "The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King" leading into the final peek. A ten minute preview of "The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King" which is the third installment in the seris. To sum it up "The Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers" is on my list of one of the greatest movies ever made. So those of you looking for it in the stores, just find the maroon colored sides in fullscreen or widescreen versions of the movie. I am looking forward to the third and final installment in the seris this December. Lord of the Rings's fans who read my review of the first movie and now this, I'll see you in a year for my review of the movie and the DVD of "The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King." ENJOY! Rated PG-13 for Epic Battle Sequences and Some Scary Images.
Rating:
Summary: A devout purist and proud of it!
Review: Listen, "Carl Haas", if that IS your real name, it's not Pippen, it's Pippin. An "i", not an "e". How can I trust anything you say after seeing such a glaring error? I've read the trilogy twice a day ever since the day I was born (I'm listening to the book-on-tape version as I write this), and if I say the movie's a failure, then it's a no-good stinking failure! Where was Tom Bombadil in the first movie? Where, I ask you? He was essential to the story, what with the happy jumping and singing! The Barrow-wights? NOT THERE EITHER! I soiled myself with rage and urine when the Two Towers ended with no Shelob scene! I wish Peter Jackson was here right now so I could relieve myself on his shoes. I think that if a successful movie version is to be made, it should follow the book EXACTLY, with every boring bit of dialogue from every minor character spewing out their boring family history for pages and pages and pages. It should be at least 150 hours long with no breaks, and be shown only on airline planes that have been painted bright green, if they want to try to capture a mere sliver of what Tolkien was trying to convey through his works.
Rating:
Summary: The Best DVD This Year
Review: I had to buy this movie as soon as it came out. Besides the film being one of the greatest movies ever made, the special features help to complete the package. You have to buy this DVD to see the footage about The Return of the King!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Legolas is hot!!!!!!
Review: HEy if youu have seen the first lord of the rings you will love the new one!!!!! Legolas(Orlando Bloom)is awesome!!! Theres some creepy parts in it but it rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is the best movie exept pirates of the caribbean with will turner as (Orlando Bloom)This movie rrrrrooooooooooooocccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkssssssssssssssss!!
Rating:
Summary: You got to love it!
Review: I assume you have read the books or at a minimum seen the first video. J.R.R. Tolkien's second book of the LOTR series, "The Two Towers" would never fit in a three hour movie. Having said, that I love this DVD!
The sweeping vistas of New Zealand are magnificent. The cinematography is breathtaking. The special effects are solid and unobtrusive. In fact they are so seamless that you find yourself completely taken in. One of my favorites special effects is that of Legolas (the elf) moounting a galloping horse. The computer generated battle scenes are completely believable and realistic!
The score for this video is a bit below the quality of "Fellowship of the Ring" but didn't detract from the overall presentation. The music seems further in the background, perhaps "muted".
Detail, costumes and sets are great. I was specially delighted by the director's presentation of the "magical" characters. The characters in general ae superbly acted, the performances flawless. I really liked the touch of "elvish" in the love scenes between Aragorn and Arween, it adds an ephimeral quality.
The only reason I didn't give this DVD a five star rating is that it is not as engaging as it could be. I'm really hoping the extended version will live up to the extended version of the "Fellowship" and smooth out some of the story line gaps.
A great DVD. You will wonder where the three hours went!
Rating:
Summary: Legends are made of this
Review: This DVD bring to life a world only existing in the author's imagination. I hated the books .. but loved the movie and DVDs. This is so imaginative.. so legendary.. that only viewing it over and over can do it justice. The golem, a sorry, multi-personality creature steals this serial. The speach by Sam .. about believing that there must be something good worth standing up and fighting for . something decent in this world.. watch it..learn from it..Bobby Foresta
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