The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Full Screen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Don't make the mistake of buying the Fullscreen cut
Review: The fullscreen version of The Two Towers is poorly edited. At one point Frodo and Sam look off to Mordor and all your see is half of a cape and empty landscape. Do yourself a favor and get the Widescreen/Letterbox version. My TV is only 15" but I won't settle for less than best.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but something was missing...
Review: Until I saw the preview for the Special Extended Edition. These things that were added almost make the way that Merry and Pippin "trick" the Ents forgivable. There seemed to be a missing quality here in this movie, like we weren't seeing what it really was. It just moved too fast with too little tie-in material, and from the looks of the longer edition, they've finally put together the movie that should have hit theaters. I hope that they run the extended editions in the theaters prior to the release of "Return of the King" instead of the original theatrical releases. With the extra material from these, it makes the movies tie together better and doesn't give it the jumbled, hurried pace that it seems to have.

Rating:
Summary: The Second Installment
Review: First of all, I would like to say that whoever said that "The Lord of The Rings" is too much like "Willow" should probably condsider what "Willow" is based off of. There I said it. Anyway, here is my overall thoughts on the movie

Pros:
*Incredible acting and special effects.
*Good sound editing.
*Sticks well to the book.
*Very addicting.
Cons (most of the problems that I had with the movie were techinical):
*When Pippin is about to be crushed by the horse, how is it the he has bonds on before and after but not during.
*How did that orc survive? (the one that was chasing Mary and Pippin into Fangorn forrest)
Overall: Very good movie. It did have a few problems with it but what movie doesn't?

Rating:
Summary: Extended is coming, but I want this version, too!!!
Review: I've read Tolkien for the past 30 years--I'm a huge fan. I am incredibly pleased with Peter Jackson's treatment of the material in these amazing films. This is not only a momentous event in film-making history (shooting three films at once, with that many locations, extras, sets, miniatures, special effects, props, optical effects, etc.), but the majesty and timelessness of the story comes through extremely well. This is an instant classic--something that generations will talk about.

I think I enjoyed this second part even more than the first. With "The Fellowship of the Ring" we are introduced to the world, the characters, the society, and the story--but the character development and interaction which is necessary for us to be deeply involved has not had enough screen time... yet! The Two Towers continues with this epic tale, cutting back and forth in an editing tour de force which keeps the pace quick and yet keeps the stories and characters and scenes unjumbled and clear. We meet more charaters and creatures, and also get to know the personalities of the scattered members of the Fellowship as they begin to face greater and greater trials--which test their characters, heart and soul.

I saw the film in the theatres numerous times, and was always moved and in awe--of the event depicted and the breath-taking beauty of the New Zealand landscape that makes an appropriate backdrop for a story set when the world was young and great matters of heroism and treachery put the fate of entire civilizations and races in the balance. So it was well worth it to me to spend money on a copy of the Theatrical version.

I will also purchase the Extended version, and eagery await the added wonders it will offer. In this situation, it is purely win-win!!!

Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Ever
Review: After seeing the "Fellowship" I though, this is the best movie ever. I knew they would have to kick some butt in order to make the "Two Towers" even better, and they did. I just hope "Return of the King" suprpasses them all.

Rating:
Summary: Classic!
Review: Can't wait for the extended version later this fall and then on to the "Return of the King" which will garner the series it's 3rd Best Picture nomination.
Awesome stuff. "Purists"(aka "psychos")be damned.

Rating:
Summary: Sappy, confusing, poorly edited
Review: Hopefully the extended edition will go miles to improve this poorly edited, sappy, confusing film. The Two Towers picks up right where Fellowship of the Ring ended and seemingly rushes to the ending credits as fast it can, leaving any sense of poignancy or emotion in the dust. Sure, there's lot's of sappy close-ups of terrified children and lovelorn faces -- but it means nothing because there was no time for anything resembling development. Perhaps there is no finer example of this false emotion than the "heroic" death of Haldir. He is supposed to represent an alliance that men and elves once shared, thus rendering his death tragic. But he is nothing in these films. His lines were few, his presense weak. Why should I care? Indeed, even Helms Deep suffers from this lack of resonance. It's eye-candy, to be sure, but where is the gut-wrenching mood? Where is the suspense??? Of course the disasterous idea to cut back and forth between the Ents and the battle does't help. Then there is the ridiculous, time wasting "death" of Aragorn. You've got to be kidding. It's so cheap and it merely distracts. We should have had more interaction between Sam, Frodo, and Gollum. But no. King Theoden's cheezball possession/exorcism sequence only begs questions. The FX, widely praised, are not so much terrible as they just look, well, unfinished. The wargs are a perfect example. The Ents come across as cartoonish, not majestic. And that was a mistake. Even Gollum is a hit and miss. Sometimes he works, sometimes he looks terrible. Combine all of this with a sloppy, underwhelming ending, and you have a vastly inferior film.

Rating:
Summary: what happened to the book?
Review: I saw this movie before I read The Lord of the Rings, and it was AMAZING!! I loved it. . .then I read the book. WHat was he thinking? Extra scenes (never in the book) characters were portrayed differently, Faramir and Boromir seemed to have reversed roles, all I can think, is how on earth will they fix all their changes for the third movie?

Rating:
Summary: It is really bad compared to "The Fellowship."
Review: I have the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books. I have them but I have never read them so I can't tell you if the movies are accurate or not. I can tell you, however, that I don't like the Two Towers movie. The book might be good but the movie sure isn't. I saw "The Fellowship of the Ring" and I loved it. I saw "The Two Towers" and I hated it. What the heck happened? The movie was just TOO dark in comparison to "The Fellowship" and none of the characters really seemed likable anymore. The acting was also really bad which is a shock if you consider how great it was in part one. Everyone just phoned in their performances. I was really looking forward to The Two Towers and I was really let down. There is only one good scene in the movie and that does not occur until the end of the film. The scene that I speak of is the "Samwise speech" scene. His words of advice are really great and they are what Frodo needs to hear in his darkest moment. This scene is really good and it is really touching to see friends work things out but it does not redeem this movie in any way.

I hope the book is better than the movie and I hope the next movie is better than this one. I also hope that we see less of Gollum. I have no idea why there are so many Gollum fans out there. Gollum is whiny and he is gross to look at it.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic piece of movie making
Review: I can see where some people have a problem with this film. Some of the events are inventions of the film makers and it isn't the perfect companion to the novel. But come on, this is an adaptation of a novel with such depth that it certainly appears to be impossible to translate, unchanged, to the big screen. I enjoy the film for what it is, a wonderfully emotional and engrossing tale, with very believable performances and top notch production values. It is in my opinion, the best middle part of a trilogy yet.