When I bought this movie it was several months before the extended 4 disc version of the movie came out – I was (and still am) very annoyed that they introduced two versions of the DVD, but as I don’t generally look at the DVD extras it wasn’t a major problem for me. For once I did look at the DVD extras and have added comments on them below my main opinion. It was a rainy weekend, and I revisited the movie, so I though why not view the extras for a change!

The main differences between the 4 DVD and the version I am reviewing:
-The 4 DVD version has an extended directors cut with 30 additional minute – I am yet to see this!
-3 of the DVDs are extras – I struggle with just one extra DVD, why on earth would I put myself through the added hassle of 2 more DVDs – personally I’m not a huge fan of ‘extras’ and feel that the additional cost does not merit – generally I would only view the extras once!. Anyway, on to the review

This movie follows on from the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. I advise that you read opinions on this movie prior to reading this opinion – I have assumed you are familiar with the characters and plotlines and understand that the ‘Fellowship’ essentially broke up in the last movie. I made a conscious decision to assume this as you wouldn’t understand the movie as a standalone movie anyways.



After watching the first movie, the anticipation and hype for the second movie intensified. My initial worry was that it is almost impossible to follow up a decent movie with a sequel that is as good, especially when it’s the middle movie of a trilogy.

As I started to watch The Two Towers my initial worries were gone; the same imagery was very prevalent and I instantly found myself transformed back into the realm of Middle Earth. While there was a year between the movies, it was interesting that I managed to settle back in so quickly. I point out here that as this is a middle movie in a series that is interlinked, it is advised that you watch the first movie – a lot of what happens in the first movie is very important, and the second movie simply will not make sense.

Yet again Peter Jackson has transformed the magical world of Tolkien into a beautiful and amazing on-screen rendition. With sets that continue to take my breath away, with their sheer beauty and vision, the atmosphere created is amazing. What amazes me is that the visions I had as a child while I read the book were very similar to Peter Jackson’s vision – it was very evident that he is a huge fan of the books.

Luckily for the viewer, not only is Jackson a huge fan, but he has a vision that requires nothing less than perfection. His combination of superior special effects, with the atmospheric scenery combines well with the mood captured in the narrative and action – perhaps the mood and atmosphere goes even beyond what Tolkien envisioned himself.

While the flow of the first movie was very good, I felt that The Two Towers didn’t quite have the same fluidity. With so much happening in the story I note even the book is confusing the first time you read it! Jackson split the plot into three distinct sub plots.

We firstly follow Frodo’s journey into Mordor with his dutiful friend Sam. We see an interesting interplay develop between Frodo and Gollum and see part of the power of the One Ring begin to change and envelop Frodo. While the plot line is interesting in parts, it really is minor in this movie, aside from showing us the sinister landscape of Mordor. I guess it is important as it builds the relationships between the trio, as Sam mistrusts Gollum, yet Frodo somehow begins to have much pity for him. Potentially this could have been left out, but if you view all three movies together then this probably is justified in being in the second movie.

Secondly we follow Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they pursue Merry and Pippin. During the end of The Fellowship of the Rings, Merry and Pippin are captured by a band of Orcs and Goblins who intend to take them to their master. This section of the movie is very good as not only does it show the evil of the orcs and the desperation of the plight of Merry and Pippin, but it also shows the strange camaraderie that is building between the three followers – I note that the book delves more into this friendship than the movie does. This plot is full of darkness and yet also has an underlying humor to it.

And then you have a character that re-appears…..Skip this if you don’t want to know. At the end of The Fellowship of the Rings, Gandalf disappears into a crevice while fighting a dangerous Balrog. Now if you’ve seen the trailers, you know that Gandlaf is back – but the movie goes on to explain what happens and how Gandalf is even more powerful. His nemesis Saruman is still a thorn in Gandalf’s side, but again this is not as a major character as in the books.

As we move through the movie we are introduced to many new characters. When I first read the book I actually found it difficult to follow all of the characters, and I feel that this will be the case for viewers who have not read the book. As we see Theoden, a king who is bewitched by one of Saruman’s underlings come into the story, his niece Eowyn becomes a major love interest for Aragorn, we find ourselves embroiled in intrigue and subterfuge. When I read the book I went over this section many times as it can get very confusing – I felt the movie did quite a good job of telling the plot, although I am not sure it captured all of the intrigue of the book quite right.

Again, the cast that is introduced in this movie is exceptional – each has somehow captured the essence of the book very well and I applaud the casting director. The performance of the main characters is much improved from the first movie (aside from Gandalf who was excellent throughout). I was far more convinced by Frodo and Sam this time – their friendship was visible, and as they progressed through Mordor, and the Ring began to infiltrate Frodo’s feelings, it was obvious from the performances that something was going on – this was very clever acting and direction. What was interesting was the way in which Frodo became darker as the movie continued – gone was the ‘twinkle’ from the first movie, replaced by a sinister burning darkness under the surface.
Perhaps the stand-out character for this movie was Gollum – with use of motion capture, Andy Serkis bought Gollum to life. While the CGI created Gollum, the skills of Serkis bought the movements and facial expressions to life adding a reality that was amazing to see. Serkis bought out the duality of Gollum’s character very well, and at time was very sinister.

I found myself both hating and pitying Gollum – while I knew what happens in the end, I still found myself drawn into the character and was pleasantly surprised by this. Gollum was almost portrayed as a ‘shadow’ – not only in the strict sense that he followed and stayed by Frodo’s side, but also as a shadow of the future – a glimpse into the evil of the ring.

As a stand-alone movie, the plots were intermingled and perhaps confusing – nothing really ends in this movie and this is a little strange – knowing that there is a third movie ahead makes things a little easier to bear, but I almost feel that Jackson may have been served by only doing two movies then again they would have bee 5 hour movies!.

I’m not sure if Jackson quite manages to find the right balance for this movie, and perhaps would have been interested if they had released the second and third movie together. Saying that, with the character building going on, and the pure mythical atmosphere I didn’t find myself being bored and overall I was satisfied with the movie.

Like in the first movie, the ending is very abrupt – but this sets up the final movie well! Visually the movie is stunning, the imagery and the ‘realness’ of the world is very compelling and makes you look forward to the final movie.

Parts of the movie perhaps lacked some of the Jackson magic- I was particularly uninspired by the whole encounter with the Ents – for me this was a magical part of the books and one I was looking forward to – the movie didn’t do a bad job of this, but I felt that a lot of the feeling and emotion of the book was lost amongst the animation and atmosphere. The interaction between Treebeard, Merry and Pippin seemed forced and lacked ‘something’. I felt that Jackson only included this section to explain some of the events that happened later in the movie.

However, having criticized the movie in several ways, the culminating battle at Helm’s Deep was amazing. The movie brings out the sheer desperation of the battle and really shows the daunting challenge that faces our heroes. The sheer audacity and scale of the battle is amazing and while there is obvious use of CGI, the overall feel is one of a tumultuous battle, not one conjured up by computer geeks.

Jackson has yet again excelled over all, showing a love for the world he creates from the book, and a love of ‘perfection’. While I feel the first movie is a little better perhaps due to a more fluid plot, this movie was a very close second – the entire package was excellent form the reality of the world, to the atmospheric sound and music – the darkness is more evident in the movie and we cleverly see the atmosphere change from some of the optimism and happiness of the first movie into a desperation and struggle.

This is a must have for any movie collection and will sit together well with the other two movies in the series.


The extras

I don’t usually look at the extras, but I thought I’d make a few notes about them this time. Firstly, the video and sound options are pretty good – the movie is most impressive on widescreen with surround sound I note that my HD DVD player – now obsolete – does a great job of up-scaling the movie to enar HD DVD quality


The main extras consist of a behind the scenes documentary that was actually fairly interesting. It has a lot of clips of the movies interspersed with some interviews. There’s a 45 minute extra that summarizes the plot – not sure why they would give this to you though – didn’t you just watch the movie!!?? There is a theatrical trailer – hmmm I always wonder why they give you a trailer to the movie you just bought! Perhaps the best DVD extras are the featurettes – these are very insightful and give a lot of interesting background on the cultures and characters of the movie. Then there’s a music video….ummm…OK…and then a short story by Sean Astin – now what has this got to do with anything….and then there’s a 10 minute trailer to the final movie…WOW….perhaps the only really interesting extra on the DVD.

There are a couple of others – including a preview of the extended DVD – I didn’t watch this out of principal!

Overall, I still feel that DVD extras are a little pointless…but I guess others like them!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older