The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron's new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers:

J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay),

Stars:

Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen

Top 250 #20 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 76 wins & 82 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Allpress	...	Aldor
Sean Astin	...	Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee
John Bach	...	Madril
Sala Baker	...	Man Flesh Uruk
Cate Blanchett	...	Galadriel
Orlando Bloom	...	Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd	...	Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
Jed Brophy	...	Sharku / Snaga
Sam Comery	...	Éothain
Brad Dourif	...	Grima Wormtongue
Calum Gittins	...	Haleth
Bernard Hill	...	Theoden
Bruce Hopkins	...	Gamling
Paris Howe Strewe	...	Théodred - Prince of Rohan
Christopher Lee	...	Saruman the White

Storyline

Sauron's forces increase. His allies grow. The Ringwraiths return in an even more frightening form. Saruman's army of Uruk Hai is ready to launch an assault against Aragorn and the people of Rohan. Yet, the Fellowship is broken and Boromir is dead. For the little hope that is left, Frodo and Sam march on into Mordor, unprotected. A number of new allies join with Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Pippin and Merry. And they must defend Rohan and attack Isengard. Yet, while all this is going on, Sauron's troops mass toward the City of Gondor, for the War of the Ring is about to begin.

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Plot Keywords:

ring | army | hope | wizard | king | 

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Taglines:

The Journey Continues December 18th

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Aurum [Spain] New Line Cinema

Country:

USA New Zealand

Language:

English Sindarin Old English

Release Date:

18 December 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Two Towers

Filming Locations:

Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$94,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,706,046 (Japan) (21 February 2003)

Gross:

$49,935,319 (Europe) (19 December 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

179 min 223 min (special extended edition) 235 min (extended edition)

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For one shot where Gollum is crawling and splashing down a river after a fish, Andy Serkis was actually in the water. It had been snowing the previous night, and the snow had melted, but the water was still freezing cold. Peter Jackson was worried that Serkis would forget about the cliff due to the cold and would fall off so he put two crew members near the edge to stop him in the event that he got too close.

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Goofs

When Legolas shoots the rope of one of the big ladders, the previous shot has already shown the ladder to be past straight vertical position. The ladder should continue it's arc towards the wall, but instead it falls back.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gandalf: You cannot pass!
Frodo: Gandalf!
Gandalf: I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Go back to the shadow. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun! You shall not pass!
Galadriel: The power of the enemy is growing. Sauron will use his puppet Saruman to destroy the people of Rohan. Isengard has been unleashed. The Eye of Sauron now turns to Gondor, the last free kingdom of men. His war on this country will come swiftly. He senses the Ring is close. The strength of the Ringbearer ...

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Crazy Credits

"Cute Rohan Refugee Children . . . . . . . . Billy Jackson and Katie Jackson" (Peter Jackson's son and daughter)

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Connections

Referenced in Edición Especial Coleccionista: ¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Evenstar"
Music by Howard Shore
Lyrics by Fran Walsh
Performed by Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano

User Reviews

My precious...

Seriously, I never thought a movie could get better than the Fellowship of the Ring, but it did. This movie should be #1 on the IMDb top 250. This movie, as long as it was, captivated me from start to finish, and those who are not entertained by this movie can not be entertained period.

Yes, I have read the book. Any chapters cut out at the end of books III and IV will probably themselves in the next installment. If you haven't noticed, the beginning of the Two Towers was actually closed the Fellowship of the Ring on the big screen.

Gollum was a CG masterpiece. He added some light to this incredibly dark movie. At the same time, there are areas where you feel sorry for the poor guy, or just want to kill him. Smeagol was probably the most diverse character I've ever seen.

Elijah Wood put on a better performance than he did in the first movie, as did Sean Astin. Ian McKellen, who captivated us in the last movie, captivated us even more in this one. Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, and Orlando Bloom made a great trio. They laughed together, cried together, prospered together, and suffered together. This trio gave life to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. Eowyn expressed her emotions clearly through Miranda Otto.

The music need not be discussed. Its greatness speaks for itself.

Favorite Scene: The Battle of Helms Deep. Possibly the greatest scene in the book, 50% of the trailer, and action packed climax to this beautiful movie.

The movie, like its predecessor, fails to bring us closure, but that's ok. Closure will come next year. I look forward to the Return of the King.

The Two Towers is now my favorite movie of all time.

The scale is broken. 10 is not a capacity sufficient enough to hold this movie... my movie... my... precious...