Lord Of The Rings Two Towers Extended
Danny Hosford
Continuing the plot of the previous film, it intercuts three storylines: Frodo and Sam continue their journey toward Mordor to destroy the One Ring, now aided by Gollum, the ring's untrustworthy former bearer. Merry and Pippin escape their orc captors, meet Treebeard the Ent, and help to plan an attack on Isengard, the fortress of Saruman. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, in their pursuit, come to the war-torn nation of Rohan and are reunited with the resurrected Gandalf before fighting against the legions of the treacherous wizard Saruman at the Battle of Helm's Deep.
The Two Towers was financed and distributed by American studio New Line Cinema, but filmed and edited entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand, concurrently with the other two parts of the trilogy. It premiered on 5 December 2002 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and was then released on 18 December in the United States and on 19 December in New Zealand. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences, who considered it a landmark in filmmaking and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It received praise for its direction, action sequences, performances, musical score, and visual effects, particularly for Gollum. It grossed over $936 million worldwide during its original theatrical run, making it the highest-grossing film of 2002 and, at the time of its release, the third- highest-grossing film of all time behind Titanic and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.[4] Following subsequent re-releases, it has grossed $951 million.[3]
Like the other films in the trilogy, The Two Towers is widely recognised as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made as well as one of the greatest sequels in cinema history. The film received numerous accolades; at the 75th Academy Awards, it was nominated for six awards, including Best Picture, winning for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.
Awakening from a dream of Gandalf fighting the Balrog in Moria[a], Frodo Baggins finds himself, along with Samwise Gamgee, lost in the Emyn Muil near Mordor. They discover that they are being tracked by Gollum, a former bearer of the One Ring. Capturing Gollum, Frodo takes pity and allows him to guide them, reminding Sam that they need Gollum's help to infiltrate Mordor.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue a band of Uruk-hai to save their companions, Merry and Pippin, entering the kingdom of Rohan. The Uruk-hai are ambushed by a group of Rohirrim, allowing Merry and Pippin to escape into Fangorn Forest. Meeting Aragorn's group, the Rohirrim's leader omer explains that he and his men have been exiled by Rohan's king, Thoden, who is under the control of Saruman and his servant Grma Wormtongue. omer believes Merry and Pippin were killed during the raid but leaves the group with two horses. In Fangorn, Aragorn's group encounters Gandalf, who, after his fight against the Balrog was resurrected as Gandalf the White to help save Middle-earth.
Gandalf leads the trio to Rohan's capital, Edoras, where Gandalf frees Thoden from Saruman's control. Aragorn stops Thoden from executing Wormtongue, who flees. Learning of Saruman's plans to destroy Rohan with his Uruk-hai army, Thoden evacuates his citizens to the fortress of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep. Gandalf departs to find omer and his followers, hoping they will fight for their restored king. Aragorn befriends Thoden's niece, owyn, who becomes infatuated with him. When the refugees travelling to Helm's Deep are attacked by Saruman's Warg-riding Orcs, Aragorn falls from a cliff and is presumed dead. He is found by Thodred's horse Brego and rides to Helm's Deep, witnessing Saruman's army marching toward the fortress.
In Rivendell, Arwen is told by her father Elrond that Aragorn will not return. He reminds her that if she remains in Middle-earth, she will outlive Aragorn by thousands of years, and she reluctantly departs for Valinor. Elrond is contacted by Galadriel of Lothlrien, who convinces him that the Elves should honour their alliance to men, and they dispatch a company of Elves to Helm's Deep.
In Fangorn, Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard, an Ent. Convincing Treebeard that they are allies, they are brought to an Ent Council, where the Ents decide not to take part in the coming war. Pippin asks Treebeard to take them in the direction of Isengard, where they witness the deforestation caused by Saruman's war effort. Enraged, Treebeard and the Ents storm Isengard, trapping Saruman in his tower.
Aragorn arrives at Helm's Deep, warning Thoden of Saruman's army approaching. Thoden prepares for battle despite being vastly outnumbered. A company of Lothlorien Elves arrives to aid the people of Rohan, shortly before Saruman's army attacks the fortress. The Uruk-hai breach the outer wall with explosives and during the ensuing charge, kill the Elves' commander, Haldir. The defenders retreat into the keep, where Aragorn convinces Thoden to meet the Uruk-hai in one last charge. At dawn, as the defenders are overwhelmed, Gandalf and omer arrive with the Rohirrim, turning the tide of the battle. The surviving Uruk-hai flee into Fangorn Forest and are killed by the trees. Gandalf warns that Sauron will retaliate.
Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes to the Black Gate, but recommends they enter Mordor by another route. Frodo and Sam are captured by Rangers of Ithilien led by Faramir, younger brother of the late Boromir. Frodo helps Faramir catch Gollum to save him from being killed by the Rangers. Learning of the One Ring, Faramir takes his captives to Gondor to bring the Ring to his father Denethor. Passing through the besieged city of Osgiliath, Frodo tries to explain to Faramir the true nature of the Ring, and Sam explains that Boromir was driven mad by its power. A Nazgl nearly captures Frodo, who falls under the Ring's power, but Sam saves him and reminds a disheartened Frodo that they are fighting for the good still left in Middle-earth. Impressed by Frodo's resolve, Faramir releases them. Feeling betrayed by his capture, Gollum decides he will reclaim the Ring by leading Frodo to "her" upon arriving at Cirith Ungol.
In the Battle of Helm's Deep, Peter Jackson has a cameo appearance as one of the men on top of the gate, throwing a spear at the attacking Uruk-hai. His children and Elijah Wood's sister cameo as young refugees in the caves behind the Hornburg, and Alan Lee and Dan Hennah also cameo as soldiers preparing for the battle. The son of a producer's friend, Hamish Duncan, appears as a reluctant young Rohirrim warrior. Daniel Falconer has a cameo as an Elvish archer at the battle.[11]
Screenwriters did not originally script The Two Towers as its own film; The Lord of the Rings trilogy was initially written as a two-part series to be produced by Miramax, with parts of The Two Towers written as the conclusion to The Fellowship of the Ring.[12] The two films became a trilogy under New Line, and writers Jackson, Walsh and Boyens shuffled their scripts.
The most distinct difference from the book by J.R.R. Tolkien is its structure. Tolkien's The Two Towers is split into two parts, opening with the war in Rohan, and concluding with focus on the journey of Frodo and Sam. The film omits the book's opening, Boromir's death, which was used as a linear climax at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. Where the book ends with the Fellowship going to Isengard and Frodo's confrontation with Shelob, the film climaxes with the Battle of Helm's Deep, leaving the aforementioned scenes for the film adaptation of The Return of the King. This was done partly to fit more closely the timeline indicated by the book.
In the film, Thoden is possessed by Saruman, whereas in the book he is depicted as depressed and deluded by Wormtongue. Afterwards, in the film, Thoden is still unsure of what to do, and flees to Helm's Deep. In the book he rides out to war, only ending up besieged when he considers helping Erkenbrand. Erkenbrand does not exist in the films: his character is combined with omer as the Rohirrim general who arrives with Gandalf at the film's end. omer himself is present during the entire battle in the book.
On the way to Helm's Deep, the refugees from Edoras are attacked by Wargs, similar to a scene in The Fellowship of the Ring where the Fellowship battles a group of Wargs. Here, a new subplot is created where Aragorn falls over a cliff, and is assumed to be dead; Jackson stated that he added it to create tension.[13] This scene also resonates with a new subplot regarding Arwen, where she decides to leave Middle-earth after losing hope in the long-term possibilities of her love. In the book, Arwen's role is primarily recorded in the Appendices, and she is never depicted as considering such an act.
A larger change was originally planned: Arwen and Elrond would visit Galadriel, and Arwen would accompany an army of Elves to Helm's Deep to fight alongside Aragorn. During shooting, the script changed, both from writers coming up with better ideas to portray the romance between Aragorn and Arwen, as well as poor fan reaction.[14][15] The new scene of Arwen leaving for the West was created, and the conversation scene remains, edited to be a flashback to a conversation between them in Rivendell, on the evening before the Fellowship's departure.[14] A conversation between Elrond and Galadriel in Lothlrien was edited to be a telepathic one.[16] Nonetheless, one major change (already filmed) remained that could not be reversed: the Elven warriors fighting at Helm's Deep, although Jackson and Boyens found this romantic and stirring and a reference to how, in the Appendices of The Return of the King, Galadriel and the Elves of Lothlrien, and Thranduil of Mirkwood were first attacked by an army out of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood, and then later counter-attacked and assaulted the fortress itself.[14]
Another change is the fact Treebeard does not immediately decide to go to war. This adds to the tension, and Boyens describes it as making Merry and Pippin "more than luggage".[13] Here, the Hobbits show Treebeard what Saruman has done to the forest, prompting his decision to act. Another structural change is that the Hobbits meet Gandalf the White early on, explaining why the Hobbits do not react to his return when they meet him again following Isengard's destruction. This was explained in the book by Gandalf arriving at Isengard in the middle of the night to talk to Treebeard.
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