What The Two Towers Means to Us
Unlike the first film, I knew exactly what I was in for when I went to see The Two Towers. Jackson’s epic fantasy had captured my heart with the first film, and I knew I’d follow him wherever he went – fidelity to the books or not. (Yeah, I do miss Tom Bombadil, but it’s okay.) The Two Towers was almost everything I wanted it to be. Epic battles between Orcs and Men and Elves. Treebeard. The Rohirim. Gandalf the White. Wormtongue. Helm’s Deep. The battle at Isengard. If I had to pick one thing that jumped out at me in that first viewing, though, it was Gollum. Andy Serkis delivered an amazing performance, one that made a CGI character feel real and essential in a way that hadn’t been done before. And he made me sympathetic towards the twisted, broken creature – something neither the books nor the previous adaptations had managed. I understood, finally, why Frodo spared him and allowed him to be their guide. That hope – that redemption is possible, even for those who have fallen the lowest – is at the heart of Frodo’s character. Even though Sam is the real hero of the tale, if you ask me. And yeah, I did miss Shelob (and was waiting with both anticipation and horror for her appearance), but again – it’s okay. She was waiting for me in the next installment.
–Bob Cram Jr.
After only experiencing the phenomenon of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on DVD, I was properly initiated as full-fledged LOTR fan for the theatrical release of The Two Towers. It was a monumental theater going experience for me; one that could not be satisfied with just one viewing. It also wasn’t enough to forcibly drag my parents (and parents of my friends) to the theater for multiple viewings. Once it was ready for home viewing, The Two Towers DVD put in overtime in the family DVD player. In particular, I remember obsessively rewatching the battle of Helms Deep sequences to the point where I could re-choreograph entire fights from it in the living room. The Two Towers took everything I loved about the wondrous world building of The Fellowship of the Ring and expanded it beyond my imagination. It remains one of my favorite movies to revisit – and yes, I’m still an absolute sucker for the Helm’s Deep scenes.
–Raf Stitt
Making Magic
Sequels are tricky things; second movies in trilogy are even trickier. Will it live up to the hype of its predecessor? Will it build upon the relationship we have with these characters and this world or completely ruin it? Will it leave us breathlessly anticipating the final installment or vowing never to see it? When done right, the 2nd movie in a trilogy can be absolute magic. With The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Peter Jackson gives us magic.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a massive undertaking, with The Two Towers filmed simultaneously with Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King between October 1999 and December 2000. I can’t imagine what kind of mind it takes to coordinate that kind of madness, but the results can’t be argued with. As the highest-grossing film of 2002, The Two Towers brought in $936.7 million worldwide. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning two — Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.
When the movie was released, I was a sophomore in college. My best friend drove in from 2.5 hours away so we could see the midnight showing. We were running late, and although we had tickets, there were seemingly no seats to be found when we entered the theater. Not to be deterred by something as ridiculous as a cushion, we plopped down on the stairs and watched, enthralled, for the next 2 hours and 59 minutes. We regretted nothing.
The Fellowship Endures
While the end of Fellowship of the Ring saw two members of the group fallen and the rest split up, the bonds among them all remain strong in Two Towers. Frodo and Sam keep each other going even in the bleakest of places; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli race to try to rescue the captured hobbits; meanwhile, Merry and Pippin manage to inspire an army of tree men to take down Saruman.
Other alliances are forged as the groups make their separate ways towards their destinies, but these bonds remain the strongest. The love and friendship shared among these characters runs deep, and the actors do a tremendous job of showing it in little ways throughout all of the movies.
The Real MVP: New Zealand
While the New Zealand setting is used throughout the trilogy, I think it’s worth mentioning at every opportunity how beautifully the country’s many varied landscapes complement the stories of our heroes. There’s much to be lost in translating any written work to film, but I think the richness of Tolkien’s settings are well represented in the sprawling sequences of The Two Towers.
The barren rocky crags of the Emyn Muil, which so succinctly reflect the onset of hopelessness in Frodo and Sam’s journey. The dark and brooding Fangorn Forest, where quiet depths hold powerful ancient forces. The sweeping plains and rolling hills of Rohan, where pristine beauty is bespoiled by Saruman’s henchmen. The fetid Dead Marshes, where shallow swamps hold the dead from wars long past. They all feel authentic and make it so easy for the viewer to feel transported to Middle Earth.
Gandalf’s Triumphant Return
The Rohan storyline in The Two Towers contains almost all of my favorite moments from the trilogy, including Gandalf’s gloriously dramatic return. Sir Ian McKellen is a gift that we mere mortals do not deserve and we should be thankful for every moment he allows us to witness his magnificence on a screen. So even though I’d read the books and knew Gandalf would be back, it was still a thrilling moment.
Soon after, we are treated to another of my favorite scenes. As Gandalf and company enter to meet King Théoden, he dismisses Grima Wormtongue with a poetic smackdown:
Be silent. Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I did not pass through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm.
As he strides into the room, raising his staff to purge Saruman from the king, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli casually beat the hell out of the guards who rush to stop him. It’s magnificent.
‘And So It Begins’
As the Battle of Helm’s Deep draws near, a massive sea of 10,000 Uruk-hai bang their spears and growl their battle cries. Our fellowship, men of Rohan, and a company of elves watch and wait. The cacophony builds, seemingly endlessly, as the tension mounts. Finally, a lone arrow slices through the dark and the rain, dropping one of the Uruks and causing stillness and silence. Then all hell breaks loose.
Helm’s Deep was a massive undertaking. Hundreds of extras, four months of filming, long nights in rain-soaked gear, injuries abound. For nearly 40 minutes of The Two Towers, the battle of Helm’s Deep rages. More than 20 years later, it is still among the most impressive, spectacular battle scenes ever put to film.
In addition to the wide sweeping shots that showcase unimaginably realistic CGI effects, we are treated to so many smaller but no less engaging moments among our fellowship and the people of Rohan. Humorous ones, like Legolas and Gimli’s back and forth taunting of how many Uruk-hai they’ve killed, and Gimli telling Aragorn to toss him onto the bridge (“Don’t tell the elf!” cracks me up every time). But also heartbreaking ones, such as the young boys and old men pulled from their loved ones to join the fight, and Aragorn watching helplessly as Haldir falls.
And finally, Aragorn and Théoden leading a suicide charge as the horn of Helm Hammerhand echoes through the valley and the sun glints over the horizon, where Gandalf arrives with reinforcements.
Chills. Every. Single. Time.
The Lonely Road to Mordor
Elijah Wood and Sean Astin are great. I love them both as actors and have since long before they became Frodo and Sam. And they play their roles well. But their story is the hardest part of The Two Towers to get through for me. It’s just so bleak. And of course, it’s supposed to be. It’s a trip to Mordor, after all.
While the rest of the fellowship is fighting the good fight, these two are doing the truly hard work of trudging through the wastes with a murderous Gollum as their guide. It’s brutal to watch the ring slowly taking Frodo, as Sam does his best to protect him and keep them moving forward.
What I do love is watching Sam continuing to develop into the hero we all need him to be. As the ringbearer, Frodo is destined to be destroyed mentally, physically and emotionally. He needed the purest of souls to carry him through his journey.
In the ruins of Osgiliath, as scenes of their friends’ triumphs at Helm’s Deep and Isengard flash by, the music swells, and Sam delivers a speech to inspire Frodo in a moment of darkness and despair. A speech so heartfelt and poignant that Gollum is touched — at least for a moment, and Faramir is moved to release the hobbits to continue their journey to destroy the ring. A speech about heroes and stories. About why we go on fighting even when we can see no hope. And I can think of no better way to close this out than to encourage you to listen again (or for the first time, if for some strange reason you’ve read this whole thing and have never seen the movie).
Got a favorite scene, quote or character from The Two Towers? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!