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Here we go! The second movie in this epic trilogy is here! "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" is the second installment in the  film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy. The story continues the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring as they face various  challenges and dangers in the land of Middle-earth. The film explores  the separate journeys of Frodo and Sam, the conflict at Helm's Deep, and  the growing darkness threatening the realm.

THIS REACTION CONTAINS SPOILERS: Since I am comparing the book to this film, my reaction contains spoilers about things that haven't yet happened. Please be aware of that if this is your first time watching this movie. You may want to watch it first and then watch this with me. 

Watched on: YouTube / Runtime: 3:55:20 (This movie is currently available on HBO Max) 

Files

The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers - Extended Version (Full Reaction)

Comments

MertzRocks

First, another wonderful reaction Jax! <3 This will not be as long as my TFotR full-length reaction comment, I promise! TTT is my favorite of the three movies indeed (as it seems to be with so many others here), and Book 3 (of the 6 'Book's) is my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings (The Departure of Boromir to The Palantir). I think overall The Two Towers is also my favorite of the three 'Volumes' of The LotR, with The Fellowship... a VERY close second. Now to my notes (only 3 pages this time! LOL) - Fun fact: Before Legolas says, "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!" He mistakenly gives the direction they went as NORTHEAST. BZZZZ WRONG, LEGOLAS! Northwest would be toward Fangorn, NorthEAST would take them back to the Great River and if crossed, thence to Dol Guldur! D'ohh!! - Yes, Saruman IS comparing himself to Sauron. He is the same type of being (a Maia (angel) of the Vala (god) Aule (pronounced OWL-ee)), though Sauron entered Melkor's (Morgoth's) ranks well before even the Two Trees of Valinor were created by the Valar. Saruman can only hope to best Sauron if he gets The One Ring for himself but his foolish thinking has him believing he WILL. Bzzzz! WRONG! - The Man swearing to Saruman was from Dunland. No scene is in the book but it is said that the Dunlendings swore to serve Saruman to make Rohan 'pay' for 'taking their lands'. SOME truth to that... - Ofc Patrick mentioned Viggo's toe, though I think it was two toes. - The Fangorn scenes were all shot in a soundstage with an intricate forest set built inside. Actors and crew often had a time finding their way out LOL. Many other forest scenes were done on location; they just couldn't find the 'right' forest to portray as Fangorn. Fun fact: Fangorn means Treebeard in Sindarin (Elvish). - When we first hear Gandalf and it sounds like Saruman, it's just a clever combination of Chris' voice with Ian's. - Shadowfax is silver grey in the book, not white. He would be nearly invisible by night in the wild. IDK whose idea it was but the 'hero on the white horse' idea is hard to shake I guess. - The DVD extra 'The Taming of Smeagol' is worth every moment to watch. It shows a lot of Andy Serkis' work and shows how he was SOOO much more than just a voice actor! His reaction to realizing what his role meant to the story, his physicality on sets and locations and more are shown herein. I recommend you watch it b4 the 3rd movie. - 'Old Man Willow' from the Old Forest chapter of TFotR got moved to TTT and Treebeard got to say Bombadil's lines to free Merry and Pippin. - The views of Edoras with the mountains behind is all REAL New Zealand! The hill is called Mount Sunday and they got permission to build on it! Any filming they did on location was plagued by high winds but they managed some movie magic there. - I love the design of Theoden's sword too. Many fans do. - The 5-petaled flowers on the grave mounds, Simbelmyne (pronounce Simble-Myrna) is another great example of Tolkien's world-building. He made up new types of flowers and trees besides new languages and cultures for his fantastic world. - I'm a poet and don'cha know it. The only horses to die were all CGI. - True that Aragorn did not go over a cliff in the book, just another bit of license from the moviemakers. A little continuity error has Brego's rope removed at the stable only to reappear on the horse when he rescues Aragorn (but only the extended ver. has the stable scene). - Grima (Wormtongue) perhaps cried bc he began to regret his role against his homeland when he saw Saruman had such a huge army. - In the scene between Elrond and Arwen there is a really cool little tapestry of the Two Trees of Valinor. I want one :D - Someone might help me with this because I don't know WHY staying with Aragorn automatically means she chooses mortality. I guess it would be considered 'cheating' (?) in a way to marry, have A's kid(s) and then go to Valinor once he dies. That's my guess. Maybe Manwe said, "I don't THINK so... Valar don't PLAY dat!" LOL :D - Where Frodo and Sam were captured is NOT Orc territory, it is still very much part of Gondor called Ithilien. Both Faramir and Boromir were Rangers of Ithilien. - The whole Faramir story arc has been covered enough. For the movie, I agree with it, as wrong as it 'feels'. Sam even gives a nod to the changes by saying, "By rights we shouldn't even be here." - The other big change was Haldir leading a force of Elves to Helm's Deep. I've heard there were huge applause in theaters even by purists when this scene unfolded. It also served to set up the 'one epic death' scene that the producers felt each movie should have, so we have Boromir, Haldir and (spoilers!). - You were clutching Lamby so hard a few times, and then you said something about it looking like a game just as (I SWEAR) I said out loud, "Why not set up some goal posts or something?" :D - Patrick Egan mentioned 'Gollum's Song' sung by Emiliana Torrini. It's short and hauntingly good. I never skip it. I like it even more than 'Into the West' sung by Annie Lennox. Well that wasn't MUCH shorter than the last one, but a bit... Looking forward to your reaction to TRotK. ;* <3

Kiera

Just getting around to this marathon of a movie and had a few comments of my own to throw into the mix! Frodo and Sam being taken to Osgiliath did not happen in the books. I can't recall if Peter Jackson ever gave a reason for it but if I had to guess, it was to both introduce the ruined city now for viewers to have some reference (as it shows up in the third movie for a few scenes) and to add more tension to the movie. Jackson does this several times in all three movies! I'm no book purist though and understand the need to deviate from source material from time to time. Secondly, Theoden's decision to movie what forces he can muster to Helms Deep is a sound decision that the movie frames as a poor one, again for "tension". Helms Deep is a fortress that sits astride the only route to both Edoras and Gondor. Saruman has to take the fortress to protect his supply lines (orcs do need to eat) and Theodan's best choice, while the rest of his Rohirrim gathers, is to defend it. I could nerd about it a lot more but suffice to say, Gandalf's advice to "ride out and meet them" would have been a disaster. Finally, I laugh every time Aragon swings Haleth's sword around and calls it good. That sword looks more like it was just dug up from bog than something supposedly kept in good condition at an iconic fortress.