h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Two Towers (2002) - Film Review - A890462
Author: Madent - U183102

Following on from my review of the first installnent, please read a review of the Two Towers.

Again I've tried to be as fair as possible and have highlighted some of the larger departures from the original text.

I apologise in advance if I respond to comments late. This is not because I am ignoring them. It is because I haven't read them yet.

Hope you all enjoy the film.

I have to agree with you on the points about Faramir and Osgiliath in the film as opposed to the book. I always liked the scene where Faramir had the ring in his grasp but turned away at the last moment and simply lamented his brother's caving in before him, I thought that it contributed to the sense that there was still hope inthe world of men. Jackson also skated over the fact that Faramir was influenced by Gandalf in his youth and that resulted in the friction between himself and his father (also probably the reason he ended up stuck on the doorstep of Mordor while Boromir went riding off to Rivendell).

A good review of a fantastic film.

Thought this was a really good review. Just saw one typo

"even though the come from Lothlorien "
they came?

Gollum stole the show for me and showed more character development than most of the other stars.


SallyM

Thanks Sally. Typo corrected.

I like the article
Just one point really, didn't Jackson change the story so that Frodo and Sam get attacked by a big spider thing in the ROTK instead of in the TT, as happened in the book?
Actually.... I'm not entirely sure this is right, it's been a while since I read the books, you see.
Still, good entry.
Oberon2001

Brave - but fair.

Quite right Oberon. A tough call on that one, as I don't really think it is a change. He did a similar sort of thing by including Boromir's death in FOTR, which should properly be in TTT.

He said in some interview that he didn't want the end of TTT to be flicking between Helm's Deep, Isengard and the Spider thing, all with fights going on. Quite right too, would've been confusing.
Maybe include a little bit about, just to explain that in order to make the denoument (or however you spell it!) more simple, Jackson shifted Frodo and Sam's bit with the spider to the beginning of TROTK.
Oberon2001

Ok, just read the summary of TTT in TROTK (anyone who has read the books should know what this means, there was always a synopsis of the last book at the beginning of the next) and here's what I think you should add to the entry under Variations from the book -
"At the end of TTT Frodo and Sam fight Shelob, a spider type creature, after Smeagol-Gollum betrays them. In the film trilogy, this has been moved to the beginning of the third film, due to the fact that otherwise the fight's at Isengard, Helm's Deep and Shelob's lair (err.... shurly shome mistake?) would've needed to be shown simultaneously. Very confusing to an audience."
Hope this helps.
Oberon2001

How about this at the end of the variations bit:

"Finally, the film finished some distance short of the book ending. Missing were Frodo and Sam's battle with Shelob, Frodo's capture and Gandalf's arrival at Minas Tirith (with Pippin in tow)."

Yeah, sounds better to me.
Oberon2001

There doesn't seem to be much info on the production side to the film.

The creation of Gollum from CG is a major achievement as arguably it's the first time a CG creature has been created with such expression and lifelike appearance (although Yoda in Star Wars II was CG, he wasn't in that film as much as Gollum is in this). I heard it said that the team were hoping to get a nomination for Gollum for Best Supporting Actor in the Academy Awards.

I'm not a real LOTR fan, so forgive me for not knowing the names of the charactres, but the creepy man who works for Christpher Lee who kept the King under a spell is played by Brad Dourif, one of America's best creepy actors. First seen in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' he went on to appear in (amongst others) David Lynch's 'Dune' and 'Blue Velvet', was the single scariest person ever as Patient X in 'The Exorcist III' and was the voice of Chucky the killer doll in the 'Child's Play' movies.

The only other major addition to the cast (in terms of status as an actor) is Bernard Hill, who was the Captain of the ill-fated ship in 'Titanic', and the grumpy husband of 'Shirley Valentine', but for British viewers is more famous as the psychotic Yozzer Hughes in Alan Bleasdale's TV drama 'Boys from the Blackstuff'. Superb makeup on him, wasn't it? Barely recognisable for most of his early scenes.

Jimster

I've reworked the middle section a little.

How's that Jimster?

I this review, and agree with most of it.

I would like to see some mention of the effort involved in creating the assault on Helm's Deep. There were WEEKS of night-time filming, and the CGI of thousands of orcs necessitated all-new software.

But that's just me. Good article.

Again, I don't know the names of all the characters, but something a well-informed friend told me was that most of the scenes with Liv Tyler (the flashbacks with um, Viggo Mortensen) were shot only last summer, after the studio insisted her role in the movie be increased as she was the biggest American name in the cast (all down to marketing). Funny, because those were the scenes that I felt really made the film drag. They had to rebuilt the sets from scratch as they'd all been demolished after the principal phography on the movies had wrapped 18 months ago.

Holy Flucking schnit!
The studios were responsible for those scenes! Clastards!
You're right, they really did drag.
Oberon2001

I was like, oh that must be the end of the film then. The wrapping up of the storyline for people who didn't get it. Was very glad when it was over and the story started again.

SallyM

I can't ing well see it!

Could someone please be so kind as to tell be the name of the distributing company or any other likely information that'll help me to find out when TTT actually arrives in China?

a most distraught Jack

I'm not sure who distributes for China, but the company behind the film is New Line Cinema and they distribute to America and the UK, but not everywhere. Who distributed Austen Powers in China?

Peter Jackson left the attack of Shelob out of this film because he didn't want to be flitting between Helm's Deep, Isenguard and Shelob's Lair? So instead we flit between the first two locations and the city of Osgiliath in an invented scene where the good natured and wise Faramir has dragged Frodo and Sam miles away from Mordor and Mount Doom?

How is this any less confusing to the audience? It also casts Faramir in a negative light as Frodo has to somehow prove to him that the ring is neagtive rather than him coming to that conclusion himself as a result of the teachings he recieved in his youth from Gandalf.