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David Poland Loves The Two Towers
The Hot Button ^ | December 4, 2002 | David Poland

Posted on 12/05/2002 1:18:58 AM PST by maquiladora

What’s wrong with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?

Well, to quote my 13-year-old nephew, “It wasn’t long enough!”

It’s only 2 hours 59 minutes. And that’s not enough time to explain why it’s called The Two Towers. I assume that it is a reference to Sauron’s tower and Saruman’s tower…yeah? Is that right? Beats me.

And I don’t really care.

The Two Towers proves that the Lord of the Rings series will probably stand as the greatest fantasy film trilogy of all time. It’s got all the making-kids-read benefits of Harry Potter, the strong characters of Star Wars and the visual singularity of The Matrix series that’s going to play out next year. It has it all.

Writing about this movie right now is a little weird. After all, so many people have read the books that spoilers aren’t true spoilers. Nonetheless, I’m not that interested in taking you through the story… that’s what the movie is for.

In many ways, The Two Towers is a classic middle movie. It jumps right into major league action from the first frames. And it leaves you ready for the big wrap up. But the idea that it is a “middle movie” devalues it in a way that is unfair.

As with the first film, a second viewing enhanced the glories of the film and settled my issues with some of the differences from the first film that I wasn’t quite as happy about the first time around. For instance, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett are barely in this film… just barely. And I didn’t get nearly enough Gandalf for my tastes. Also, the fellowship’s split at the end of the first film continues here, so instead of having one story, you have three. Yet, on second viewing, it didn’t bother me as much.

The upside of the split is that it opens the door to new characters. For me, the greatest invention of The Two Towers is a fully participating Smeagal/Gollum. Like last year, Harry Potter and LOTR put their flags in some similar territory. There was a troll in Potter last year and then the cave troll in Ring blew it out of the water. Likewise, this year we have Dobbie in Chamber of Secrets, a CG character that is truly remarkable. And then you have Smeagal, who blows Dobbie right out of the proverbial water. Smeagal lives and breathes and has hair and skin and slightly over-sized eyes, but damned if you can’t imagine a CG human being in a few years that doesn’t look like it stepped out of a comic book.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin meet up with an anthropomorphized creature who starts as a quiet presence, but who becomes a big part of the film’s emotional grounding by the end.

And Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli get the lion’s share of screen time in this film. The fate of human kind is in their hands. Lending them more than a hand are Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto and a wondrously evil Brad Dourif, who slithers through his role as Wormtongue. This trio joins in the defense of Rohan, which leads them to Helm’s Deep.

There isn’t a lot more I really want to say about this film. It is a near-perfect piece of filmmaking. The map is, obviously, strong. And the work from Peter Jackson and his team is not only flawless, it is breaking through new barriers for the second year in a row.

We’ll talk more about the details as the film gets closer. But I’ll leave you with this… The Two Towers will disappoint no one. It is a great ride. And I can’t wait – though I will have to – for Return of the King. You can hear the heart beating already.


TOPICS: TV/Movies; The Hobbit Hole
KEYWORDS: lordoftherings; twotowers

1 posted on 12/05/2002 1:18:58 AM PST by maquiladora
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To: HairOfTheDog; 300winmag; 2Jedismom; blackbart1; carton253; Corin Stormhands; DonnerT; ecurbh; ...
Ring Ping!
2 posted on 12/05/2002 1:20:06 AM PST by maquiladora
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To: maquiladora
Deja Vu all over again. This is exactly how FOTR started off.
3 posted on 12/05/2002 2:21:59 AM PST by paul544
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To: maquiladora
"It is a near-perfect piece of filmmaking."

This dude's just rubbin' it in, ain't he?! He don't even know what the Two Towers are, but he gets to watch it a coupla weeks before me...Life Ain't Fair!!

Thanks fer the ping, my FRiend...MUD

4 posted on 12/05/2002 2:37:35 AM PST by Mudboy Slim
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To: 2Jedismom; Alkhin; Anitius Severinus Boethius; AUsome Joy; austinTparty; Bear_in_RoseBear; ...

Ring Ping!!

5 posted on 12/05/2002 5:10:09 AM PST by ecurbh
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To: maquiladora
Wow, these reviews are so incredible. Seems like everyone is raving about The Two Towers! I'm so glad that Gollum and Treebeard are getting great reviews so far. I can't wait to see this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6 posted on 12/05/2002 7:48:58 AM PST by Reborn
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To: maquiladora
I believe the two towers are Orthanc (Saruman's tower) and the white tower of Gondore. Is this correct?
7 posted on 12/05/2002 12:05:01 PM PST by doomhamur
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To: doomhamur
No, you aren't correct. Many are wrong about which two towers are referred to, because there are so many towers it could be in the story, and Tolkien predicted that.

Tolkien's Two Towers are actually Orthanc and Cirith Ungul, the watchtower where Frodo ends up at the end of this segment. Tolkien was against splitting the story into three parts, and didn't like the name. He thought it would be confusing, but the publisher insisted.

And PJ has it wrong too. In the early trailers, the towers were identified as Orthanc (Saruman) and Barad-Dur (Sauron)... We shall see if they corrected it or not. I am sure many fans wrote in about the error.

8 posted on 12/05/2002 12:16:07 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
We shall see if they corrected it or not. I am sure many fans wrote in about the error.

I think in the movie, Orthanc and Barad-dur are the Towers. A non-Tolkien-freak is just not going to understand at all about Cirith Ungol. They have enough trouble with the other two.

9 posted on 12/05/2002 4:45:28 PM PST by Restorer
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To: Restorer
You may be right about that... And there would be no consequence if they left it that way. (Of course, I grew up thinking that way, so it feels right)
10 posted on 12/05/2002 6:26:19 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Restorer; All
If Shelob's Lair has been moved to RotK, as rumors suggest, then perhaps the Orthanc/Barad-dur interpretation isn't so inappropriate for PJ's movie. Our fair heroes won't get to Cirith Ungol until the next installment.
11 posted on 12/08/2002 5:21:54 PM PST by Lil'freeper
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