LOTR:Two Towers

[NEON MERCURY]

Yep.. Got to get them .. both.

[markums2k]

so buying both is like buying a mega box set for the film... that's how I"m choosing to look at it.

Why are you making me want to spend more money?  How can I resist a mega box set?  HOW??

[modage]

RUNDOWN OF NEW SCENES IN TWO TOWERS: EXTENDED EDITION
Source: The Digital Bits

Possible Spoilers...

This extended edition includes more than 43 minutes of new scenes and footage, added by director Peter Jackson just for this DVD release. As with the Fellowship extended cut, these new moments add tremendous depth and development to certain characters, give a greater sense of epic scope to the journey, provide wonderful new moments of humor and greatly enhance the intensity of the major battle scenes. Here's a detailed rundown of the new footage you can expect to see on this DVD:

A new opening scene, after Gandalf's fall in Moria, in which we see Sam and Frodo climbing down a rocky crevasse using the Elven rope (the title The Two Towers now appears at the start of this scene).

Sam and Frodo getting rained on in the mountains as Gollum watches from a cliff above them.

Gollum's good and bad selves fighting over whether or not to lead Sam and Frodo to Mordor.

The Orcs arguing about their orders, and Pippen asking them to give a wounded Merry some water.

More of Saruman the White overseeing the construction of his Orc army, including his ordering the destruction of Fangorn Forest to fuel his furnaces, as well as the Wildmen pledging allegiance to him.

More of the villages of Rohan being plundered by the Wildmen.

Éomer finding a mortally-wounded Théodred at the scene of a great battle with Saruman's Orcs.

More of Gríma Wormtongue banishing Éomer from Rohan.

More of the Orcs fighting over whether or not to eat Merry and Pippin, including the realization that they believe the two Hobbits are carrying the Ring.

Gollum complaining of his hunger in the Dead Marshes, eating a worm and playing on Frodo's knowledge of the Ring.

Leoglas talking about the trees in Fangorn Forest, and how Elves first raised them into intelligent creatures long ago.

More of Gandalf the White's return in Fangorn, in which he talks about what's happening in Edoras and how, because of Merry and Pippin's arrival in the forest, the Ents are going to wake up and fight.

Treebeard reciting Ent poetry to Merry and Pippin, which puts them to sleep.

Gandalf telling Aragorn about events to come on the way to Edoras: "Sauron fears what you may become." Gandalf says Sauron doesn't suspect that the plan is to destroy The Ring rather than use it.

Merry and Pippin drinking a potion in Fangorn that causes them to grow, then getting trapped in the roots of a tree until Treebeard saves them.

Treebeard telling Merry and Pippin why there are so few Ents left.

Wormtongue spitting on Aragorn's outstretched hand before he escapes after being spared in Edoras.

Aragorn calming a horse named Brego in the stables of Edoras with Elvish talk, as Éowyn watches.

Saruman grumbling about Gandalf's reappearance, then learning of Aragorn's existence from Wormtongue.

King Théoden promising that they'll return to Edoras before leading his people to Helm's Deep.

More of Faramir capturing Frodo and Sam.

Aragorn and Théoden talking about Éowyn on the road to Helm's Deep.

Aragorn and Éowyn talking about his great age over a bowl of bad stew.

Extended flashback moments of Aragorn and Arwen together in Rivendale.

More intense footage of the battle with the Warg Riders.

Éowyn checking on the meager food stores upon arrival at Helm's Deep.

More of Faramir telling Sam and Frodo of Boromir's death, and of finding the Horn of Gondor broken.

A major new flashback scene in which we see Boromir and Faramir after reclaiming Osgiliath for Gondor. We learn that their father, Denethor, disapproves of Faramir. Denethor tells Boromir about the meeting that's been called by Elrond in Rivendale - the Ring has been found. Denethor sends Boromir to the meeting, and orders him to bring the Ring back to Gondor to save their people.

Faramir's men beating Gollum before questioning.

Aragorn and Éowyn talking before the battle of Helm's Deep. Éowyn says she wants to fight at his side, and basically admits that she loves him.

More of the Ent council in the woods - it's already night, but the Ents have only just finished saying "Good morning" to each other.

Much more intense footage during the battle at Helm's Deep.

The trees of Fangorn Forest marching to Helm's Deep, to get revenge on the Orcs.

The Orcs fleeing Helm's Deep, only to be swallowed up by the trees which have blocked their escape.

A very funny moment between Legolas and Gimli in which they brag to each other about the number of Orcs they've each killed in the battle.

Merry and Pippin discovering a pantry filled with food after the battle at Isengard.

And finally, Faramir leading Frodo and Sam out of Osgiliath. Sam tells Faramir that he's finally shown his quality - the very best. Faramir threatens Gollum as to what will happen if the Hobbits come to harm. As they depart for Mordor, Sam is kind to Gollum for the first time, telling him that Frodo only meant to save him by letting Faramir's men take him prisoner.

[Banky]

great review on the new DVD


The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Edition
New Line Home Entertainment / 2002 / 214 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street date: November 18, 2003
Reviewed by Peter M. Bracke & Mike Restaino on November 12, 2003. (Bio / Equipment list)  
 

Let me start this review of the Expanded Edition of The Two Towers - with over 40 minutes of additional footage too hot for even Jerry Springer - by stating the obvious, a simple observation that already earned me a few hate mails. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is the stuff of George Lucas' dreams. It is what his three Star Wars prequels dreamed of being but ultimately failed to deliver: epic fantasy-adventure that redefined the possibilities of the genre. It has become more than just a movie but a phenomenon - universally beloved by audiences, critics and the Academy alike, the rare blockbuster that no one seems to dislike. The Lord of the RIngs has changed lives, ensured its place in the cultural vernacular and forever altered the course of modern moviemaking.

I don't say this to once again berate Lucas & Co.'s already much-maligned prequel trilogy, but rather to point out how lacking the overall state of fantasy filmmaking has become. Since the "golden era" of the late 70's and early 80's, when it seemed every season brought another classic adventure ready to unspool at a theater near you - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, E.T. - the last couple of decades have been anemic at best. While the advent of CGI has allowed for plenty of visual wonderment on the big screen - the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, the "morphing" of T2 - where's the magic? We've had to suffer through so much computer-generated dreck (sorry Jar Jar) that it is easy to forget that there once was a time when great fantasy was all about story, story, story. Our imaginations were fired by the simplest of tools - mere celluloid and latex - but that was enough. Now, even such seminal franchises as The Matrix seem more like effects demo reels than movies.

 

I won't bother to recap the plot of The Two Towers because everyone knows it already anyway. But I will venture a guess at what I think the secret is behind Peter Jackson's success (and something which J.K. Rowling is also aware of, if less consciously, with Harry Potter): at the heart of any grand adventure is a quest both massive in scope yet completely specific to a single protagonist. It has to be both incredibly intimate yet wholly universal, so that we can project ourselves into the world on the screen but also feel like we are privy to a universe we've never seen before. Jackson innately understands this, so much so that it feels effortless despite the obviously back-breaking effort that went into a production of this size and scope. Watch The Phantom Menace and bear witness to puppets walking in and out of rooms in long shot. Watch The Two Towers and get thrust right into a world so beautifully realized, so massive, so real, that it is an entity all unto its own.

I won't say that I find The Lord of the Rings perfect; I am still constantly distracted by CGI, even some of the best ever put on the screen, and occasionally the screenwriting suffers from being portentous and self-important. There not really a lot of humor here, but Jackson's complete commitment to Tolkien, the fans and the nobility of the quest is so admirable it is hard to criticize. Even if I am not the biggest Lord of the RIngs fan ever I am still rooting for Jackson to take home the gold come Oscar-time next year. He is the consummate director - if being a director means commanding large forces to realize a single, unifying vision - and Lord the Rings is the consummate fantasy adventure. Perhaps the greatest the cinema has yet seen. Godspeed.

 

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

I thought the previous two-disc theatrical cut of The Two Towers was just about reference-quality. This is even better. It is minted from a different source print, looks sharper and more detailed, boasts more accurate color reproduction and the integration of the new footage is seamless. And it is spread across two discs for a much higher bitrate.

Presented here in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, the source material is absolutely pristine. Blacks are rock solid and contrast excellent if still slightly harsh. Colors also vary but with purpose - various scenes look appropriately de-saturated, while others are vibrant and lush, especially the midnight blues and rich crimsons. But Jackson personally supervised this transfer, which varies slightly but significantly from the theatrical two-disc set - hues sometimes look a bit different which better reflect's Jackson's intentions. Fleshtones always remain accurate and colors never bleed, smear or appear ill-defined. Overall detail is excellent - even long-shots are sumptuous with fine textures apparent. Shadow delineation is also exemplary, with the darkest scenes still highly detailed and deep. Best of all is how even more film-like this transfer looks - it never suffers from any digital-ness, save for the hard contrast, nor any discernible haloing around sharp objects or compression artifacting. Reference quality.

 

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Even more than the transfer, both the Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS ES 6.1 soundtracks are an improvement over the previous DVD. The mixes improve not just because of the integration of the new footage, but because some music cues have been slightly altered and the changes are an improvement. he sense of stereo separation is excellent - dialogue is firmly anchored in the center channel and balanced accurately against all the effects and the surging score by Howard Shore. There's greater ambience, more refined imaging and the discrete effects more transparent and involving. And low end, especially during the "Helm's Deep" sequence, is a tad more forceful.

The DTS track is a cut above, although not a gargantuan leap. Frequency response is slightly fuller and imaging across all channels more transparent. Pans from front to back are exciting and subtle ambiance is increased. Most effective is all the deep, rumbling low end, which can be spectacular. The Two Towers definitely rocks. So ignore any inconsistencies and just enjoy.

Also included is an English Dolby 2.0 surround option plus English and subtitles and Closed Captions.

 
Director Peter Jackson

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

With last year's four-disc Expanded Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, New Line Home Entertainment, the production team of Kurtti/Pellerin and Peter Jackson made history. It was big. It was expansive. It took ten times as long to get through as the movie. And, in a pinch, it could kill Ms. Peacock in the Library instead of the lead pipe. Now, a year later - right on schedule - comes the Expanded Edition of the Two Towers. It takes no chances and doesn't divert from the formula. Why should it? If this isn't enough for you, you need to move to New Zealand, strap on some hairy hobbit feet and live your life out in a cave, because you are not going to get any closer to the world of Lord of the Rings than this.

The big news here (aside from the gazillion hours of supplemental material) is the expanded cut of the film. It runs 43 minutes longer and gives us more of the land of Middle-Earth. Like Fellowship, it is not about new effects or gigantic lost scenes but bits, pieces and extensions - characters are more fleshed out, scenes play out more dramatically and, I'm sure, diehard Ring-ites will breathlessly comb over very second for hidden meanings and deeper clues. (To what, I have no idea.) Highlights? More Gollum, Theodred's funeral at Edoras, an expanded scene of Faramir capturing Frodo and Sam, more Gollum, heightened intensity in the major battles, a nice scene between Gandalf and Aragorn, and, oh yeah, more Gollum.

 

So, let's begin with the extras, shall we? Like the first box set, the Two Towers also includes no less than four screen-specific audio commentaries. They are just as informative, exhausting and utterly engaging as before. It is a daunting task to sift through sixteen hours worth of commentary, but The Lord of the Rings, too much is not enough. "The Director and Writers" features the same line-up as last time - Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens – and their delivery and eloquence is similar. The particular difficulty in bringing a book like The Two Towers to the screen is the fact that it's the second act of a three-act play (and then some), so most of the focus here is about how to effectively compress, distill and "reimagine." Next we have "The Design Team," which almost features the the same roundup as last time: production designer Grant Major, creative supervisor Richard Taylor, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, supervising art director Dan Hennah, art department manager Chris Hennah, and workshop manager Tania Rodger (only costume designer Ngila Dickson remains on the missing list). There is a ton of information here, but this is about as a dry as a commentary can get. No one here is anything less than smart and fluent, but this is probably best left for completists only. "The Production/Post-Production Team" track is a bit better, but also suffers from some dry and overly-technical patches. Joining us on the journey is editor Mike Horton, additional editor Jabez Olssen, visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, producer Barrie Osborne, executive producer Mark Ordesky, director of photography Andrew Lesnie, co-producer Rick Porras, composer Howard Shore, visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, animation designer Randy Cook, supervising sound editors Ethan van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins, VFX art director Christian Rivers, VFX cinematographer Brian Vant Hul, and miniatures director of photography Alex Funk. Yikes! Fun little factoids touched upon include everything from location difficulties to creating forced perspective to finding violin strings. And like "The Design Team" track is a bit tough to get through in one lump sum. Last but not least is "The Cast," which is, not surprisingly, the most fun. Everybody returns this time around plus a bevy of new voices: Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, John Noble, Craig Parker, and Andy Serkis join old-timers Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee and Sean Bean for a jovial good time. No one is anything less than reverent but it is a refreshing change from the uber-technical other tracks. These guys all seem out to have nothing more than a good time and give thanks and praise to the master, Peter Jackson. unlike their more technically-oriented commentary mates, these guys seem more out to have a good time than define pi.

 

Next we have the remaining two discs, which all is of course a behemoth. After a teasing two-minute introduction by Jackson, we get thirty minutes with the man behind this whole thing with J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth, which investigates less the biographical history of the author and more his societal and political motivations for writing The Lord of the Rings. Then comes the 21-minute "From Book to Script: Finding the Story," a smart breakdown of what had to be sacrificed from The Two Towers on its way from script to screen. Next up are two lengthy design segments: "Designing and Building Middle-Earth" and "Weta Workshop." Both run about 45 minutes and are almost painfully in-depth. Each are like blueprints for how to conceptualize, plan out, construct and polish a world as fantastical as Middle-Earth. Then comes my favorite doc on the first disc, "Gollum" (40 minutes). This is a wonderful and candid look by the marvelous work the artists and technicians did to bring Andy Serkis' extraordinary performance to life. Amazing...and eat your heart out, Jar-Jar.

Disc one also includes a ton of design galleries, including a look at The People of Middle-Earth, The Realms of Middle-Earth and a Gollum Design Gallery, plus even more animation references that allow for comparisons between the pre-CGI Gollum and the real deal, and a hilarious look at co-producer Rick Porras' turn as a Gollum's stand-in, complete with ridiculous white pajamas and terrible timing. Hilarious. And don't forget the Middle-Earth Atlas, which traces the journeys of the fellowship across Tolkien's painstakingly realized geography. Then we have 15 minutes worth of New Zealand as Middle-Earth, a location scout's view of the picturesque country. Wonder how big of a boost New Zealand's tourist trade has gotten since Lord of the Rings?

 

Elijah Wood – excuse me, Frodo – kicks off disc two with a new introduction, then we go full boar with Filming The Two Towers. This one is divided into a featurette and a documentary: Warriors of the Third Age (21 minutes), and Cameras in Middle-Earth (68 minutes), the latter of which is particularly extensive. "Warriors" follows the actors as they make their way through this mammoth production, and there is a lot of great goofy banter and jokey moments. But "Cameras" is the real mind-blower: shooting three epic films back-to-back is about as close to insanity as you can get, and watching this dedicated troop jump through hoops is fascinating, exciting, scary and often moving. We then move on to the "Visual Effects" section, which is a bit less dramatic: a 21-minute chronicle on the art of the miniature (some which are pretty massive) called - ta-da! - Big-atures. Weta Digital runs 27-minutes and gives us some spit and polish on fine-tweaking The Two Towers for release. Next: Editorial: Refining the Story (22 minutes) felt a little too perfunctory, but does illuminate the nightmare of condensing 400+ pages of fantasy novel into one three-hour (or four-hour) movie. Next is a 25-minute look at Howard Shore's new score in Music for Middle-Earth. And, finally (only two more to go - you can make it!) The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth (21 minutes) a surprisingly exciting dissertation on the film's sound design which is pretty kick-ass, and the comparatively quiet 10-minute coda, The Battle of Helm's Deep Is Over. What a rush.

Finishing it all off is another huge assortment of stills (over 2,000 strong) including production photos, a giant miniatures gallery and cool looks at abandoned concepts (check out the Slime Balrog. Oooh!), and animatic-to-final-film comparison from the "Flooding of Isengard" sequence. And if you can stand even more, don't miss the way-cool sound demonstration that lets you check out seven different effects tracks that went into the creation of the "Helm's Deep" sequence. Still not enough for you? Well, I suppose there's always that occasional easter egg...

 

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Throw the disc into your drive and up pops a very elegant custom interface with three options. Visit the official Lord of the Rings.net website, play the disc's special features, or visit a portal to more exclusive Lord of the Rings content. Unfortunately, this link only takes you to the New Line website, and no information is given on what to expect in the way of future updates. I'm sure as the buzz heats up on The Return of the King we'll find out more...

Parting Thoughts

New Line, Kurtti/Pellerin and Peter Jackson have done it again with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Expect nothing less than classy, elegance and enough extras for ten other discs. You also get an extended cut of the film that improves upon the original and sharp packaging. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, I don't think you cannot afford to buy this.

[NEON MERCURY]

..tuesday motherphuckaz....... 8)

[NEON MERCURY]

..well after seeing the extended ut of TTT..it finally holds up w/ FOTR(extended or theatrical)..when i first saw TTT in theatres it thought it great bu t..still a bit shy of FOTR...then when the extended cut of FOTR hit..i was pleased on how a great product got better..so after viewing the extended cut of TTT..it REALLY does benifit from the new/extended  scenes..This is most evident w/ Faramir's character..and his backstory...up until it shows boromir's character head'n off to meet up at Rivendel in the events depicted in FOTR....Also, the added scene of Aragon and Gandalf..talking about aragon's fate and that sam is w/ frodo..was cool..I believe that scene was shown in the TTT's trailer but not in the actual theatrical cut.....
but nonehtheless this dvd met my expectations and when ROTK extended set comes out..having all of these films will combine w/ the extras and sh*t .This will be the greatest dvd sets to come out for  awhile.  The only thing that is bein greleased that may rival it in some way is that alien 9-disk set.  But still alien 3 and resurrection sucked.  so whats the point of buying that thing anyway when the films suck????..for me i'm wating next year when they release the se films individually to get alien and aliens....

The only negative about the TTT extended cut is that unlike FOTR extended this set doesn't come w/ a free pass to the then next film in the trilogy..(i.e. FOTR came w/ a free pass to see TTT).....but still an exellent set.....

[travisbickle1000]

i just got the extended version, and i agree that this is by far better than the theatrical version. the only thing i would say is better about the theatrical version is its pacing, its hard to explain but i like the way its structured. the extended version isnt slow or anything, but i dunno. as far as visuals go though, this new version is far more stimulating, it spends a lot more time with lush colors and beautiful sights of places like fangorn forest. this is the definitive version for me.

[Ghostboy]

The behind the scenes docs on these extended editions are such wonderful treats. I let myself watch about an hour a night, just to pace it out. Very inspiring material, actually. It'll take me a while to listen to all the commentaries...I've only just last week made it through the second track (actors) on the Fellowship discs. Sets like these would be worth the money even if the price was doubled...as it is, they're a steal.

[NEON MERCURY]

The behind the scenes docs on these extended editions are such wonderful treats. I let myself watch about an hour a night, just to pace it out. Very inspiring material, actually. It'll take me a while to listen to all the commentaries...I've only just last week made it through the second track (actors) on the Fellowship discs. Sets like these would be worth the money even if the price was doubled...as it is, they're a steal.

.. I agree like> film school in a box<.....best buy has it for 24.99..nice....

the doc on gollum.is incredible..i knew that it took mad talen tto do that Sh*it bu tdamn!..they went all out....serkis/mo-cap/animation....
another thing..it s really respectable how the entire/cast crew handle themselves..it doesn't seem to affect them it seems to me..even thoughthey aremaking films that willl go down in history as some of the greatest ever ..a la Godfather 1&2

[Redlum]

What I like in the documentaries is how honest they are. For example, that whole bit about the motion capture animators and the key frame animators fighting over who got to do Gollum, and then just working together.

How great was that story about the I-pod with the whole movie on!

[Pubrick]

How great was that story about the I-pod with the whole movie on!

pretty great.

[MacGuffin]

Finished all the docs, and while I enjoyed them overall, I thought the ones on the "Fellowship" set were more involving. I did think the Gollum one was the best. It really shows how different the character might have been if not for Andy Serkis's dedication. His screen test alone was fascinating. Everyone was right in finally realizing what he was doing and where he was going with the character.

The director/writer commentary picks up where the last one left off. The three never lets the track hit a lull in telling the behind the scenes ancedotes.

[Gamblour.]

Finished all the docs, and while I enjoyed them overall, I thought the ones on the "Fellowship" set were more involving. I did think the Gollum one was the best. It really shows how different the character might have been if not for Andy Serkis's dedication. His screen test alone was fascinating. Everyone was right in finally realizing what he was doing and where he was going with the character.

The director/writer commentary picks up where the last one left off. The three never lets the track hit a lull in telling the behind the scenes ancedotes.

With these behind the scenes features, I thought they did a good job of not really repeating what they had already shown on FOTR. I'd be concerned for a while that they wouldn't have enough to talk about, but I was wrong. For some reason, it seemed like they featured the two previs artists (Alan Lee and John Howe, right?) a heck of a lot more this time, and I found them really interesting. I like how they showed the one guy dressed up in his medieval getup, swinging the sword in the parking lot, because he looked like a skeleton with a sword, hehe.

I think one thing for ROTK they should improve on is showing exactly how much time goes into doing the CGI, how complex it all really is, not just showing the results or the finished shapes. That'd be cool. I agree the director/writer track was really good, it made me get into the LOTR spirit again, I can't fucking wait for ROTK!

[The Perineum Falcon]

Am I the only one who saw a touch of Kurosawa in the added Fords of Isen scene? Not quite sure why I see that though.

And I enjoyed these docs a lot more than FOTR, I laughed quite a bit this go round. Good stuff.

[Gamblour.]

Am I the only one who saw a touch of Kurosawa in the added Fords of Isen scene? Not quite sure why I see that though.

And I enjoyed these docs a lot more than FOTR, I laughed quite a bit this go round. Good stuff.

The what? Which scene is that?

I think the most beautiful added scene was the funeral of Theoden's son. When Miranda Otto starts singing...Jesus, I wanna cry when I hear it. She has a really amazing voice, I hate how they cut away from the song. This is my favorite scene in the whole movie now.