A Reel 10: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS

“I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.”

 

This month marks the 10^th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS.

THE TWO TOWERS was the second part of Jackson’s adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS books. As the middle part of the trilogy, it was the most difficult to adapt into a stand-alone film as it really didn’t have an end, or a beginning. However, Jackson and his fine crew were able to craft together a memorable and deeply entertaining film by interjecting powerful themes of friendship and the importance of enduring hard times and insurmountable odds. Aside from the very-human drama, TOWERS was also memorable for its battle-scenes, driven by special software which gave thousands upon thousands of artificial CGI characters their own “minds”, which gave them ability to carry on a battle on their own.

Speaking of CGI characters, each LORD OF THE RINGS film was known for having at least one notable artificial character, and in THE TWO TOWERS, it was the villainous and scheming Gollum. Brought to life by remarkable motion-capture acting by Andy Serkis, Gollum was not only a marvel to look at, but it paved the way for motion-capture filmmaking. Without TOWERS, there never would have been AVATAR.

The result paid off. THE TWO TOWERS was an enormous box-office success, and a decade later, holds a respectable position as the 19^th highest-grossing film of all time. The film was nominated for six Oscars, winning two.

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This Blogger fondly remembers, and holds dear those magical three years in which he and his very own Fellowship lived and breathed THE LORD OF THE RINGS year-‘round. THE TWO TOWERS was special to look forward to as it was the first time we got to revisit Middle-Earth after the remarkable THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. With FELLOWSHIP, we had found our ground. In TOWERS, we learned how to defend it.

“Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall.”