Time is of the essence, but with the Fellowship divided, time is running out. Merry and Pippin have been captured by Saruman’s Uruk-Hai soldiers and find themselves on the borders of the sinister forest of Fangorn. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, in pursuit of Merry and Pippin, venture into the kingdom of Rohan, home of the Horse Lords. And Frodo and Sam continue to stumble toward Mordor, unaware that they are being followed.
After watching the extended versions of these films, you’ll never go back to the theatricals. Seriously, watching all the special features and behind the scenes, gives you a new appreciation of the characters, costumes, sets, special effects… just the whole world of Middle Earth in general.
Nine companions known as the Fellowship of the Ring, set forth from Rivendell on a quest to destroy the One Ring of power that threatens to destroy all of Middle Earth. But now the quest stands upon the edge of a knife. The Fellowship has splintered and time is running against them. Merry and Pippin have been captured by Saruman’s Uruk- Hai soldiers and, after escaping from a bloody battle, find themselves on the borders of the sinister forest of Fangorn. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, in pursuit of Merry and Pippin are reunited with an old friend and venture into the kingdom of Rohan, home of the Horse Lords, where a great evil sets its will against them. Frodo and Sam continue to stumble through the impassable labyrinth of rocks surrounding the land of Mordor, unaware that they are being followed.
Now I simply have to take this moment to talk about motion capture, a special effects technique that, I believe, was pioneered in this movie. We’re now going to focus on a new character following Frodo and Sam: Gollum. Anyone who has read the book would know that, in terms of film, Gollum was always going to be a computer creation. But he’s a character who plays a major role and so would need to be a strong performance like Elijah Wood or Sean Astin. Peter Jackson cast Andy Serkis to provide, not only the voice of Gollum, but all the facial expressions and movements as well. I literally can’t explain the mechanics of the motion capture that was used to create Gollum, but when you see him on screen against Frodo and Sam, it’s all so real and it’s almost impossible to imagine that this frog-like gangly creature is actually a man in a jumpsuit that’s covered with little balls. The creation of Gollum was nothing short of magic, and I highly recommend, if you’re interested in all this technical stuff, that you watch the behind the scenes on the third disc, because it’s just absolutely amazing!
I mentioned in the review of Fellowship how I love to hear the actors talk about their experiences and tell their little anecdotes on the set. One brilliant story that you hear on the fourth disc of this set is the story of Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragorn, and one perfect take: It’s the scene where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli believe that Merry and Pippin are dead and Aragorn, in a fit of anger, kicks an orc helmet towards the camera. Viggo must have done this scene three or four times, and each time he got the helmet closer to the camera. It wasn’t quite right so Peter Jackson asked for one more take. Viggo kicks the helmet, it goes perfectly over the camera, and then he lets out this great scream. That great scream was the pain of two of Viggo’s toes breaking from kicking that helmet. He actually channelled that pain and let it feed his performance. A method actor if ever there was one. And it ended up being the best take so it’s in the movie, the moment Viggo breaks his toes is there on screen to be witnessed over and over again for years to come. It’s little stories like that that I love to hear the actors tell in those behind the scenes. Absolutely brilliant.
Like with any second film in a trilogy, there are new characters to be introduced: Andy Serkis is Gollum, Bernard Hill is Theodin, Brad Dourif is Grima Wormtongue, Miranda Otto is Eowyn, Karl Urban is Eomar, David Wenham is Faramir, and John Rhys-Davis does the voice of Treebeard.
With more action, battles, stories, characters, and suspense than the first film, The Two Towers is a wonderful ride on the road to the land of fire. I’ve said it before and I will say it again now, these films have no expiration date!
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