Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Review

After watching the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring about a month ago, I was excited to get back to Middle Earth with The Two Towers. I remember seeing this movie in the theaters and it being my favorite of the three films. I watched the extended edition of the movie which is about four hours long; which is why it so long long to find the time to watch the movie.

It was clear from the beginning of the movie that I didn't remember what happened. I probably remembered maybe 5% of what actually happened in the movie. But I was happy to see that we got more time with Golum, and he's such a sympathetic character whose just driven mad by the ring. He's like a pathetic pet, that you want to help. I loved Golum in this movie and can't wait to see more of him in the next movie. I also watched the behind the scenes of how Andy Serkis and the animators brought the character to life. It's fascinated, so if you haven't seen it, I recommend watching it.

As for the main characters, they are all separated in this movie, Sam and Frodo with Golum, Merry and Pippin with Treebeard, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in Rohan. Speaking of which, Legolas and Gimli provided good comedic relief in the movie, that never takes me out of the epic scale of the story. What I was disappointed in was that we didn't get enough of Gandalf in this, but what we did get was great. I did remember loving the Tree Ents destroying Eisengard and it's still a great moment in the movie. 

There was also a scene in the extended version where we get a flashback of Boromir and how he ended up in Rivendell, which is what I was wondering about in the first movie. As far as the character journey's, Aragorn and the people of Rohan were the most interesting. Merry and Pippin don't really do much, and Sam and Frodo get side snatched by Gondor. Although, Sam does get a great speech about fighting for what's good in the world.

I have really enjoyed the rewatch of these movies since it's been over a decade since I first saw them. I'm curious to see what events happen in the last movie and where are character journeys take them. Out of the two, I'll say that I enjoy the first half of Fellowship more than the first half of Two Towers, but the battle at Helm's Deep is so awesome. I think the first movie does a great job of setting up the world and characters, and the second movie really lives in that world. I'm excited for Return of the King, which won 11 Academy Awards, winning in every category it was nominated in, including Best Picture. So, the bar is set high for the last movie. While I have enjoyed these movies so far, I still haven't read the books, but I'm hoping to be able to listen to them on audio books.

If you are a big fan of the Lord of the Rings, let me know your thoughts about the movies, as well as the books. Do you like the changes? Who's your favorite character(s)? Write your comments below or tweet to me @BelleArboreus. Thank you!

The Lord of the Rings-Fellowship of the Ring Movie Review/Experience

The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is arguably (if not one of) the best fantasy stories of all time. When Peter Jackson made the movies in the early 2000s, I had no idea what Lord of the Rings was and had never heard of the books. I knew a lot of people in my classes that we're excited about the movies, but I didn't understand the hype. Now, I don't remember if I saw The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters, but I do remember owning the VHS double tapes (remember those). I did watch the 2-tape movies a few times back around 2002, then I did see The Two Towers and Return of the King in theaters.

Now since Return of the King came out on home video, I hadn't revisited The Lord of the Rings movies, until about 2015, when I watched the first half of Fellowship on TV, then fell asleep because it is so long. While short, I did enjoy that viewing and for years it made me want to revisit all of the movies. And with the TV show on Amazon Prime coming up in a couple of years, I knew I had to watch the movies first.

Well, four years later, it has finally happened! My boyfriend is a huge fan of the books and even has a J.R.R. Tolkien tattoo (which is pretty sweet). So, I knew at some point I would have to sit down with him and watch the movies, he owns the extended versions. He sat me down and watched Game of Thrones (which I had not seen until 2018), and throughout he would fill in the gaps of the book for me. He is so knowledgeable about Lord of the Rings, that I knew he could helpfully explain the story to me as we watched.

Now, I was very excited that we were finally able to sit down on Sunday to watch The Fellowship of the Ring. I couldn't tell which scenes were a part of the extended cut, but the movie was around four hours long! We had to change discs for the second half, so at least we took a small break from sitting on the couch. We also paused throughout so that my boyfriend could explain certain characters and dialogue to me. Which helped clarify the story. We also have a big poster map of Middle Earth that we used for reference.

Watching the movie, and I had seen the first two Hobbit movies by Peter Jackson, what I found amazing was the production quality. I watched the behind the scenes of making the movie, and I just can't believe how much time and effort the crew put in to make this movie feel as real as possible. Most of the CGI is either blended very well or hardly noticeable. I love the techniques used to make the hobbits smaller compared to the other characters. Considering these movies were filmed in the late 1990's/the early 2000s, it's incredible special and visual effects that never take me out of the movie. The locations in New Zealand and bringing Hobbiton and Bag Ends to life is just amazing to me.

As for the characters, I love Gandolf, he has some great lines of subtle humor, but always commands the power on screen. Aragorn was a character I didn't remember well but grew to enjoy. The hobbits on their journey to Bree, and then with Aragorn to Rivendell is my favorite part of the movie. Now, my memory had served me wrong in thinking that Elrond and Arwen were bigger parts in the movie, and I didn't remember almost anything after Rivendell establishes the Fellowship.

Having my boyfriend explain more about the history and world of Middle Earth to me, really allowed me to immerse myself into the movie. I enjoyed the movie, and can't wait until we watch The Two Towers, because I remember that being my favorite of the trilogy. I enjoyed watching the behind the scenes features, and while I haven't read the books, I might just add them to my ever-growing reading list.

So, what are your thoughts on The Lord of the Rings, have you read the books? If so, which is your favorite? Who is your favorite character and why? Leave comments below or feel free to tweet at me, @BelleArboreus on Twitter, and @Fantastic_literature on Instagram. Would love to hear your thoughts, follow the blog and until next time, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” - Gandolf.