Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers ENworld reviews & discussion (SPOILERS)

[Celtavian]

Re

I was just thinking. Perhaps PJ will use the words of Faramir concerning sending his father a "mighty gift" to clarify Denethor's seer capabilities. If Denethor's uses those words in RotK, then that might allow the audience a glimpse of how truly special Denethor is.

It would be difficult to show such a thing otherwise. I hope I am right, but we will see.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

One odd dialogue gaff:

As the three hunters look across the plain toward the retreating orcs, Legolas says: "They've turned northeast toward Isenguard!"

And I'm thinking "Isenguard's northWEST, unless you're already in the Gap of Roghan."

AND ... I'm convinced Legolas dyes his hair. Pale blond hair, yet black eyebrows. I suspect that's what he's doing off camera, is redoing his hair dye, which also explains why he stays so purty while Aragorn and Gimli are covered in grit and grime from the trail.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I didn't have a problem with the forest itself, it was when the treants were moving through it, it didn't seem to flow right. Maybe they have some reasoning for it ("we have a computer dedicated to predicting the flow of forest past a large walking tree!")

For myself, I'll take Arwen over Eowyn anyday! Either way though, I think they're both better looking that Galadriel, so it must be her ring that makes people think shes so pretty...

The gifts thing could have been fixed easy enough with simple lines like "It is the dagger the elves gave to Merry and Pippin..." and "Mister Frodo, it's a good thing the elves gave us these Cloaks of Hiding."

They're such big movies though, there's going to be problems. It's like the Revised PHB in June. You know it'll be gone over again and again, but there will still be an error or ten creep in.

The extended DVD is simply the erratta version!

 

[zoroaster100]

The Two Towers

I finally got to see the Two Towers last night. Overall I really liked the movie. I have been a huge Tolkien fan for years and I loved the first movie tremendously and this second movie almost as much. Many of the changes from the book I see as understandable given the need to convey certain concepts with much more limited time. The only changes I was disappointed by were the lessening of Aragorn and Faramir's nobility, which means that movie goers unfamiliar with the books are denied Tolkien's concept of the capacity for some Men to be truly noble. If Faramir redeems himself further in the third movie that might make amends as to him, but I was dissapointed by Aragorn urging the Rohirrim in Helm's Deep to show no pitty to the enemy. For me, the manner in which in the books the Rohirrim pardon the hillmen who surrender after their defeat at Helm's Deep (though the orcs are destroyed) and in which the hillmen are permitted to work to repair the evil they have caused is very important in showing the difference between the good of the West and the evil of Mordor.

 

[Bob Aberton]

Just saw the movie.

It was awesome. Reading some of these people's posts made me think it was going to be some kind of pitiful cinematic trash of the depressingly normal variety.

But, my God, it was FRICKEN AWESOME !

I thought that Theoden was indeed a strong king and a good leader; he only was doing what he thought was right for his people. He had no idea that Saruman had an army that big until it was too late and he was already entrenched in Helm's Deep.

How was he a weak king when he recieved the news that an army ten thousand strong was after him by saying "Let them come!" ?

How was he a weak king whe he said (paraphrasing) "If our end is at hand, let it be an end worthy of song!" and leads the charge into the enemy ranks with only Aragorn and 5 of his huscarls with him?

I think he was a strong, noble king, who at times experienced eminently human moments of doubt at the seemingly impossible odds. It was these very moments of doubt that made him a believable character.

And Faramir, like some said, did not fail the test. HE PASSED THE TEST. HE REFUSED TO TAKE THE RING (by force). The process which led to him refusing the ring made him a dynamic character, as opposed to the static character he was in the books.

Some of these nitpicks, in my opinion, are incredibly petty.

 

[Asmo]

So, what´s up with Narsil? When are they going to re-forge it?
And what about Arwen?
If she leaves Middleearth as her father wishes..that´s bad.
Has PJ hinted anything about this?

Asmo

Btw: I loved this movie, it´s fantastic.
PJ changes a lot, and I´m not happy with every change, but I was very glad when I left the cinema. Go and see it, it´s well worth your money!!

 

[FraserRonald]

Yes, but doesn't it seem a little Monty Python that she's apparently the only woman in Rohan with clean hair?

Yeah, hadn't really thought of that.

"How do you know she's a star?"

"She hasn't got sh%# all over her."

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I thought that Theoden was indeed a strong king and a good leader; he only was doing what he thought was right for his people. He had no idea that Saruman had an army that big until it was too late and he was already entrenched in Helm's Deep.

How was he a weak king when he recieved the news that an army ten thousand strong was after him by saying "Let them come!" ?

How was he a weak king whe he said (paraphrasing) "If our end is at hand, let it be an end worthy of song!" and leads the charge into the enemy ranks with only Aragorn and 5 of his huscarls with him?

Arragorn had to talk him into riding out to face the orc horde. In the book, Theoden asked Arragorn to ride with him. A complete reversal of roles. Why? Doesn't make sense. It served no purpose. Furthered no plot. It did nothing except make Theoden look that much weaker.

 

[Chain Lightning]

And what about Arwen? If she leaves Middleearth as her father wishes..that´s bad.

I think Jackson and Company are just creating the illusion that she is. For the audience to believe/feel that Aragorn and Arwen's relationship is in peril. Then it will probably be revealed later that she decided not to go, perhaps at the last minute (off screen). I can almost see Jackson having her (in RotK) appear before Aragorn with Narsil or something. Their trends on how the re-work the original story tends to make me think they'll do something like this. But who really knows.

The gifts thing could have been fixed easy enough with simple lines like "It is the dagger the elves gave to Merry and Pippin..." and "Mister Frodo, it's a good thing the elves gave us these Cloaks of Hiding."

True, that could've been done too. But even that much wasn't done. Y'know what I mean? How could that be left to slip by unedited?

Also, if they did insert pick-up scenes where they say that dialogue, it still wouldn't be as strong. If Samwise said, "Mr. Frodo, its a good thing the elves gave us these cloaks of hiding," the audience when then just go, "uh, when then did that happen?" And it would seem an obvious clumsy way of explaining backwards. Kind of like when your DM makes a continuity error and he has to BS a retro explaination. Its kinda clumsy.

Movie is still awesome, just don't like that bit of continuity with the gifts. Seems small.....but really little things like that can hurt a movie. We shouldn't have to wait for the extended versions to view to see it properly done.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Ok, if people are going to nitpick then at least have nitpicks about REAL mistakes instead of differences in opinion on the story or some of the CGI.

I have two REAL nitpicks.

1. Where did the goblins come from? In the first movie the Fellowship was attacked by a group of ONLY Uruks. You see nothing but them. Suddenly in TTT there are several goblins in the movie which are used to create the scene with the fighting over food. Huh? Where did they come from?

2. Uruks? Saruman created the Uruks just recently. They are his improvement on Orcs and his greatest weapons. I would assume that Saruman gave them the name Uruk-kai.

So how does Aragorn know their name and call them "Uruk-kai" when he is questioned by the Riders of Rohan. He should have called them Orcs since there is no way he could have known their actual names.

Those are my real nitpicks that I feel are actual mistakes in the movie.