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And there is a disc full of extras to add to the enjoyment.
The Two Towers picks up from the end of The Fellowship
of the Ring with the heroic band split in different directions.
Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are making their
way to Mordor and along the way they meet the deformed creature
Gollum (Andy Serkis).
Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli
(John Rhys-Davies) venture into the lands of the Rohan as
they track the Uruk-hai that kidnapped Merry (Dominic Monaghan)
and Pippin (Billy Boyd). They fail to find the pair, who end
up with the ancient Ent, Treebeard.
The ways of each party are filled with danger from Orcs,
Uruks, the black riders on dragons and the forces of darkness.
Aragorn's party reach the capital of Rohan with a surprise
guest and find that the King, Theoden (Bernard Hill), has
been bewitched by a supporter of the evil wizard Saruman (Christopher
Lee) and the once-strong kingdom is riven and almost on its
knees.
Worse news comes as Saruman dispatches an army of 10,000
Uruks to exterminate the people of Rohan and so a restored
Theoden orders a retreat for a final stand at the impregnable
stronghold of Helm's Deep.
Desperately outnumbered, the defenders are bolstered by an
Elvish force that is willing to fight and die with humans
as their ancestors did long before.
The massive attack on the fortress is majestic in scope and
director Peter Jackson has accomplished wonders with his mix
of live action, miniatures and computer animation.
At no stage do you think - uh, it's fake - although Legolas
almost skateboarding down stairs firing arrows as he goes
does jar too much for my tastes. That aside the battle is
a stunning piece of work that gets more and more exciting
before its exhilarating finale.
Gollum is utterly fantastic. Although computer-generated,
he has a sinuous fluidity that is uncannily real and shows
that the special effects gurus for the movie knew how push
body-motion capture techniques to new levels.
Actor Andy Serkis not only is the voice for Gollum, but also
provided the body motions for the performance-based creature.
In the extras you see just how he had to suffer for his art!
Overall the cast is magnificent and is never overpowered by
the heavyweight effects. Jackson's efforts show that he knows
that special effects should add to a movie rather than crush
it.
For mine the outstanding portrayal coming from Bernard Hill
as Theoden. The tortured way he feels after escaping Saruman's
enchantment is done with restrained passion and disappointment
he has let his people down.
The transfer is gobsmackingly good and there are no visual
glitches that jumped out at me while watching it.
The colours are rich, but subdued, and the picture perfectly
sharp. Each tendril of Gollum's lank hair stands out individually
as does each stubbly hair on Aragorn's beardline.
The sound is excellent and there is one heck of a lot of
base work done throughout. The approaching Uruk-hai army sends
shockwaves through the floorboards and the hiss of arrows
and clang of sword on metal will add to your enjoyment. Dialogue
is clear.
My guess is that The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
will be the second best DVD package released this year
- unless of course the upcoming Indiana Jones series
is something ultra-special.
No.1 spot for 2003 will no doubt be the extended version
of The Two Towers.
Conclusion: Movie 95% Extras 94.5%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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