The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen Director: Peter Jackson Original UK Premiere: 2002 Dvd Release: 26th August, 2003 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: Box set, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: English

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a film released on Wednesday, December 18, 2002, directed by Peter Jackson with a runtime of 179 minutes. The Fellowship of the Ring, also directed by Jackson. It is an adaptation of the book The Two Towers, the second part of the three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings by J R R The Return of the King. It was very well received critically & was an enormous box-office success, making over $900 million worldwide. In addition to many characters returning from the first film, The Two Towers featured Éowyn, a princess yearning to be a warrior; Éomer, a stalwart Marshal of Rohan & brother of Éowyn; Theoden, a troubled king, uncle of Éowyn & Éomer; & his treacherous counselor, Gríma Wormtongue. These humans were largely overshadowed by special effects creatures including treelike Ents, the pterodactyl -like flying steeds of the Nazgûl, and, especially, Gollum, widely acclaimed as the first fully realized CGI character in a live-action film. His movements & facial expressions were modeled on the actor who provided his voice. Posters Of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

DVD Extras: The Two Towers two-disc set, like the Fellowship before it, features the theatrical version of the movie on the first disc, in glorious 2.35:1 widescreen, accompanied by Dolby 5.1 or Dolby Stereo sound options. As before, commentaries & the really in-depth features are held back for the extended four-disc version.

Such as they are, all the extras are reserved for Disc Two. The 14-minute documentary On the Set is a run-of-the-mill publicity preview for the movie; more substantial is the 43-minute Return to Middle-Earth, another promotional feature, which at least has plenty of input from cast & crew. Much more interesting are the briefer pieces, notably: Sean Astin's charming silent short The Long & the Short of It, plus an amusing making-of featurette; a teaser trailer for the extended DVD release; & a tantalising 12-minute sneak peek at Return of the King, introduced by Peter Jackson, in which he declares nonchalantly that Helm's Deep was just an opening skirmish!

With The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the focus of Tolkiens epic story moves from the fantastic to the mythic, from magic & monsters towards men & their deeds, as the expanding panorama of Middle-earth introduces us to the Viking-like Riders of Rohan & the men of Gondor. Which is not to say that Peter Jacksons three-hour second instalment doesnt have its fair share of amazing new creatures, here we meet Wargs, Oliphaunts & winged Nazgul, to name three, just that the film is concerned more with myth-making on a heroic scale than the wide-eyed wonder of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Theres no time for recapitulation, as a host of new characters are introduced in rapid succession. In Rohan we meet the initially moribund King Theoden ; his treacherous advisor Grima Wormtongue ; his feisty niece Eowyn ; & his strong-willed nephew Eomer . Faramir , brother of Boromir, is the other principal human addition to the cast. The hobbits, though, encounter the two most remarkable new characters, both of whom are digitally generated: in Fangorn Forest, Merry & Pippin are literally carried away by Treebeard, a dignified old Ent; while Frodo & Sam capture the duplicitous Gollum, whose fate is inextricably intertwined with that of the Ring.

The film stands or falls with Gollum. If the characterisation had gone the way of Jar Jar Binks, The Two Towers would have been ruined, notwithstanding all the spectacle & grandeur of the rest. But Gollum is a triumph, a tribute both to the computer animators & the motion-captured performance of Andy Serkis: his dialogues, delivered theatre-like direct to the audience, are a masterstroke. Here & elsewhere Jackson is unafraid to make changes to the story line, bringing Frodo & Sam to Osgiliath, for example, or tipping Aragorn over a cliff. Yet the directors deft touch always seems to add not detract from Tolkiens vision. Just three among many examples: Aragorns poignant dreams of Arwen ; Gimlis comic repartee even in the heat of battle; & the wickedly effective siege weapons of the Uruk-Hai . The climactic confrontation at Helms Deep contains images the like of which have simply never been seen on film before. Almost unimaginably, theres so much more still to come in the Return of the King.

Elijah Jordan Wood is a US actor. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the middle of the three children of Warren & Debbie Woods. He has a brother Zack, a video game producer & seven years his senior, as well as a younger sister Hannah, a poet & actress like Wood. His parents called him Spark Plug. Zack, his brother, introduced him to video games by playing them in front of him. Wood feels as if he were born to entertain. A professional actor since the age of six, he is best known for the role of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings movies. He took the stage in his elementary schools rendition of the play The Sound of Music. The following year, he graduated to the title character of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Wood also served as choir boy during the production of Today he is hailed as one of the greatest actors of his generation & continues to star in hit movies each year. The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King. Posters Of Elijah Wood

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Sir Ian Murray McKellen, KBE is a highly acclaimed British actor on both stage & screen, regarded by many as the greatest living British actor. His roles have spanned genres from serious Shakespearean & modern theatre to popular action movies. He is also well known as a campaigner for gay rights. // McKellen was born in Burnley, Lancashire, shortly before the outbreak of World War II & has indicated that this had some impact on him. Well, darling, you forget — I slept under a steel plate until I was four years old. McKellens father, Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer, was a lay preacher & both of his grandfathers were preachers as well. His home environment was strongly Christian, but non-orthodox. My upbringing was of low nonconformist Christians who felt that you led the Christian life in part by behaving in a Christian manner to everybody you met. When he was 12, his mother, Margery Lois McKellen died; his father died when he was 24. Posters Of Asylum

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Orlando Bloom is a British actor, who became famous playing Legolas in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also had major roles in Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean & Troy. He was born in Canterbury, Kent to Sonia C J Copeland. Although he carries the name of novelist & political activist, Harry Bloom, Orlandos biological father is actually Colin Stone, a reported friend of the family. He attended St Edmunds School in Canterbury, but struggled in many courses due to his dyslexia. In 1993, he moved to London & joined the National Youth Theatre,spending two seasons there & earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy. He earned a few television roles to further his career, including his film debut in 1997 in Wilde, opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. However, in 1998, he broke his back in a three story fall & it was briefly feared that he would never walk again, but he made a complete recovery. Posters Of Orlando Bloom

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Viggo Mortensen, is a Danish-American theater & movie actor, a published poet, photographer & painter .Hes divorced & he has a son, Henry Blake. He is best known for his role as Aragorn in Peter Jackson s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He was a last-minute replacement for the role & wouldnt have taken the part if it hadnt been for his sons enthusiasm for J R R Tolkien s trilogy. After several years of experience in live theater, he began his movie career as an Amish farmer in Peter Weir s Witness. He has also appeared in Jane Campion s film The Portrait of a Lady, Sean Penn s Indian Runner, Brian DePalma s Carlitos Way, Tony Scott s Crimson Tide, Ridley Scott s G,I. Jane, Tony Goldwyn s A Walk on the Moon & Philip Ridley s Reflecting Skin. Mortensens performance in Bent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him a Dramalogue Critics Award. Mortensens bibliography includes Ten Last Night, his first collection of poetry;. Hole in the Sun, color & black & white photographs of a back yard swimming pool;. Posters Of The Lord Of The Rings

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Peter Jackson was a footballer & is currently a football manager for Huddersfield Town. He was born in Bradford on 6 April 1961 He played mainly as a central defender for Bradford City, Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town 1990-1994, Chester City & Halifax Town. He returned to Huddersfield Town when they gave him the opportunity to become manager in October 1997 replacing Brian Horton. He was assisted by former Welsh manager Terry Yorath In his first two seasons in charge he helped Town avoid relegation also known as the Great Escape & helped them to 10th place in Division One. However he was sacked in 1999 to make way from Steve Bruce. In 2003 he was re-appointed manager of a Huddersfield Town that had slid down to Division Three & were emerging from administration. In the 2003-04 season, Jackson put his faith in a squad containing promising young players. Town finished 4th to gain a place in the promotion play-offs. Town eventually beat Mansfield Town on penalties in the play off finals to be promoted in Jacksons first season back. Posters Of The Lord Of The Rings

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