..News & Reviews
..Trailers & Sites

 

Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers
Director: Peter Jackson

If it wasn’t obvious immediately, it becomes more obvious every day.  Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest motion pictures of all time.  The epic, when it is completed, will be an absorption of all the great Anglo-Saxon myths, originally conceived and compiled by author J.R.R. Tolkien, and then honed and brought to life by Jackson.  The middle installment, The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers, which runs 179 minutes, has been released as a Widescreen two-platter set by New Line Home Entertainment (N6355, $30).  A four-platter set, featuring a ‘director’s cut’ that will be 45 minutes longer, is due in November and, knowing it is on the way, it is easy to look at the theatrical version of The Two Towers and see where there are gaps in the story and ideas that could use embellishment.  Nevertheless, the 2002 film is remarkable and is a rousing affirmation that Jackson is in full command of the material. 

The second film continues and branches out the adventure begun in the first film, and then adds a war to the mix.  Like the first movie, there are pauses, too, where bits of philosophy are shared, and there are portraits of leadership and of obsession.  In addition to the big battle that takes up much of the last third of the film, there are a number of very exciting action sequences.  There are also the dazzling special effects, including an all-digitized character, Gollum, who looks like how Peter Lorre would appear if he were still alive today, and evokes a complete panoply of motion picture mythology with its presence.  Finally, there is Jackson’s use of New Zealand for the film’s locations, and while that fact is never a distraction to one’s suspended disbelief, it is an anchor that holds the movie’s fantasies to a reality.  The story is a composite of the myths of the world; the setting is an expression of love one man has for his homeland; and the viewer, taking it in, is reconnected to the rich heritage of human imagination and to the beauty of the world at the viewer’s feet.

The letterboxing has an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback.  A cropped Fullscreen version is also available (N6354, $30), but is ridiculous, losing too much of the movie’s action and environment to be even remotely worthwhile.  The film appears on the first platter and the level shift has been chosen for artistic effect, although a point 10 seconds later would have been less showy or obtrusive and worked much better.  As he revealed on the Extended Edition of the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson utilized computer effects to modify the lighting and color schemes of many sequences, and he does the same in The Two Towers.  Some shots are nearly monochromatic, while others are rich and colorful.  Throughout the film, the image is crisp and precise.  The 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound, which has EX-encoding, is outstanding, with detailed rear channel effects and lots of power up front.  There are optional English and Spanish subtitles.

If you’re like me, you’ll run to the second platter as soon as the movie is over, to check out the 5-minute plug for the longer version and the 12-minute production featurette for the final installment, The Return of the King.  If you don’t like the production featurette format, then scan to the end of the piece, because the last 2 minutes is a straightforward, and very thrilling, trailer.  Two trailers for The Two Towers also appear on the platter, along with sixteen TV commercials, a compelling Emilianna Torrini music video, a 3-minute video game plug, a 14-minute promotional documentary that provides succinct interpretations of the characters and the story, a decent 43-minute production documentary and a collection of eight brief featurettes, running a total of 32 minutes, that originally appeared to promote the film on the Internet and include a number of interesting moments.

Finally, one of the stars, Sean Astin, made a short film, called The Long and the Short of It, during his downtime in Wellington.  It is a set on a city street and is about a man having difficulty affixing a large advertising poster to the wall of a building, until a short-statured woman and a tall-statured man happen along and assist him.  The film, which runs 7 minutes with Astin’s introduction and is accompanied by a fun 8-minute production featurette, is silent, set to an aria from La Boheme.  It is also very touching, particularly when Jackson shows up at the end.  It has nothing to do with the feature, and yet it encapsulates the spirit of the feature’s production exquisitely.

Straw Dogs
There's Something About Mary
Black Hawk Down
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Once Upon A Time In America
Gangs Of New York
Treasure Planet
Giant
Windtalkers
Die Another Day
War & Peace
Eraserhead 
Hearts & Minds 

- by Douglas Pratt

 

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
For a free sample, call (516)594-9304 or go to his website at www.DVDLaser.com