The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the second part of the film adaptation of the novel The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien from the year 2002. The director was Peter Jackson .
Emergence
Peter Jackson worked a total of almost seven years to the entire three-part film project , of which about three years shooting (including reshoots ), from 1999 to 2001. He filmed here all three parts simultaneously.
→ For detailed information on the history of origin, see Part 1, History of origin .
action
The film begins with a flashback to the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dûm . Both fall into the depths, and Gandalf continues to fight with the Balrog, which he finally kills: he survives seriously injured. Sam and Frodo are followed by Gollum at this time. When he ambushes the two hobbits, they take him prisoner. Frodo feels sorry for him and believes that Gollum can lead them to their destination in Mordor . Sam, however, is not very enthusiastic about this suggestion and watches Gollum warily and suspiciously. After a while Sam can barely hide his dislike for Gollum, while Frodo shows increasing understanding for him, since as a ring bearer he can empathize with Gollum's situation, who had the ring for a long time.
The hobbits Merry and Pippin have now managed to free themselves from the violence of the Uruk-hai in Rohan . During their escape, they get into the Fangorn Forest and meet an ent (tree shepherd) named Treebeard. Merry and Pippin try to explain to Treebeard the impending war between the peoples. It is decided to convene a meeting of all Ents, an "Entthing" (cf. the Germanic Thing ). The Ents take a long time to deliberate and Merry and Pippin grow impatient. After a while, the Ents decide to stay out of it. The hobbits cannot understand this, but they have to accept it and ask Treebeard to take them to the south of the Fangorn so that they can start their way home. In this way they come to the edge of Isengard, where Treebeard realizes the extent of the devastation caused by Saruman, who cut down large parts of the forests and burned them.
Aragorn, the dwarf Gimli and the elf Legolas follow the trail of Merry and Pippin in order to free them from captivity by the Uruk-hai. When they get to Rohan, they meet Éomer and learn that his men had killed all of the Uruk-hai the day before. At first they believe that Merry and Pippin were also killed in the process. However, they later find traces that show that the two hobbits were able to escape. This is how the three get into the Fangorn Forest. Here they surprisingly meet Gandalf, whom they thought was dead. This now appears changed to them as "Gandalf the White".
Éomer and his riders find the fatally wounded Théodred at the fords of the Isen and bring him to Edoras. There Éomer tells Théoden, King of Rohan, that Saruman, Lord of Isengard, betrayed them. The weakened king is under the influence of Gríma Wormtongue, who works secretly for Saruman, who tells him that it is not Saruman but Éomer who wants to deceive the king. Éomer also notices that Gríma is chasing after his sister Éowyn . To get rid of Éomer, Gríma causes him to be banished from Rohan. Éomer and his followers have to leave the country.
After Gandalf has reported to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli that Merry and Pippin are out of danger, the four now go to Edoras to talk to Théoden. Gandalf succeeds in freeing Théoden from Saruman's influence. Théoden regains his mental and physical strength and tries to kill Gríma Wormtongue, but Aragorn prevents him and so Gríma is allowed to leave the city and goes to Isengard.
In the meantime, Sauron is expanding his power. And Saruman also raises a large army of orcs and Uruk-hai.
King Théoden has Edoras, the capital of Rohan, evacuated and the residents brought to the castle of Helm's Deep , although Gandalf advises a fight. Gandalf fears that Helm's Deep will not be able to withstand an attack by Saruman's troops permanently either. So he leaves Edoras to get help. He announced his return at dawn on the fifth day after his departure. On the way, Éowyn, who admires Aragorn, learns that his heart belongs to Arwen. On their migration they are attacked by the wargs from Isengard. In the course of the fight, Aragorn falls into a ravine and is believed dead.
Everyone in Helm's Deep is preparing for a major attack. Even old people and boys are armed. However, given the numerical superiority of Saruman's army, there is little hope. However, this grows when Aragorn, who survived the fall into the gorge injured, unexpectedly reappears. The joy is great with Gimli and Legolas, but also with Éowyn. A unit of Elvish archers under the leadership of Haldir from Lothlórien also comes to the aid of the people as reinforcement . The “last alliance” between elves and humans that led to the temporary overthrow of Sauron is thus renewed. Shortly afterwards, thousands of orcs and Uruk-hai take up position at the gates of Helm's Deep. The onslaught of an accidentally shot arrow from the fortress breaks out. The battle dragged on for hours until the attackers exploded and breached the defensive walls. Haldir is slain and the defenders must retreat to the inner areas. The attackers also advance against the gates here. While Théoden now seems all lost, Aragorn sees another possibility. Instead of holing up inside, a sortie is decided and together with King Théoden he rides towards the enemy troops.
The battle for Helm's Deep seems almost lost at this point when Gandalf arrives at the site of the battle with the promised reinforcements. He has brought Éomer and his riders with him, who charge down a steep slope on Saruman's army and put the Uruk-hai to flight.
Meanwhile, the Ents storm Isengard and tear down all the buildings. Since they cannot break into Orthanc, the center of Isengard, they destroy the dam and flood Isengard and all underground chambers and passages.
Sam and Frodo were captured in Ithilien by Faramir and his Dúnedain and taken to their secret lair, Henneth Ammûn. Here Faramir interrogates the two hobbits, also takes Gollum prisoner and finally lets them move on. Gollum leads them closer and closer to the dark gateway to Mordor. Since he is still hungry for the ring and feels betrayed by his "master" Frodo, he has a plan to murder her; a not yet named "she" is supposed to kill him and Sam.
Film music
For the music in all three parts of the trilogy, Peter Jackson won over the composer Howard Shore. For the second part of the trilogy, he created some new leitmotifs. In particular, his Rohan theme received critical acclaim. Shore wrote the title track Gollum's Song together with Philippa Boyens . It was sung by the Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini .
The soundtrack album received several awards including a Grammy for Best Original Score . A Complete Recordings soundtrack was later released , which contains almost 3 1/2 hours of music from the second part.
Reviews
| source | rating |
|---|---|
| Rotten tomatoes | |
| critic |
  
|
| audience |
|
| Metacritic | |
| critic |
|
| audience |
|
| IMDb |
|
“Dramaturgically, the heterogeneous middle section of the book epic is used for numerous calm and poetic moments, with the digitally animated character Gollum attractively bundling the central theme of obsession, renunciation, loyalty, betrayal and friendship. A gripping genre film in which the uninitiated will of course hopelessly get lost and which, in its visual impact, is clearly aimed at a (halfway) adult audience. "
"More fight scenes, more storylines and more trick technology make part 2 a visual fireworks display that even surpasses its opulent predecessor."
Gross profit
The film is number 57 (as of August 8, 2020) among the world's most successful films of all time .
Differences from the book
- In contrast to the film, Gandalf recommends Helms Klamm as a place of retreat in the book. Théoden actually wanted to fight on the Isenfurten.
- Wormtongue is treated better in the book. For example, he is suggested to ride with the king. In the film, on the other hand, Theoden wants to slay Wormtongue in anger after his release, but is stopped at the last moment by Aragorn.
- The people of Edoras are evacuated in the book under the leadership of Eowyn to Dunharg (the fortress in which the army of Rohan gathers in the third part). Again, Eowyn asks unsuccessfully to fight at Theoden's side. Only the local population and the armed forces under Theoden withdraw to Helms Klamm.
- The warg attack does not appear in the book. Aragorn's fall from the cliff can only be seen in the film.
- In the book, no elves come to Helm's Deep to support them.
- Éomer is not banished in the book, but only locked up and released again after Gandalf's arrival. He fights himself in the fortress of Helms Klamm.
- While in the film Éomers save Éored with Gandalf Helms Klamm, in the book it is foot soldiers from the Westfold under the command of their governor Erkenbrand, Gandalf and a forest of Huorns (which are included in the Special Extended Edition).
- Faramir is described more weakly in the film. He is still developing into a wise person. In the book, he is wise and regal and renounces the ring from the start.
- In the film, Frodo, Sam and Gollum are brought to Osgiliath by Faramir. In the book they are released beforehand.
- The explosion of the gorge wall is not described as dramatically in the book. Gimli is driven into the caves later in the book and does not blow the horn.
- In the book, the Ents decide to attack Isengard during Entthing. In the film they decide not to intervene and are only retuned later.
- With “Boromir's Farewell”, “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol”, “Shelob's Lair” and “The Decisions of Master Samweis”, “Saruman's Voice” and “The Palantir”, six chapters of the novel became the first and third part of the trilogy Relocated in favor of a very detailed description of the Battle of Helm's Deep.
Trivia
- Director Peter Jackson can also be seen in a cameo in the second part . While defending Helm's Deep, he throws a spear from the wall, killing an Uruk-hai.
- It took the set designers and outfitters around seven months to produce the sets for Helms Klamm.
- The map Faramir and Madril are studying was drawn by Daniel Reeve based on a model by Tolkien's son Christopher.
- The European premiere took place on December 10, 2002 in Paris .
- The film grossed $ 925.3 million at box offices worldwide.
- The free TV premiere on RTL reached 4.63 million viewers on Easter Sunday 2006. The market share was 16.9% in the total audience and 27.3% in the target group of 14 to 49 year olds. The broadcast on ZDF on January 3, 2008 reached 4.87 million viewers. However, the market share fell slightly to 15.7 or 24.6% in the advertising-relevant target group of 14 to 49 year olds.
- The role of Smeagol / Gollum in the German version was voiced by Andreas Fröhlich , who was also responsible for the script and dubbing in all three parts.
- The “two towers” mentioned in the title are interpreted in the film as Isengard and Barad-dûr . Tolkien himself never committed to any specific meaning of the title. The most common guess is that he meant Isengard and Minas Morgul .
- In one scene, Aragorn can be seen with Gimli and Legolas as they search the pyre of the Uruk-hai for their hobbit friends. Aragorn angrily kicks a helmet and screams. That scream was real because Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen broke his toe in the act. The scene was used at his request.
- The mash-up video They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard , published in 2005 and largely cut from scenes from the film, became an internet phenomenon and achieved cult status among fans of the film trilogy.
synchronization
Awards (selection)
further nominations
further nominations
|
further nominations
further nominations
further nominations
|
The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) awarded the film the title “particularly valuable”.
Publications
As with its predecessor, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released on DVD and VHS after the screening in the cinema in the autumn of the following year . These editions corresponded to the version that was shown in cinemas around the world.
Shortly before the cinema release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King , a Special Extended Edition was released on both DVD and VHS in November 2003 . This extended version of the film contains over 40 additional film minutes and extends several plot elements. With the appearance of the third part, various trilogy editions were released on DVD.
In 2010 the theatrical version was released on Blu-ray , both individually and in a trilogy box. The Special Extended Edition was first distributed on Blu-ray in 2012 and exclusively as a trilogy.
literature
- Jude Fisher, John RR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, The Official Companion. Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-608-93505-3 .
- Brian Sibley: The Lord of the Rings, How the Movie Was Made. Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-608-93502-9 .
- Mark Achilles: Fantasy Fiction - the search for the true human being in "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings". In: Thomas Bohrmann, Werner Veith, Stephan Zöller (Eds.): Handbuch Theologie und Popular Film. Volume 1. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2007, ISBN 978-3-506-72963-7 , pp. 95-113.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2003 (PDF; test number: 92 434-a V / DVD).
- ↑ Age rating for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ a b rottentomatoes.com at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed December 6, 2014
- ↑ a b metacritic.com at Metacritic , accessed December 6, 2014
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the Internet Movie Database , accessed October 31, 2015
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 8, 2016 .
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers. In: cinema.de. Retrieved December 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Top Lifetime big things. Box Office Mojo, accessed August 8, 2020 .
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Box Office Mojo, accessed June 16, 2011 .
- ↑ For example, represented by the two German translators, Margaret Carroux and Wolfgang Krege .
- ↑ Parody video by Orlando Bloom: "The Hobbits, the Hobbits, the Hobbits" . In: Spiegel Online . July 1, 2013 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 12, 2015]).
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on fbw-filmbassy.com
- ↑ Cutting report on "The Two Towers"
Web links
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Metacritic (English)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the online movie database
- The Lord of the Rings: The two towers in the German dubbing file
- Official homepage for the trilogy (German)
- Official website for the film (English)
- Comparison of the cut versions theatrical version FSK 12 - extended version FSK 12 (DVD-1) , theatrical version FSK 12 - extended version FSK 12 (DVD-2) , ORF 1 afternoon - theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Schnittberichte.com