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New Zealand, United States · 2002
Rated PG-13 · 2h 59m
Director Peter Jackson
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin
Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy
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Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Never has a film so strongly been a product of a director's respect for its source. Mr. Jackson uses all his talents in the service of that reverence, creating a rare perfect mating of filmmaker and material.
Epic battles, spectacular effects and multiple story lines make The Two Towers a most excellent middle chapter in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Dallas Observer by Gregory Weinkauf
The year's greatest adventure, and Jackson's limited but enthusiastic adaptation has made literature literal without killing its soul.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
The Two Towers moves faster, covers more ground, has more action and -- with the introduction of the marvelous character Gollum -- packs some much-appreciated laughs.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
This second installment is heavy on battle sequences, which will thrill some viewers more than others.
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
God forbid this should ever play on an IMAX screen -- the concussive soundtrack and relentless visuals would likely strike viewers deaf and blind (but what a way to go!). Simply breathtaking.
Towers, while not quite so varied as Fellowship in its moods and settings, has a grave gusto that energizes every moment...a thrilling work of film craft.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
A rousing adventure, a skillful marriage of special effects and computer animation, and it contains sequences of breathtaking beauty. It also gives us, in a character named the Gollum, one of the most engaging and convincing CGI creatures I've seen.
Has a sharper narrative focus and a livelier sense of forward movement than did the more episodic "Fellowship."
The miracle is that 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is better: tighter, smarter, funnier.
One ring to rule them all
As dark forces threaten, a king reignites a broken fellowship and a quest is undergone.
Hogwarts is back in session.
Still armed. Still dangerous. Still got it.
From the smallest beginnings come the greatest legends.
Beyond darkness... beyond desolation... lies the greatest danger of all.
Archaeologists travel through space hoping to uncover the origins of mankind, but when they meet humanities predecessor, conflict arises.
The epic conclusion to the adventure of Bilbo Baggins, who joins the Battle of the Five Armies.
As the middle child of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Two Towers has the difficult task of following up on the first installment while also setting up the third -- and it doesn't miss a beat. While Fellowship had a single party of adventurers with a clear goal, in Two Towers, the group is split, providing a much more complex but no less engaging story. The branching narrative style introduces viewers to more of Tolkien's world, but also keeps audiences keenly aware that the moving parts are all connected, and each member of the fractured Fellowship still has a role to play. Two Towers takes the franchise to new heights with some of the most epic battle scenes ever put to film, and Peter Jackson's bold strategy of filming the entire trilogy as one, long project pays off, as the characters look exactly the same as when we left them. Overall, Two Towers is the heart of the trilogy -- and the entry that most deserves to be watched in its extended edition.