DVD Review: The Two Towers Extended Edition

Like the Extended Edition for The Fellowship of the Ring , this Extended Edition expands upon the version of The Two Towers that was presented in the theaters. There is approximately 40 minutes of additional material woven back into the movie. The most important (and the most effective) additional scenes are the ones that involve Faramir. One of the complaints some people had about The Two Towers was that in the book Faramir was pure of heart and was not tempted by the ring at all. In the movie, his character was changed so that he was a real threat to Frodo s journey. Faramir s additional scenes explain his motivation towards the Ring and why he behaves the way he does. There are also flashbacks with Boromir, more scenes with the Ents, and the additional scenes make for a richer Lord of the Rings experience.

There are also two discs of bonus material to supplement the film. Some of these bonus documentaries are very similar to those from the Fellowship of the Ring DVD. The similar documentaries have material specific to The Two Towers , but it covers the same topics as those from The Fellowship of the Ring . Examples of these documentaries are the ones on Weta Workshop , Bigatures , and The Atlas of Middle Earth . There are also documentaries that are completely new. One of my favorites is the documentary about adapting the book into a screenplay. This documentary showed how Peter Jackson had to make decisions about what to include in the film, what scenes and characters to cut, and why certain changes had to be made (Jackson gives a very good explanation for Faramir s change). The other major documentary was about Gollum. Gollum was a character on whom the success of the entire series hinged. If he was poorly animated or wasn t believable, The Two Towers would ultimately fail as a film (and this would also bring down The Return of the King ). The Gollum documentary shows how Gollum was created, and exactly how much work went into making the character look so well on the screen. It also shows just how important Andy Serkis was in creating the character. He was a lot more than a voice actor, he was the character actor for Gollum.

Just as the Extended Cut of Fellowship was essential viewing for fans of Lord of the Rings, so is the Extended Cut of The Two Towers . While these additional scenes didn t complete the film in the way that those from Fellowship did, they do make The Two Towers a better movie.