DVD Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (4-Disc Extended Edition)

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review added: 11/7/03

The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers
4-Disc Special Extended DVD Edition - 2002 (2003) - New Line

Part Two - Supplemental Material

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review by Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (4-Disc Special Extended DVD Edition)

Film Rating: A

Disc Ratings (Video/Extras): A/A+

Audio Ratings (DD/DTS): A-/A

Specs and Features

Discs One & Two (See Page One)

Disc Three: The Appendices, Part III - The Journey Continues
Peter Jackson introduction (2 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth documentary (30 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), From Book to Script: Finding the Story featurette (21 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Designing Middle-Earth documentary (46 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Weta Workshop documentary (44 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 35 production design galleries (on the peoples and realms of Middle-Earth - with select audio commentary), The Taming of Sméagol documentary (40 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Andy Serkis Animation Reference video (2 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Gollum Stand-in featurette (3 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Gollum character design gallery (with select audio commentary), interactive Middle-Earth Atlas (16x9, DD 2.0), interactive New Zealand as Middle-Earth map with location video (15 mins total, 16x9, DD 2.0), DVD credits, help text, "play all" feature, disc index, DVD-ROM features (including weblinks), animated film-themed menus with sound and music

Disc Four: The Appendices, Part IV - The Battle for Middle-Earth Begins
Elijah Wood introduction (1 min, 16x9, DD 2.0), Warriors of Middle-Earth featurette (21 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Cameras in Middle-Earth documentary (68 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), production photo gallery (with select audio commentary), Big-atures featurette (22 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 7 big-atures galleries (with select audio commentary), pre-viz animatic (The Flooding of Isengard - 5 mins total, 16x9, DD 2.0), WETA Digital featurette (28 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), 2 abandoned concepts galleries (with select audio commentary), Editorial: Refining the Story featurette (22 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), Music for Middle-Earth featurette (25 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth featurette (21 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), interactive sound demonstration for Helm's Deep sequence (2 mins, 16x9, 8 separate selections of DD 5.1 audio), The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over... featurette (9 mins, 16x9, DD 2.0), DVD credits, help text, "play all" feature, disc index, DVD-ROM features (including weblinks), animated film-themed menus with sound and music

As with the previous set, Discs Three and Four are together known as The Appendices, and are designed to serve the same basic function as The Appendices in the original books. Disc Three specifically deals with the effort to adapt the story of the Two Towers and to formulate a vision for the film that would remain true to Tolkien's vision for the books. Disc Four again looks at the process of taking that vision and crafting a film from it. In fact, the documentaries on these two discs are in many ways (and by design) continuations of the documentaries from the Fellowship 4-disc set.

Before we start looking at the contents of these discs, you should know that virtually everything is presented in anamorphic widescreen video, and the menus feature Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Most of the rest of the video material is in Dolby Digital 2.0, with the exception of the sound demonstration on Disc Four (which again features 5.1). Both Discs Three and Four feature a brief video introduction (by Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood respectively) explaining what you'll find on the disc and how to access it. Furthermore, each of the discs has additional help text on how to access the material, along with a complete index of the disc's contents. There is also a "play all" mode that will allow you to view all of the featurettes and documentaries. Note, however, that if you do this, there are several items that you'll have to view separately (the galleries and other material). The featurettes are all of the same excellent quality as the ones on the previous 4-disc release. In one way or another, every major cast and crew member is represented on these two discs, and their enthusiasm is infectious.

We start with Disc Three, also known as The Appendices, Part III - The Journey Continues. The first major piece on this disc, J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle Earth, provides more historical background on man behind the original books, and addresses some of the specific issues related to the story of Two Towers. It runs about 30 minutes. We learn how Tolkien, fellow author C.S. Lewis and several of their colleagues used to meet twice weekly to share their literary ideas. We also learn that both Tolkien and Lewis had fought in World War I, an experience which left them asking fundamental questions about war, and the nature of Good and Evil. They dealt with these questions in their writings - clear inspiration and creative fodder for Lord of the Rings.

In From Book to Script: Finding the Story, we learn about the many difficulties that Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had when it came time to adapt The Two Towers for the screen, and the changes (both major and minor) that they had to make to allow the story to work as a film. The Two Towers was the toughest entry in the trilogy to make, and the filmmakers really struggled with how they could weave the various storylines together, give each proper dramatic attention and still keep the audience interested (and not confused).

Next up is a section on the film's production design, which begins with the 46-minute, Designing Middle-Earth documentary. This is similar to the documentary of the same title on the last 4-disc set, except that this time, most of the subjects addressed reflect the second film in the trilogy. We see John Howe and Alan Lee working in their studio at the Weta Workshop together, drawing for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. We then see the production design team working to bring those drawings to life as props, costumes, sets and models. There's a ton of artwork to illustrate the narrative and interviews with many, many people. Specifically, for The Two Towers, we learn that one of the challenges was to bring a more somber mood to the look and visual texture of the film. We get to see how many of the sets were constructed in warehouses and in the studio parking lot, we see how footage shot on location was integrated seamlessly with footage shot on stage, and all of film's major settings are highlighted.

The production effort is examined even more closely in the 44-minute look behind the scenes at the work Richard Taylor and his crew at the Weta Workshop did for The Two Towers. We learn that John Howe is actually experienced with ancient weapons and armor. He brought much of his own collection of swords along to Wellington to show the production team. He was apparently so focused on getting these through customs, that he nearly left his suitcase of clothing at the airport. We also learn how the look and feel of each race and creature was developed - each had its own race history and backstory, which was reflected in the ultimate designs seen on screen.

For a closer look at these characters and locations, there's a massive, interactive gallery of production design drawings and artwork. It's actually broken down into some 35 separate galleries, organized by subject. You can view the artwork in slideshow mode, or individually. Selected images have their own audio commentary clips featuring members of the production team, who explain what you're seeing.

The work involved in bringing the character of Gollum to life is highlighted next, starting with the 40-minute The Taming of Sméagol documentary. We get a sense of the incredible efforts of actor Andy Serkis, the team of special effects artists at Weta Digital and the writers to create the look, feel and performance of the character. This was obviously the biggest special effects challenge in the entire trilogy. The design of Gollum actually developed organically during the production. When it became clear that Serkis was bring real emotion to the character on set, which was having a tremendous positive influence on the other actors, the digital design of the character was modified to be more reflective of Serkis' facial structure. We also learn, amusingly, that Iggy Pop provided a surprising inspiration to the animators, and we get to preview a bit of an interesting scene from Return of the King, in which Serkis is seen on camera as the yet to be corrupted Sméagol. You might think you know how much work was involved in creating the first digital character to give a realistic dramatic performance on film, but it was even tougher than you can imagine.

There's also a brief bit of Andy Serkis Animation Reference video, in which we see how closely Serkis' performance was followed by the animators for the scene in which Gollum's selves duel for dominance, as well as a funny Gollum Stand-in featurette in which we see Rick Porras playing Gollum for a brief scene.

As with the previous 4-disc set, Disc Three is rounded out with a pair of interactive maps, that help you to understand the geography of the film. The Middle-Earth Atlas allows you to follow, step-by-step, the journey that the characters take in the film (there are four separate character paths you can select). It tells you what happens at each step along the way and then gives you clips of the major events that take place at that location. New Zealand as Middle-Earth, in turn, allows you to see where in the "real world" each film location was shot, and includes viewable location video for each place.

Moving on to Disc Four, The Appendices, Part IV - The Battle for Middle-Earth Begins, we begin with a section dedicated to the actual filming of The Two Towers. This starts with the 21-minute Warriors of Middle-Earth featurette, which examines the massive effort that went into planning and executing the complex stunt work seen in the film. We see the cast training for their sword fights, and get to spend time with the extras on the months-long Helm's Deep shoot, which took place at night, in a rock quarry, usually in the cold and under artificially created rainstorms. As you can imagine, it was brutal work, demanding in ways both physical and mental. There are some funny stories in here, dealing with jokes the cast and crew played on each other, and the camaraderie they developed during the production.

The Cameras in Middle-Earth documentary is over an hour long, and takes you behind-the-scenes on the production for this particular film, as it moved from one location to another in the New Zealand wilderness. The documentary deals with each major setting in roughly chronological order, and we get to see lots of funny moments and stories. We learn, for example, that prior to the shooting of the scenes in which Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are seen running after the orcs who have captured Merry and Pippin, all three actors had suffered various injuries. They gamely toughed it out, sprinting when Jackson rolled the cameras, then became walking wounded, groaning in pain as soon as the take was complete. We also learn that Viggo Mortensen broke his toes during the filming of one scene... and the take actually appears in the final cut. Perhaps best of all, we get a look at an unused scene in which Faramir glimpses how far the Ring may corrupt Frodo. Frodo is actually starting to physically look like Gollum. This is probably my favorite documentary on the whole set.

There's another image gallery at this point, this one featuring tons of behind-the-scenes photographs shot during the production. As before, there are audio commentary clips on selected images.

Next up is a section on the film's visual effects, which (like the previous 4-disc set) includes another Big-atures featurette, examining the incredible (and incredibly large) models constructed for the film, as well as another Weta Digital featurette, dealing with the digital effects work. The latter is particularly interesting, as we get a close-up look at the "Massive" software package that was used to create vast armies of artificially intelligent digital orcs and other creatures for the film. We get to see how the software works, we see the early test shots, how individual characters are "built" in the computer and how they are programed to virtually interact with one another. We even get to see one particular test shot where scores of CG soldiers appear to be actually fleeing from battle - a surprise in that the action was not something they were programed to do.

Also in this section is a gallery of production artwork, highlighting two abandoned concepts from The Two Towers (specifically a "Slime Balrog" and the "Endless Stair").

In the Editorial: Refining the Story featurette, we learn that Peter Jackson decided to use separate editors for each film in the series, simply to better manage the vast amount of footage that was being shot on such a tight schedule. We get to see Jackson working with with his editors on The Two Towers, and we learn that they assembled each separate storyline from the film individually, then worked to see how they all fit together into a whole. We also get glimpses of alternate takes from the film, and a look at an abandoned prologue that was to have started the film (recapping the events of Fellowship). It's cool stuff to see.

In the section on music and sound, we get new The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth and Music for Middle-Earth featurettes, which take you behind-the-scenes on the creation of various sound effects, the mixing process and the work of composer Howard Shore. There's also an interactive sound demonstration for a 2-minute bit of video from the battle for Helm's Deep. While you're watching, you can choose to listen to one of 8 different 5.1 tracks, each featuring a different element of the final audio mix (the production audio, the foley work, the different effects tracks, the final mix, etc.). You can switch between them on the fly with your remote.

Wrapping up the extras on this 4-disc set, we get a final, 9-minute featurette, entitled The Battle for Helm's Deep is Over.... Here, Jackson and other members of the cast and crew reflect on the challenges of making this second film in the trilogy, and look ahead to the final chapter, The Return of the King. You get to see how most of those involved really didn't know if The Two Towers was going to be as good as Fellowship, and you see their surprise and delight at the overwhelmingly positive reaction to film - many people thought it was an even better film than the first. Finally, you get a sense of the combined joy and sadness felt by everyone involved in these films, knowing that this experience that has so dominated their lives for so many years is soon to come to an end. The piece appropriately ends with the words: "To Be Continued..."

I'm pleased to say that producers of this elaborate 4-disc set, and everyone involved in the production of these films, have once again created a treasure on DVD for fans. The quality of every bit of what you get here is absolutely outstanding. I can tell you with all honesty that, after viewing this version of the film and experiencing these thorough extras, I am absolutely on the edge of my seat waiting for The Return of the King. Thank God it's only a month until that film appears in theaters, because I don't think I could wait much longer than that without devolving into a Gollum-like creature myself. This 4-disc set at least makes that wait a little more bearable.

You know... it's been a long time since I've felt this kind of unabashed joy and enthusiasm for a new film. I know a lot of you share that same feeling. My advice to all of you is simple... savor every little bit of it while you can.

Bill Hunt
billhunt@thedigitalbits.com

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