The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"The journey continues."

2002 2h 59m EN

🙌

8.4

BANGER

★8.4TMDB · 24,722

AdventureFantasyAction

Synopsis

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Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

“The journey continues.”

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Cast

Elijah Wood
Frodo
Ian McKellen
Gandalf
Viggo Mortensen
Aragorn
Sean Astin
Sam
Andy Serkis
Gollum
John Rhys-Davies
Gimli / Treebeard (voice)
Orlando Bloom
Legolas
Bernard Hill
Théoden

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Stephen Sinclair, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Languages: English
Countries: New Zealand, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 179 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $79M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $926M — a 11.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: New Zealand, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Lord of the Rings Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

286+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Jackson, shot by Andrew Lesnie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Jackson directs. Andrew Lesnie behind the camera. Howard Shore scores. Michael Horton cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in New Zealand, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 179 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Mid-budget at $79M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Grossed $926M — a 11.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
4Released 24 years ago.
5International production across 2 countries: New Zealand, United States of America.
6Part of the "The Lord of the Rings Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7286+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
8Directed by Peter Jackson, shot by Andrew Lesnie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
9Original score by Howard Shore. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
10Editor Michael Horton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
11Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen carry the top of the cast.
12Marketing tagline: "The journey continues.".
13IMDB entry: tt0167261 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1424,722 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
15Classified under 33 themes, including "mission", "based on novel or book", "elves", "dwarf".
16Released under 20 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie
Original score: Howard Shore
Editing: Michael Horton
Production design: Grant Major
Costume design: Ngila Dickson
Makeup / hair: Richard Taylor
VFX supervisor: Geoff Dixon
Sound: David Farmer
Stunt coordinator: George Marshall Ruge
Runtime: 179 min · 2h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $79,000,000
Box office: $926,287,400
Return: 1173% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Sound Editing
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

The Lord of the Rings Collection

The Lord of the Rings trilogy consists of three epic fantasy films, based on the influential novels written by J. R. R. Tolkien, directed by Peter Jackson.

Also by

Peter Jackson

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

NeoBrowser2013-07-20
★ 10/10
Peter Jackson has always maintained that The Two Towers is "the second act" of his epic undertaking, and perhaps the true greatness of the middle chapter will only be clear when viewed in context. As a stand-alone film, however, The Two Towers is not quite as good as Fellowship. (Nor, indeed, does it extend the universe or deepen the relationships in the manner of The Empire Strikes Back.) That it still merits the full five stars is merely an indication of how high the benchmark has been set. Picking up pretty much where Fellowship left off, this is a considerably darker film, with Frodo (Wood) falling further under the influence of the Ring (giving rise to some seriously spooky hallucinations), while Saruman (Christopher Lee) wreaks even more havoc. There's also the first appearance of Saruman's spy, the sinister Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), and the complex Gollum, a brilliant combination of computer trickery and raspy vocals from Andy Serkis (the campaign for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar starts here). Other newcomers include Faramir (David Wenham), the understandably miffed brother of the recently deceased Boromir, and Éowyn (Miranda Otto), who spends much of her time casting winsome glances in the general direction of Aragorn (Mortensen). Eventually the plot complexities become more coherent, setting the action up for the forthcoming finale, The Return Of The King. As we've come to expect, this is spectacular stuff - from an opening which sees Frodo troubled by dreams about the demise of Gandalf, through to the climactic Battle Of Helm's Deep, which is nothing short of breathtaking. But Jackson cleverly tempers the louder, brasher sequences with some heartstring-tugging moments - peasants despondent as they are forced to abandon their villages, Aragorn and Arwen's troubled relationship, and, of course, the return of Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen, superb as ever), one of the film's most powerful, memorable images that may well leave Ring devotees a little misty-eyed. However, those who still believe that the trilogy is beyond criticism may find their views challenged by The Two Towers. It's just as long as the first film, but gets the heroes no closer to a final victory. And, where the first movie developed its emotional tone from the brightness of The Shire to a darker climax, the sequel is more of a one-note affair, shadowy in both look and content. This is particularly true of the Ringbearer's quest, which adds the not-insignifcant Gollum to the party, but suffers more than the other story strands from the cross-cutting and finishes with a nearly identical pep talk from Sam to the tearful speech that climaxed Fellowship. Of course, given the nature of the material, and Jackson's desire to be faithful, this is all understandable. And by the time we all end up under siege at Helm's Deep, it's unlikely anyone will give a toss about narrative arcs: like Gollum, this is simply gob-smacking, mind-blowing, never-seen-before stuff. Verdict - It may lack the first-view-thrill and natural dramatic shape of Fellowship, but this is both funnier and darker than the first film, and certainly more action-packed. An essential component of what is now destined to be among the best film franchises of all time. 5/5 - Caroline Westbrook, Empire Magazine
Wuchak2018-03-10
★ 6/10
That Damned Ring. RELEASED IN 2002 and directed by Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” adapts the second part of JRR Tolkien’s popular fantasy trilogy about adventures on Middle-Earth. The surviving ‘Fellowship’ of the first film has been divided into three small groups for this one: The Hobbits Frodo and Sam (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin) team-up with the mad Gollum (Andy Serkis) to make their way to Mordor, but are captured by Faramir (David Wenham), the brother of the deceased Boromir. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas the Elf (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) encounter the once-great King Theoden (Bernard Hill), who has fallen under the spell of Saruman (Christopher Lee) via his devious minion Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Meanwhile the Hobbits Pippin and Merry (Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan) try to enlist the help of huge tree creatures. Gandalf is also on hand (Ian McKellen). These story threads culminate in the great Battle at Helms Deep in the third hour. This three-hour fantasy/adventure starts out more engaging than the first film, which was laden by its overlong, convoluted and (for the most part) unnecessary prologue. Like that movie, the characters are colorful, the tale is imaginative, there’s a lot of brutal action rounded out by quieter moments and everything LOOKS and SOUNDS great. Unfortunately, after the first act, Jackson opts for CGI porn (excessive use of CGI with the corresponding dizzying visual effects). The first film did this too, but this one ups the ante and so there’s not as much spectacular New Zealand cinematography (i.e. real forests, mountains, rivers, etc.). If cartoony CGI is your thang then you’ll likely appreciate this installment more than me. There are other problems: While the characters are imaginative, they’re also shallow and rather dull, at least for mature people who require more depth to maintain their interest. Also, the wide-spanning (meandering) story with numerous characters and hard-to-remember names tends to be disengaging. I was never much captivated by the characters and their causes, although uber-fans of Tolkien might be. Another problem is the lack of prominent female protagonists. We have Miranda Otto as Éowyn, Théoden's niece, who falls in love with the noble Aragorn and that’s about it, except for cameos by Liv Tyler as Arwen and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel. “Mythica: A Quest for Heroes” (2014) cost LESS THAN $100,000 to make, which is a mere fraction of the $94 million it cost to make this blockbuster and the filmmakers knew enough to include a couple of prominent babes as key protagonists in the story. Despite these negatives, “The Two Towers” was an ultra-ambitious undertaking and is a must for fantasy/adventure aficionados who liked the first movie. THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours 59 minutes and was shot in New Zealand. GRADE: B-/C+
JPV8522020-09-15
★ 9/10
Still probably my favorite of the three, while it's pretty streamlined and far more action centric with little development compared with Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King, I always find this one really entertaining with the Helm's Deep battle. 4.5/5