The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Full Reaction)
Added 2024-01-23 03:11:13 +0000 UTCHere we go! The second movie in this epic trilogy is here! "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" is the second installment in the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy. The story continues the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring as they face various challenges and dangers in the land of Middle-earth. The film explores the separate journeys of Frodo and Sam, the conflict at Helm's Deep, and the growing darkness threatening the realm.
THIS REACTION CONTAINS SPOILERS: Since I am comparing the book to this film, my reaction contains spoilers about things that haven't yet happened. Please be aware of that if this is your first time watching this movie. You may want to watch it first and then watch this with me.
Watched on: YouTube / Runtime: 3:55:20 (This movie is currently available on HBO Max)
Comments
I have a few things to say, first of all, excuse my grammar hahahaha, thanks for the comment that was very interesting, wish you wrote more, you are interesting, do you have a channel?
Mark M
2024-08-31 06:34:50 +0000 UTCI did see it! Thank you! Although, I thought it was so sad. The ents are so lovely and I don't want them to be hurt.
Jacqueline
2024-02-12 02:58:02 +0000 UTCJust getting around to this marathon of a movie and had a few comments of my own to throw into the mix! Frodo and Sam being taken to Osgiliath did not happen in the books. I can't recall if Peter Jackson ever gave a reason for it but if I had to guess, it was to both introduce the ruined city now for viewers to have some reference (as it shows up in the third movie for a few scenes) and to add more tension to the movie. Jackson does this several times in all three movies! I'm no book purist though and understand the need to deviate from source material from time to time. Secondly, Theoden's decision to movie what forces he can muster to Helms Deep is a sound decision that the movie frames as a poor one, again for "tension". Helms Deep is a fortress that sits astride the only route to both Edoras and Gondor. Saruman has to take the fortress to protect his supply lines (orcs do need to eat) and Theodan's best choice, while the rest of his Rohirrim gathers, is to defend it. I could nerd about it a lot more but suffice to say, Gandalf's advice to "ride out and meet them" would have been a disaster. Finally, I laugh every time Aragon swings Haleth's sword around and calls it good. That sword looks more like it was just dug up from bog than something supposedly kept in good condition at an iconic fortress.
Kiera
2024-01-30 01:22:19 +0000 UTCFirst, another wonderful reaction Jax! <3 This will not be as long as my TFotR full-length reaction comment, I promise! TTT is my favorite of the three movies indeed (as it seems to be with so many others here), and Book 3 (of the 6 'Book's) is my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings (The Departure of Boromir to The Palantir). I think overall The Two Towers is also my favorite of the three 'Volumes' of The LotR, with The Fellowship... a VERY close second. Now to my notes (only 3 pages this time! LOL) - Fun fact: Before Legolas says, "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!" He mistakenly gives the direction they went as NORTHEAST. BZZZZ WRONG, LEGOLAS! Northwest would be toward Fangorn, NorthEAST would take them back to the Great River and if crossed, thence to Dol Guldur! D'ohh!! - Yes, Saruman IS comparing himself to Sauron. He is the same type of being (a Maia (angel) of the Vala (god) Aule (pronounced OWL-ee)), though Sauron entered Melkor's (Morgoth's) ranks well before even the Two Trees of Valinor were created by the Valar. Saruman can only hope to best Sauron if he gets The One Ring for himself but his foolish thinking has him believing he WILL. Bzzzz! WRONG! - The Man swearing to Saruman was from Dunland. No scene is in the book but it is said that the Dunlendings swore to serve Saruman to make Rohan 'pay' for 'taking their lands'. SOME truth to that... - Ofc Patrick mentioned Viggo's toe, though I think it was two toes. - The Fangorn scenes were all shot in a soundstage with an intricate forest set built inside. Actors and crew often had a time finding their way out LOL. Many other forest scenes were done on location; they just couldn't find the 'right' forest to portray as Fangorn. Fun fact: Fangorn means Treebeard in Sindarin (Elvish). - When we first hear Gandalf and it sounds like Saruman, it's just a clever combination of Chris' voice with Ian's. - Shadowfax is silver grey in the book, not white. He would be nearly invisible by night in the wild. IDK whose idea it was but the 'hero on the white horse' idea is hard to shake I guess. - The DVD extra 'The Taming of Smeagol' is worth every moment to watch. It shows a lot of Andy Serkis' work and shows how he was SOOO much more than just a voice actor! His reaction to realizing what his role meant to the story, his physicality on sets and locations and more are shown herein. I recommend you watch it b4 the 3rd movie. - 'Old Man Willow' from the Old Forest chapter of TFotR got moved to TTT and Treebeard got to say Bombadil's lines to free Merry and Pippin. - The views of Edoras with the mountains behind is all REAL New Zealand! The hill is called Mount Sunday and they got permission to build on it! Any filming they did on location was plagued by high winds but they managed some movie magic there. - I love the design of Theoden's sword too. Many fans do. - The 5-petaled flowers on the grave mounds, Simbelmyne (pronounce Simble-Myrna) is another great example of Tolkien's world-building. He made up new types of flowers and trees besides new languages and cultures for his fantastic world. - I'm a poet and don'cha know it. The only horses to die were all CGI. - True that Aragorn did not go over a cliff in the book, just another bit of license from the moviemakers. A little continuity error has Brego's rope removed at the stable only to reappear on the horse when he rescues Aragorn (but only the extended ver. has the stable scene). - Grima (Wormtongue) perhaps cried bc he began to regret his role against his homeland when he saw Saruman had such a huge army. - In the scene between Elrond and Arwen there is a really cool little tapestry of the Two Trees of Valinor. I want one :D - Someone might help me with this because I don't know WHY staying with Aragorn automatically means she chooses mortality. I guess it would be considered 'cheating' (?) in a way to marry, have A's kid(s) and then go to Valinor once he dies. That's my guess. Maybe Manwe said, "I don't THINK so... Valar don't PLAY dat!" LOL :D - Where Frodo and Sam were captured is NOT Orc territory, it is still very much part of Gondor called Ithilien. Both Faramir and Boromir were Rangers of Ithilien. - The whole Faramir story arc has been covered enough. For the movie, I agree with it, as wrong as it 'feels'. Sam even gives a nod to the changes by saying, "By rights we shouldn't even be here." - The other big change was Haldir leading a force of Elves to Helm's Deep. I've heard there were huge applause in theaters even by purists when this scene unfolded. It also served to set up the 'one epic death' scene that the producers felt each movie should have, so we have Boromir, Haldir and (spoilers!). - You were clutching Lamby so hard a few times, and then you said something about it looking like a game just as (I SWEAR) I said out loud, "Why not set up some goal posts or something?" :D - Patrick Egan mentioned 'Gollum's Song' sung by Emiliana Torrini. It's short and hauntingly good. I never skip it. I like it even more than 'Into the West' sung by Annie Lennox. Well that wasn't MUCH shorter than the last one, but a bit... Looking forward to your reaction to TRotK. ;* <3
MertzRocks
2024-01-29 05:13:00 +0000 UTCWoohoo! I'm glad you liked this ❤️
Jacqueline
2024-01-27 07:01:04 +0000 UTCAnother great reaction Jax. And your having read these books once again brings added depth to the reaction. Bravo.
Richard Maurer
2024-01-24 02:46:18 +0000 UTCYou said a lot of things I was going to say, so I won't bother repeating them. I'll just say that while it might be blasphemy to book purists there are some things the movies handle better than the books, and Faramir's interaction with the ring is one of them. With everything we know about how strong the temptation of the ring is, Faramir just rejecting it out of hand makes less sense than him struggling with it.
Richard Maurer
2024-01-24 02:43:23 +0000 UTCI'm so glad you're enjoying these movies as much as you are, Jax! I kept some notes as I was watching, I'll try not to ramble TOO much :) * There are a couple of silly videos on YouTube you'd probably enjoy. One is the "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!" meme song, and the other is "Uruk-Hai with normal voices", which overdubs them to sound like regular folk and it's HILARIOUS * I love the little arc of the mother sending her kids away and eventually reuniting with them at Helm's Deep. It's so simple, yet so gratifying * Jax, that moment with Wormtongue where you're like, "Ew, Oh God, just kill him!" was one of the funniest things I've seen in any of your reactions :) * Since someone has to tell every reactor about this, when Aragorn kicked the helmet Viggo actually broke his toe so that scream was VERY real. * When Aragorn tracks the hobbits' escape from the Orcs into the forest, did anyone else get a vibe of Prince Humperdink from The Princess Bride? * Jax, your face when Treebeard first opens his eyes was ADORABLE :) * I love the touch of giving Gandalf one of the Lothlorien cloaks. It's a nice nod to the book where Gwaihir the Eagle carries him from the mountaintop to Lothlorien. * Theoden's "de-aging" scene after Gandalf frees him from Saruman's hold remains one of my all-time favorite special effects shots. It's masterfully done. * Bernard Hill absolutely crushes it in the scene with Gandalf after Theodred's funeral. When he says "No parent should have to bury their child" and then breaks down in tears, it hits me RIGHT in the feels. * One of the biggest things Peter Jackson changed in these movies is with some of the characters who in the book made the "right" choice immediately. In the movies, we see them find their way to that decision instead, and I think in this medium it does work better. We see it with Aragorn and his destiny to be king, we see it with Faramir deciding whether to let Frodo go, and we saw it with the Ents initially deciding not to battle Saruman. * The Ents emerging from Fangorn to march on Isengard is one of the best scenes of the trilogy, the music that plays during it is INCREDIBLE. * If you skipped it initially, I HIGHLY recommend going back and listening to the closing credits song. It's called "Gollum's Song", and it's hauntingly beautiful. Back when I still played a little piano, it was one of my favorite pieces. As for which of these movies is my favorite, I'm not sure I can pick one since it's really all one big story. I do think when comparing the movies to their respective books, this one does stand out. Though they did move one of Theoden's best speeches from this book into the next movie, so it's kinda unfair :) I think I may still be partial to the first movie just because of how well they did bringing the "Black Rider" from of the Nazgul to life, as well as the Balrog. I'm glad you're taking the time to read the books first, though I hope you finish soon because I'm VERY much looking forward to your Return Of The King reaction! :)
Patrick Egan
2024-01-23 19:43:15 +0000 UTCSince you didn't visibly react to it and since I know many people miss it, I just want to make sure you noticed the both logical and hilarious action of the Ent-on-fire at 3:19:06 (on your counter; 3:21:31 on YouTube).
Happy Hanukkah
2024-01-23 08:18:19 +0000 UTCI'm going to watch this as soon as I can (darn job getting in the way again).
Richard Maurer
2024-01-23 05:42:14 +0000 UTCAh, how exciting! Thank you, Jax! 😁 Have you finished reading RotK yet? We need to know what we can and cannot yet say to you!
Phil Stubblefield
2024-01-23 04:40:10 +0000 UTCThis was a fantastic film! I enjoyed it more than the first one, which surprised me!
Jacqueline
2024-01-23 04:28:56 +0000 UTCI hope you enjoy this over the weekend!!
Jacqueline
2024-01-23 04:28:07 +0000 UTCYes!!! My favorite LOTR movie! Can't wait to check out your reaction 😁
Future_Boy85
2024-01-23 04:26:09 +0000 UTCWhile the Trilogy is a perfect cohesive experience, the Two Towers has always been my favorite of the trilogy. The section from Gandalf arriving in Edoras, freeing Theoden, and Theodred's funeral is my favorite segment in any film ever. It just exudes culture & history. Rohan feels real.
Nathan Swapp
2024-01-23 04:25:43 +0000 UTCWhy? Why do you drop this on a Monday? Well...probably because the world doesn't revolve around me. Well...shit. Yeah, okay. Conceded. I'll be watching this on the weekend. Might just be my favorite of the three.
Steve Mercier
2024-01-23 03:25:40 +0000 UTCLesh goo!
Milsr09
2024-01-23 03:14:42 +0000 UTC
