The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2005)

The second part to the J.R.R. Tolkien book based film trilogy is more darker than the first. The fellowship is broken, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) travel to Mordor accompanied by the treacherous Gollum/Sméagol (Andy Serkis). Merry (Dominic Monaghan, now known in TV's Lost) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) have been kidnapped by the Urukhai, but get rescued by Treebeard (John Rhys-Davies), and they plan their battle with other Ents. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) have joined forces with the King Theoden of Rohan (Bernard Hill). Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen), now a White wizard has returned, and with Thoedon's bunch they plan the battle of Helm's Deep against Orcs and Uruks sent from Isegard by traitor White wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee). BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated director Peter Jackson has done another fantastic job, and the big battle is spectacular. Also starring Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Miranda Otto as Eowyn of Rohan, Brad Dourif as Wormtongue, David Wenham as Faramir, Karl Urban as Eomer and Sean Bean as Boromir (flashback). Featuring the song "Gollum's Song" by Emilíana Torrini. It won the Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Picture, it won the BAFTAs for the Audience, Best Special Visual Effects and Best Costume Design, and it was nominated for the BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Production Design, Best Sound, the David Lean Award for Direction and Best Film, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama. Cate Blanchett was number 37, and Sir Christopher Lee number 31 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, he was number 13, and Sir Ian McKellen number 4 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, and McKellen was number 5 on Britain's Finest Actors, the film was number 85 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes ("My precious."), it was number 22 on The Ultimate Film, and as part of the trilogy, all three films were number 11 on The 100 Greatest Family Films. Outstanding!