This is History in the making.

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2002)

Apart from the world premiere, where the industry insiders and movie critics from the press got to see it first before everyone else, I got to see one of the earliest screenings of the "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" in the
world! And being in Singapore, and as you know, the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, which means Singapore, being somewhere near the Easternmost part of the World (apart from "Middle-Earth" New Zealand), I get to see it before anybody else!
It was 5pm on December the 18th, 2002, Singapore time. As the New Line logo comes on screen, I start hearing the familiar music from the soundtrack ("Foundations of Stone") which I had bought a week earlier. Then I see the snow-peaked mountains of Caradhras. And from then on, it starts with a bang.
And what a bang it was. Right from the beginning to the end, I was restraining myself from answering nature's call (except for the Passage of the Marshes, which I missed, but heck, it's relatively boring, and I might see it again for another 3.. no 5.. no 9 times later). I literally don't want to miss one single frame (except from the occasional subliminal eye blinks)! Oh if only I have photographic memory...
Alright, let me just highlight some parts of the movie which I think is worth mentioning (not necessarily in chronological film order).

Gandalf's return. When he starts to recount his transcendence into Gandalf the White, there is this brief sequence of abstract stars, lights, rays, as if we're seeing a documentary on cosmology (think Black Holes, Big Bang, Supernovae)... It was almost sci-fi-ish.

Gimli's hysterics. His falling off the horse a few times is unnecessary. But hahah... the "Toss Me" part is great.

Aragorn. We really get to see the future King of Men revealing his character here, not just as a noble leader, but a fearless warrior. There was once after Haldir died, he fought off a few Uruks and got on one of those ladders and it went swinging down... to a sea of more Uruk-Hai, disregarding all the spikes and other sharp thingies jutting out ready to pike him if he miscalculates his land... That is true valour.

Theoden King. "Where is the horse and the rider"... this part was from the book, albeit a little altered. The poem is much longer and it was Aragorn who quoted it. It was truly dramatic, almost Shakespearen, except for the redundant blinding white light behind him coming from the door. Where did that come from?

And of course, how can any review of TTT fail to mention abt Helm's Deep or the Flooding of Isengard. Simply put, Helm's Deep is the most spectacular sequence since Ben Hur's Chariot Race. And the Flooding, the most awesome since The Ten Commandments' splitting of the Red Sea. Hey, both films have Charlton Heston in them. Heheh..
Hmm.. I'm actually in the middle of writing a novel here. I'd gladly let Peter Jackson adapt it to a movie, anytime, no questions asked.