Starring:
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
Sean Astin as Samwise ‘Sam’ Gamgee
Liv Tyler as Arwen Undómiel
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
Billy Boyd as Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took
Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck
Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
Sean Bean as Boromir
Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum
Christopher Lee as Saruman
Special Features:
“The Two Towers Behind-the-Scenes” documentary (106 minutes)
The Theatrical and Special Extended Editions of the film
Animated menus
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
Running Time (Theatrical Version): 179 Minutes
Running Time (Extended Version): 223 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the official DVD description:
“For a limited time, experience a new look at Middle-earth with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Limited Edition DVDs in three separate collectors editions. A must-have for every The Lord of the Rings enthusiast, each of the Academy Award®-winning films will be presented in a two-disc set with a behind-the-scenes documentary exclusive to each limited edition. Disc one presents both the Special Extended Edition and the Theatrical Edition of the film through seamless branching, while disc two features an intimate, never-before-seen documentary created by Costa Botes, the all-access filmmaker commissioned by Peter Jackson. With more than five hours of captivating, never-before-released footage, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring Limited Edition,’ ‘The Two Towers Limited Edition’ and ‘The Return of the King Limited Edition.'”
This film is rated PG-13 for epic battle sequences and some scary images.
Mini-Review:
Rather than looking at the film itself, I’ll just focus on the new behind-the-scenes documentary on this Limited Edition DVD.
Like the documentary for “The Fellowship of the Ring,” this “Two Towers” documentary gives you a real fly-on-the-wall look at the making of the movie. There’s a lot more raw footage on the making of the film. They interview a lot more of the crew members that do the unglamorous jobs on the production. There’s also a lot more footage of the cast and crew clowning around. In fact, the documentary opens and closes with Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan clowning around in a trailer on the set. It involves comparing chest hairs, a blow up doll, and abusing each other. I’ll say no more. You’ll also see alternative versions of scenes, some deleted scenes, and other goodies rolled into the footage. Botes also gets heavily into the technical aspects of the making of the movie and the creation of Gollum himself.
The previous Extended Edition DVD is the definitive version to have, but this documentary is something that die-hard LOTR fans are going to want to have. Thirty dollars is a heck of a lot of money to spend for a 106 minute documentary, but as a “Star Wars” fan I can say I’ve spent more for less bonus features on a DVD.
