The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers - 2002

Our next film is the second installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2002's "The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers", in which we see the first major battle in the quest to destroy the One Ring.  Frodo and Sam also get much closer to Mordor and are assisted by an unlikely ally.

The film's ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellan, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, and Craig Parker.

The film begins with the story of what happened to Gandalf after he fell from the bridge in the previous film.  Instead of dying, as was presumed, he fights with the Balrog in the deepest places of the Earth.

We move on to Frodo and Sam who are trying to find the best route to Mordor to destroy the ring.  They can't seem to find their way and are going in circles.

The come across the creature Gollum.  The capture him after he tries to kill them for the ring, and make him promise to lead them to Mordor.  They also make him swear on the ring that he will keep his word.

Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are hot on the trail of Merry and Pippin, who were taken by a band of Orcs.

We also find that Saruman is hard at work enacting the will of Sauron, and he is in constant communication with him.

In the Kingdom of Rohan, we find that King Theoden is under some sort of trance and takes little or no interest in the affairs of his kingdom, even the death of his son.  His nephew Eomer and niece Eowyn are with him constantly, but forces outside their control intervene in their relationship.

Theoden's advisor, Grima Wormtongue, is running the kingdom in reality.  He banishes Eomer from Rohan under pain of death.  Eomer takes a group of soldiers loyal to him into exile.  While on their way out of Rohan, they kill the group of Orcs that held Merry and Pippin captive, but neither of those two hobbits are to be found.

Eomer and his company come across Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.  They provide them horses and tell them not to look for friends in Rohan because of the evil there.

We do find out what happened to Merry and Pippin.  They are under the charge of an ent called Treebeard, who takes them to the White Wizard.

Merry and Pippin are sure that the White Wizard is Saruman, but they are pleasantly surprised when they find out who it is.

Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes on the borders of Mordor.

Faces appear in the water.  Gollum says they are "elves and men and orcses" and they came from a great battle long ago.

They quickly take cover when a ringwraith riding a nazgul appears.  Frodo has to fight with everything in him not to put the ring on his finger.

Still on the trail of Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come face to face with the White Wizard.

They are surprised and thrilled to find out that the White Wizard is Gandalf.

He tells them the rest of his story.  He eventually defeated the Balrog.  As he lay dying, he was sent back to Middle Earth until his task was complete.  He is know Gandalf the White.

Gandalf calls his horse, Shadowfax, and the other three are very impressed with the lord of all horses.

The ride quickly to Edoras, the capital of Rohan, for war has come, and Gandalf has some business to attend to with an old friend.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum come to the Black Gate of Mordor, but quickly find that they cannot enter it without being spotted.  Gollum tells them there is a secret, more dark way with winding stairs that will take them into Mordor.  Frodo tells him to show them the way.

Gandalf and his companions arrive at Edoras.  He tells them that King Theoden lives here, but his mind if overthrown.

His niece, Eowyn, watches from the main hall as Gandalf and company arrive.

Gandalf makes his way to Theoden and breaks the curse over him.  We find out that Saruman is controlling him from Isengard.

King Theoden returns to himself, and Eowyn, particularly, is very glad to have her uncle back.  Theoden immediately casts his adviser Grima out of Edoras, and he races on horseback to Saruman's side.

Theoden looks around for his son, and he is crushed when he is told that he's dead.

Preparing for the coming war, Theoden orders all the people of Edoras to make for the refuge of Helm's Deep.  Gandalf leaves quickly for reinforcements and tells Aragorn to look for his coming "at first light on the fifth day...at dawn look to the east."

Eowyn prepares to leave for Helm's Deep.  We find she is very well practiced in the art of sword fighting.  In reality, she longs to fight for her country like the men.

Gollum, meanwhile, has formed a trusting relationship with Frodo.  He has a quarrel with his bad side and casts him out, telling him to leave and never come back.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum later watch as armies make their way to Mordor to take part in Sauron's war against mankind.

While watching, they are caught by Faramir, a captain of Gondor.  Their hands are bound and a blindfold is put on them as they are taken away.

On their way to Helm's Deep, Eowyn realizes that she has feelings for Aragorn.

Aragorn, however, reasserts his love for Arwen, the daughter of Elrond of Rivendell.

While traveling to Helm's Deep, the people of Rohan are attacked by Wargs.  Eowyn is charged with leading the people to Helm's Deep, while the men stay and fight.

During the fighting, Aragorn goes over the side of a cliff and is presumed dead from the battle.

Eowyn successfully leads the people to Helm's Deep.  They find that a large number of people have already taken refuge there.

Grima Wormtongue tells Saruman about Helm's Deep.  He tells him about its one weakness: a storm drain carved out of solid rock.

Saruman reveals his army that will attack Helm's Deep, a massive force that's tens of thousands of orcs strong.  Saruman sends them out on their deadly mission.

We find that Aragorn has drifted along a river and washed up on a bank.  His horse finds him and nudges him back to life.  Aragorn manages to get on the horse's back and travel to Helm's Deep.  He also is able to see Saruman's army on its way.

Arwen's father, Elrond, tells her that there is slim hope for her future with Aragon.

He tells her that even if everything goes well, Aragorn will still die.  She is cursed to live the immortal life of an elf for eternity, bound to her grief once he dies.

Elrond convinces Arwen to sail with the rest of the elves to the Undying Lands, where she won't have to be confronted with Aragorn's death.

Faramir, meanwhile, is revealed to be Boromir's brother.  He continues to hold Frodo and Sam captive, while Gollum is nowhere in sight.

Gollum is eventually located, but in order to save his life, Frodo must allow him to be captured, which devastates Gollum.  He quickly reverts to his evil self and informs Faramir that Frodo is carrying the One Ring.

Aragorn makes it to Helm's Deep to warn Theoden about the army that is coming.  They struggle to muster enough men to make an army of their own.

Elrond, however, has sent an army of elves to assist them in fighting Saruman's forces.

The two armies finally meet, and it's a hard fight.  Saruman's army manages to breach the wall and drive Theoden's forces into the main keep.

Faramir takes Frodo, Sam, and Gollum to Osgiliath, near Gondor, to assist his own forces there.  Frodo begs Faramir to let him go.

Treebeard, with Merry and Pippin, is shocked when he comes to a clearing.  He sees that many of the trees have been cut down and he is heartbroken.  Many of them were his friends, "creatures I had known from nut and acorn."

He lets out a mighty roar that signals the other ents to come to his location.

They decide to wage a war of their own on the perpetrator of this crime: Saruman.

When morning comes at Helm's Deep, only a handful of men from Theoden's army are left.  Aragorn convinces Theoden to ride out and make a last valiant effort against Saruman's forces.

Gimli sounds the horn that calls the remaining troops to attention and to battle once more.

This, however, is the fifth day, and Gandalf has arrived.  He brings Eomer home to Rohan with his loyal army.  A victory for Theoden comes as the remaining orcs flee the area.

The ents, meanwhile, completely destroy Saruman's operations at Isengard.  They even manage to break a dam and release the river, which extinguishes all the fires Saruman had started.

Frodo comes face to face with the ringwraith that stabbed him on Weathertop.  He nearly puts on the ring in front of him.

Sam stops him just in time, and gives a rousing speech which renews Frodo's determination to finish their quest.  Faramir finally understands Frodo's mission, and releases them to go into Mordor on their own.

Gollum, however, hatches a plan to lead the hobbits into a trap so he can keep the ring for himself.

Cast rundown:

   Elijah Wood............................................Frodo Baggins

   Sean Astin.............................................Samwise Gamgee

   Cate Blanchett........................................Galadriel

   Orlando Bloom........................................Legolas

   Billy Boyd...............................................Peregrin "Pippin" Took

   Christopher Lee.......................................Saruman

   Andy Serkis............................................Gollum

   Ian McKellan...........................................Gandalf

   Dominic Monaghan..................................Merry Brandybuck

   Viggo Mortensen......................................Aragorn

   John Rhys-Davies.....................................Gimli/Treebeard

   Liv Tyler..................................................Arwen

   Hugo Weaving.........................................Elrond

   Bernard Hill.............................................Theoden, King of Rohan

   Miranda Otto............................................Eowyn

   Karl Urban...............................................Eomer

   David Wenham.........................................Faramir

   Craig Parker.............................................Haldir

And that's all for The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.  It's my favorite of the TLOTR films.  The scene where Gandalf calls his horse Shadowfax is a particularly beautiful one.  It was filmed in one take.

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