The Two Towers is the second installment in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, now available as an extended Blu-ray 5 disc set. This sequel to the Fellowship of the Ring kicks up the action a notch as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are fighting the Uruk-hai (who are like orcs on steroids) alongside kingships and defending castle keeps. Frodo and Sam, having gone off on their own at the end of Fellowship, find themselves at the mercy of the black sheep Faramir, brother of the fallen Boromir, who thinks he must bring the ring back to restore his father’s faith in him. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin have fallen into the hands of a band of Uruk-hai who are taking them back to Saruman, thinking that one of them is the “halfling” in possession of the ring.
This sequel contains a lot more war and violence than Fellowship. Here the characters have already done a lot of their bonding and the story is more about fighting against the evil wizard Saruman and his army of orcs.
Extra Scenes – As with the extended version of Fellowship, more will be explained in this edition of Two Towers. If you have seen the original, you might find some aha! moments as the extra scenes will fill in a lot of gaps edited out of the original (obviously for time). More of the relationship between the elf and the dwarf is also explored where you get to see them come together even more as friends as well as friendly competitors on the battlefield.
Video – Like with the extended Blu-ray version of Fellowship, The Two Towers Blu-ray has an amazing video quality with crisp images and vivid colors. Considering the fact that Two Towers won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, you definitely need to watch the Blu-ray version to see how incredible these effects really are.
Sound – The high def audio in Two Towers stands out over the first installment as there is so much more war action and the sound therefore becomes an integral part of the story. You’ll definitely want to turn it up as the film also won an Oscar for Best Sound Editing.
Special Features – There are numerous commentaries with cast, production, director and writers, as well as design team. This is facilitated by splitting up the film onto two discs. There are also introductions from director Peter Jackson and actor Elijah Wood, featurettes about the book adaptation process, about Gollum and New Zealand, as well as the visual effects, the music and sound, and a behind-the scenes documentary about filming the Two Towers.
Like with the extended Blu-ray edition of Fellowship, The Two Towers Blu-ray set is a must-have for any ardent fan of the series. This version gives a better understanding of the story and the characters involved while the Blu-ray format makes it a completely engaging and mind-blowing experience. Rating: A+
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