ake no mistake: Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a masterful epic, an intricately choreographed cinematic experience that does justice to J.R.R. Tolkien's original work.
If there's any disappointment with this DVD, it's with the total lack of supplemental content of substance. Granted, this is the first of two Two Towers DVD releases; as with Fellowship of the Ring, New Line is releasing an extended edition of Two Towers on DVD, and that's the version that will house such coveted extras as the director's commentary and behind-the-scenes footage that doesn't look like it's been produced for an MTV video, which appears to be the depth of the extras included on this first release.
Nonetheless, this first DVD installment does have a certain appeal. After all, this is the critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated film in the form of its original release—a value that will be lost amid the brouhaha once the extended edition is released in November. Aside from the purists who want to retain a copy of the theatrical cut of Two Towers, the sole other reason to buy this DVD is for the 10-minute preview of this December's The Return of the King.
Two Towers, of course, picks up where Fellowship left off, following the quest of Hobbits Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) to return the One Ring to Mordor. Meanwhile, the rest of the fellowship has been separated by circumstance, leaving Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd) in Fangorn Forest, and Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas the elf (Bloom), and Gimli the dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) make their way to the kingdom of Rohan, where they become entrenched in a last-stand battle against Saruman's forces of evil.
One of the stunning things about Two Towers is its majestic scope—and though the film is designed for a viewing in a theater, that scope is somehow retained even in the confines of the 12-foot experience of one's living room. In many ways, this film exceeds the accomplishment of its predecessor: It successfully pieces together three separate storylines amid the backdrop of Middle-earth's sweeping landscapes, the complex battle at Helm's Deep and the detailed CG effects such as those that helped bring the character of Gollum (Serkis) alive.
A package that is all gloss but no substance
Although we knew in advance that this DVD release would be short on the pickings, we didn't expect to be so thoroughly disappointed in the extras. Maybe it's because of disappointments like how the animated menus could be more, well, animated, and the menu screen easier to read. Or the menu's background music just ceases playing after a while on screen. Or maybe it's because the extras included on here are such slick, overproduced soundbites that they just leave you craving something more.
Disc one contains just the film (two versions are available, in widescreen, which we reviewed, and full screen pan-and-scan), with its Dolby Digital EX 5.1 and stereo soundtracks and English and Spanish subtitles.
All of the extras are housed on disc two. And while some of these items are nice to have (it's fun to think that all eight of those super-short featurettes that ran on www.lordoftherings.net are preserved for posterity), even together they don't add up to a justification for buying this DVD.
The most interesting bit here is only tangentially related to the making of Lord of the Rings. There's a cute short film (about six minutes) directed by Sean Astin, and an even more appealing eight-minute piece about the making of Astin's film, The Long and the Short of It. The making-of segment shows Rings stars and crew in a new light, and it showcases the camaraderie and humor that persisted among this tight-knit group during filming.
If you dig deep enough, you'll find a smattering of intriguing tidbits amongst the short featurettes. But each is only a few minutes in length. For the most part, watching these bits is like hearing the McPaper version of the news—you're teased into knowing something is interesting, but there's no substance to what you're seeing.
Also on this disc are two behind-the-scenes clip-fests, each of which had a former life as TV special. The shorter of the two, which aired on Starz, runs only about 13 minutes and is produced in a staccato, MTV-esque fashion. The WB special Return to Middle-Earth is no better, but at least it runs longer—about 42 minutes in all.
Then there's the original theatrical trailers and TV spots, Emiliana Torrini's music video for "Gollum's Song," and previews of the extended DVD edition (which sounds like it will be fascinating to watch, as was Fellowship's extended cut), of The Return of the King (the movie, highlighted with more behind-the-scenes footage than actual footage) and The Return of the King (the upcoming EA video game).
