The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 [TRUSTED DOWNLOAD]Directed by Peter Jackson
Produced by Peter Jackson
Barrie M. Osborne
Frances Walsh
Written by Frances Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Stephen Sinclair
Peter Jackson
Novel:
J. R. R. Tolkien
Starring Elijah Wood
Ian McKellen
Liv Tyler
Viggo Mortensen
Sean Astin
Cate Blanchett
John Rhys-Davies
Bernard Hill
Christopher Lee
Billy Boyd
Dominic Monaghan
Orlando Bloom
Hugo Weaving
Miranda Otto
David Wenham
Sean Bean
Brad Dourif
Andy Serkis
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Andrew Lesnie
Editing by Michael J. Horton
Jabez Olssen
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) December 5, 2002 (2002-12-05)
(New York City premiere)
December 18, 2002 (2002-12-18)
(United States)
December 19, 2002 (2002-12-19)
(New Zealand)
Running time 179 minutes
223 minutes (Extended version)
Country New Zealand
United States
Language English
Budget US$94 million
Gross revenue US$925,282,504[1]
Preceded by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Plot
The film begins with a flashback to the first film, with Gandalf battling the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf and the Balrog fall down into the immense chasm spanned by the bridge, fighting while in free-fall. Still wrestling, the duo reach some forgotten lake down in the depths of the Earth and there the flashback ends. Frodo awakens from this dream and continues his journey with his loyal friend, Sam. They are then attacked by the Ring-obsessed Gollum wishing to retrieve "his precious" from the ones who he thinks stole it from him. The Hobbits overcome him, binding him with Sam's Elven rope. Sam distrusts Gollum and wishes to abandon him, but Frodo understands the burden of the creature and takes pity on him. Realizing they are lost in the Emyn Muil and in need of a guide, Frodo persuades Gollum to lead them to the Black Gate of Mordor.
In Rohan, the pack of Uruk-hai from the end of the first film are running across the grass plains with their captives Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are in pursuit. After three days of running, the trio narrow the gap to the Uruks and Legolas sees that the Hobbits are being taken in the direction of Isengard, where Saruman is marshalling his Uruk-hai forces to do the bidding of Sauron. In the kingdom of Rohan, King Théoden is being mentally and physically subdued by the poisonous whisperings of his steward, Gríma Wormtongue, who is secretly in the service of Saruman. Orcs and Wild Men of Dunland, incited by Saruman, are freely roaming the land, burning villages, massacring the people and destroying crops. Recently, the King's only son Théodred fell victim to them, left mortally wounded in an ambush. Théoden's nephew Éomer interrogates Gríma, labelling him a spy: however, Gríma banishes Éomer, "on pain of death", for undermining his authority, and Éomer sets forth to gather the remaining loyal men of the Rohirrim and leave Rohan.
Frodo, Sam and Gollum traverse the Dead Marshes, passing the undead fallen warriors of the Battle of Dagorlad and evading an airborne Ringwraith, riding a fell beast. When they finally reach the Black Gate, they find the gate shut and heavily guarded by Orcs. However, as they watch, an Easterling contingent arrives and the gate opens for them to enter. Sensing a chance, despite the high probability of capture, Frodo and Sam make ready to move. However, they are held back by a clearly distressed and worried Gollum, who confirms their fears of capture and insists that any attempt to get in via the Black Gate will only end with the One Ring returning to Sauron. He then reveals that there is another way into Mordor, hidden and unguarded. Sam is immediately suspicious, but Frodo gives him the benefit of the doubt, pointing out that he has remained loyal thus far. Meanwhile, Éomer and his men ambush and kill all of the Orcs and Uruk-hai holding the two Hobbits captive at nightfall. During the battle, which takes place near the eaves of Fangorn forest, Merry and Pippin narrowly escape their captors by fleeing into the trees where they are aided by Treebeard, the oldest of the Ents of Middle-Earth.
Éomer later encounters Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in Rohan. He tells Aragorn that there were no survivors of the battle the night before and that the hobbits are most likely dead, slain by unhappy chance. Upon arriving at the battle site, Aragorn picks up the tracks of the Hobbits and deduces that they must have fled into Fangorn. The trio are approached and temporarily subdued by a wizard masked with shining white light. Initially fearing it is Saruman, the group are amazed when he reveals himself to be Gandalf reborn, now known as Gandalf the White. The quartet proceed to Edoras, where they exorcise Saruman's hold on King Théoden and banish Wormtongue. The now awakened Théoden has to come to terms with both his son's death and the threat of Saruman. Rather than risk open war and further hurt to his people, Théoden decides to flee to Helm's Deep, a large stronghold in the Mountains which in times of trouble has given the people of Rohan protection from invading armies. Gandalf realises that Helm's Deep's defences will not survive the Uruk onslaught that is surely to come. He leaves to find Éomer, promising to return within five days with the 2000 banished riders. As they lead the people of Edoras to Helm's Deep, Aragorn and Éowyn, Éomer's sister, form a close relationship. Aragorn tells Éowyn that Arwen, whom he loves, is leaving Middle-Earth to be with her people in the Undying Lands. In the meantime, Wormtongue has fled to Orthanc and informs Saruman of a weakness in the outer wall of Helm's Deep, which Saruman and his army of 10,000 Uruk-hai plan to exploit. Saruman dispatches his army to Helm's Deep, ordering them to spare no one.
Having led the Hobbits south from the Black Gate to the land of Ithilien, Gollum is in inner turmoil. After an argument, his good half, Sméagol, ultimately banishes his "evil" half. The three travellers then play witness to an ambush of Southrons by Gondorian soldiers but Frodo and Sam are subsequently taken captive by them. Meanwhile, on the journey to Helm's Deep, the Rohirrim are attacked by Saruman's Warg riders. During the battle, Aragorn tangles with a Warg and is thrown off a cliff into a fast-flowing river below: Theoden, Legolas, Gimli and the others believe him dead and journey on to Helm's Deep. In Rivendell, Elrond comes to his daughter Arwen and implores her to leave on the ships departing Middle-Earth, escaping the troubles of these lands. When she refuses, Elrond, in a devastating speech, uses his powers of foresight and slowly tells her future if she chooses to remain in Middle-Earth with Aragorn. As he is mortal, even if he succeeds in defeating Sauron and becomes King of Gondor, Aragorn will die eventually and Arwen will be left to fade away with her grief when he is gone. Once again Elrond pleads with her and she yields to him. As she leaves Rivendell, the words of Galadriel, concerning the plight of Men to defy Sauron, come to Elrond in that moment. She questions whether the Elves should wash their hands of Middle-Earth and points out that the Ring has manoeuvred itself into the company of Men which it can easily corrupt. Galadriel asks if they should abandon Men to their fate, even if it condemns Middle-Earth to fall under Sauron's rule for all time.
Surely enough, Frodo and Sam have been taken to Henneth Annûn, a stronghold for the Men of Ithilien, and brought before Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir. Gollum had eluded capture and in order to save him from death at the hands of Faramir's hunters, Frodo accepts that he and Gollum are bound to each other. Faramir investigates further and learns of the One Ring that Frodo carries. Seeking to prove his worth to his father the Steward, he decides the Ring shall go to Gondor. In Rohan, Aragorn washes up on the river bank and is nudged awake by the horse Brego, which formerly belonged to Theodred, and which Aragorn had set free before leaving Edoras. On the verge of collapse, he wills his horse to take him to Helm's Deep, passing Saruman's army of Uruk-hai on the way. His arrival at Helm's Deep is met with relief, but is short lived as the news of the strength of the approaching horde casts doubt upon the likely survival of the defenders. As night falls and in the midst of despair, a battalion of Elves arrayed in shining mail and led by Haldir, arrives from Lórien, bearing word of alliance and aid from Elrond. In Fangorn forest, Merry, Pippin, Treebeard and other Ents hold a council to decide on the role of the Ents in the war with Saruman.
In the pouring rain, the battle of Helm's Deep begins with a flurry of arrows from the defending archers, cutting down dozens of Uruk-hai. Scaling ladders are thrown up against the Deeping Wall, and the Uruks swarm up to engage the defenders. At first the onslaught is stayed by the valour of the Rohirrim and of Aragorn and his companions. Suddenly, the gutter in the Deeping Wall is blown up by a crude explosive device Saruman has created, allowing the Uruks entry into the outer defences. Despite Aragorn's and Gimli's best efforts, the Uruk-hai manage to penetrate the main gate and soon the stronghold is overrun. In the midst of battle, Haldir is slain and the few remaining Elves fall back. In the Hornburg however, the Uruks have scaled the walls and have breached the gate, forcing the defenders to retreat into the Keep. In Fangorn, Treebeard and the other Ents have decided to not have any involvement in the war, deciding rather to "weather such things as [they] have always done". Despite this, Pippin manages to cleverly take Treebeard to the section of Fangorn Saruman has recently decimated near Isengard. Treebeard is filled with rage at Saruman's betrayal and commands all the other Ents to seek vengeance. The Ents gather and embark upon 'the Last March of the Ents', straight into Isengard itself.
Meanwhile, as Théoden despairs in the besieged Keep, Aragorn refuses to give in and, remembering Gandalf's words before he left Edoras, he takes Théoden, Legolas and the remaining Rohirrim on one last gallant ride to attack the Uruk-hai army in a desperate bid to allow the Rohirrim's women and children to escape into the mountains behind the stronghold. The riders storm out of the Keep and cut their way through to the fortress gate. As the riders emerge into the swarming mass of Uruks, the first rays of dawn fall down into the valley and there upon the eastern hill, Gandalf appears, accompanied by Éomer and his men. They rush down into the body of the stunned Uruks and rout them: the terrifed Uruks flee into Fangorn, where the Ents and their Huorn allies swiftly exact retribution. Meanwhile, at Isengard the Ents are taking control. They destroy the remaining Uruk population and release the dam placed upon the river Isen, which gushes forth into the plains around Orthanc, drowning the surviving Orc defenders, quenching the fires of its industry and stranding Saruman in his tower.
Away in the East, Faramir has had the hobbits bound and taken to Osgiliath, a ruined city on the banks of the river Anduin between Mordor and Gondor. There a small battle ensues with the Orcs of Mordor, who are led by a Ringwraith. With the help of Sam, Frodo narrowly escapes the Ringwraith's efforts to capture him and the Ring. In an inspired monologue, Sam reflects on the state he and Frodo are in, on how their story may yet come to have a happy ending, even when so much bad had happened. Frodo is doubtful of this, but Sam insists that they must still hold on to what they are fighting for: each other and the fulfilment of their quest. Approaching them from the throes of battle, Faramir overhears them and realises these unassuming hobbits have a high doom before them which he can no longer hope to interrupt. He sets them free and helps them on their way. Gandalf and the others now know that things have been set in motion that cannot be undone or avoided. Sauron will surely seek retribution for the defeat of his puppet Saruman and strike at Men again, only stronger and with greater fury: as Gandalf puts it "The battle for Helm's Deep is over. The battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin". He remarks that hope now rests with Frodo and Sam, who have resumed their journey to Mordor with Gollum. Feeling betrayed by Frodo when he delivered him into the hands of Faramir's men, Gollum's darker self re-emerges and he decides to reclaim the Ring by secretly leading Frodo and Sam to a creature he refers to only as "her". As the Hobbits approach, he puts away his evil thoughts and acts his normal happy, obedient self, urging them on towards the Land of Shadow far away.
