The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released in the UK on 11 December 2002. I was just turning 18. It was magnificent, I loved it. The Fellowship of the Ring was released the year before and we already knew The Return of the King would be released a year later. We went for my birthday, it was magnificent. I adore all three films, but The Two Towers is the best for me. The introduction of Gollum, the burgeoning relationships between the characters, the return of Gandalf the White. And the Ents! Speaking, walking trees going apeshit and trashing one of The Two Towers. Not a perfect film, but a cracking film nonetheless.
A couple of years later the extended editions of each film were released on DVD and I think my Mum still has them. They come in two discs as they were too long with all the extra stuff to fit onto one disc. This was handy as there was always a built in toilet break when you inevitably had to get up off the couch to change from disc one to disc two. The extended edition for The Two Towers runs at 3 hours and 43 minutes. That’s a long arse film.
Don’t tell the elf – Gimli
Emily and I were extremely lucky to be able to watch the extended edition on the big screen and with the big sound at Northampton Filmhouse. It was so much fun. Tactical pees were taken before the film began and we both managed to stay in our seats for the entire film. One of us may have had a snooze before the battle of Helms Deep began and I won’t tell you who was sleeping, but I made sure to gently wake Emily up before the big grudge match. The film craft that went into making that battle so big and so bad makes me smile even now. The frightening Urul-hai, the resplendent Elves, the rough men of Rohan. The Legolas and Gimli death count. And the saving Rohirrim at the end of the battle.
Weaving throughout the film is the continuing quest of Frodo, Sam and Gollum who are captured by men of Gondor who are led by Faramir. Faramir’s struggles with his father bring him to kidnap our heroes and he is going to hand them over to his father as a way to elevate himself in front of his parent, but on seeing Frodo’s heroism, lets them go. Towards the end of the film there is a well known speech from Sam which touched me and made me think about the darkness that is creeping in recently. I would like you to read it now and the reason there’s no audio is because if you know the film I want you to think about Sam’s voice as you read. Sean Astin, who plays Sam, is a lovely, warm actor and should be praised for his performance.
Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.
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