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The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (2002)

tomatometer

96

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 222
Fresh: 213 | Rotten: 9

The Two Towers continues the LOTR trilogy with few missteps.

100

Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 38
Fresh: 38 | Rotten: 0

The Two Towers continues the LOTR trilogy with few missteps.

audience

92

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 1,207,142

My Rating

Movie Info

The second film in Peter Jackson's series of screen adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's internationally popular Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers literally begins where The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ended, with the Fellowship splitting into three groups as they seek to return the Ring to Mordor, the forbidding land where the powerful talisman must be taken to be destroyed. Frodo (Elijah Wood), who carries the Ring, and his fellow Hobbit Sam (Sean

Aug 26, 2003

$340.5M

New Line Cinema

Cast

All Critics (223) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (232) | Rotten (9) | DVD (70)

More graphic in its violence and more fantastic in its imaginings than the first film.

March 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This second installment in the trilogy ends with Gandalf intoning that the battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin. I'm pumped.

August 7, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A brilliantly conceived adventure that has the capacity to take your breath away.

January 25, 2003 Comment
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What's remarkable is how immediately, after a full year, The Two Towers seizes your attention, and how urgently it holds you through three seamless, action-packed hours.

January 14, 2003 Comment
Newsweek
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A thrilling work of film craft.

January 13, 2003 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Spectacular in every sense of the word, even if you don' t know an Orc from a Uruk-Hai.

January 9, 2003 Comment
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Two Towers, then, is the greatest blockbuster ever made without either a beginning or an end, a feisty beast with a hollow ring in its bones.

December 9, 2011 Full Review Source: Birmingham Mail | Comment

If you're not already on board, you scrabble around as best you can, and this means hard work, which is something rare -- and yes, exhilarating -- in a modern blockbuster.

November 15, 2011 Full Review Source: smh.com.au | Comment
smh.com.au

An insurmountable amount of extras comes second only to New Line Home Video's stunning visual and audio transfer of Peter Jackson's exhilarating and exhausting epic.

July 8, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

The second chapter of Peter Jackson's seminal epic disffers from the first in narrative and tone, there are more battle scenes and the mood is darker.

June 21, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Andy Serkis's work in creating Gollum deserved an honorary Academy Award. His gestures and voice, not computer software, make Gollum so memorable as he wrestles with his inner homicidal maniac. A soaring, searing tale of wonderment.

September 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

Outstanding, but has very violent battle scenes.

July 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

...a wonderfully entertaining piece of filmmaking, filled with as much spectacle and wonder as any motion picture I've seen. (Blu-ray Extended Edition set)

March 23, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Gollum and the battles are a triumph of integrated art and technology, and the battles a masterstroke of sheer logistics. (Extended Edition)

March 23, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

To say that this is a great movie would be an understatement.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

Spectacular entertainment.

February 18, 2009 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
TheMovieReport.com

Glorious escapism that will not make you feel dirty the morning after.

April 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

The battle is one of the best of its kind in film history, a symphony of bloodlust and hopes dashed and restored.

August 13, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Yes, Peter Jackson demands nine hours of your time. But I can't think of a director more deserving.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comments (2)
Big Picture Big Sound

If you don't already own the (Extended Edition) DVDs, this Limited Edition comes highly recommended.

September 20, 2006 Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | Comment
DVDTalk.com

In size and scale, Jackson has redefined the word 'epic' -- but his attention to the small things really gives this series its awesome stature.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

And the Masterpiece continues.

September 30, 2005 Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | Comment
Three Movie Buffs
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

The second entry in the Lord of the Rings trilogy manages to surpass the first film in every way. Packed with more adventure and action than the first. Andy Serkis gives a very chilling performance as Gollum despite being in a motion-capture suit. The battle of Helms Deep is pure awesomeness.

July 23, 2011
Christopher Heim

Super Reviewer

The continuation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson is one of epic, sweeping, intense, breathtaking and extraordinary quality. Loved every minute of it.

February 28, 2011
Raymond Wieser

Super Reviewer

    1. Legolas: Final count: fourty-two.
    2. Gimli: Fourty-two?! That's not bad for a pointy-eared Elvish princeling. I myself am sitting pretty on fourty-three.
    3. Legolas: [legolas frowns. He draws his bow and shoots Gimli's Uruk.] Fourty-three.
    4. Gimli: He was already dead.
    5. Legolas: He was twitching.
    6. Gimli: He was twitching because he's got my axe embedded in his nervous system!
    – Submitted by Ingri A (3 months ago)
    1. Théoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
    – Submitted by Ingri A (3 months ago)
    1. Treebeard: Hold on, little Shirelings. I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going down hill.
    – Submitted by Ingri A (3 months ago)
    1. Pippin: Yes. Exactly. If we go south we can slip past Saruman unnoticed. The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It's the last thing he'll expect.
    – Submitted by Ingri A (3 months ago)
    1. Treebeard: War, yes. It affects us all. But you must understand, young hobbit. It takes a long time to say anything in old Entish, and we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.
    – Submitted by Ingri A (3 months ago)

Latest News for The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

July 13, 2008:
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We have an extended chat with the director of Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth and this week's Hellboy II to...

March 27, 2008:
Ian McKellen Is Not Too Busy for The Hobbit
Even while The Hobbit was in legal limbo, Sir Ian McKellen wasn't shy about letting people know he...

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Foreign Titles

  • Der Herr der Ringe - Die zwei Türme (DE)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (UK)
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