Lord of the Rings: Two Towers --- Phenomenal!

[Desslock]

So I had the opportunity again to attend the Two Towers "party" and exhibit in Toronto. Unfortunately, not a lot of footage (other than the trailers) but what was shown looked amazing.

The Exhibit, however, was amazing once again. Aside from the opportunity to see all the costumes and weapons in the movie (the Elven warrior costumes are amazingly detailed), the art direction team from the movie set up several authentic stages from the movie:

- Faramir's Cave;
- Saruman's lair/throne in Isengard;
- Theoden's throne room in Rohan;
- The swamp, complete with the bodies of the dead;
- Some other cave with white walls, which I didn't recognize from the book;
- The wall of Helm's Deep, complete with a painting of the advancing Orcs -- very cool;

As well as many, many cool paintings from the movie. Some interesting tidbits:

- There's a scene with Smeagal, prior to becoming Golum and finding his "birthday present";
- The Warg rider stuff was very cool;
- Aragorn is definitely not carrying Narsil in the movie -- in the exhibt there was both "Aragorn's sword" and "narsil in pieces" -- they look very different, as mentioned previously.
- all of the weaponry and costumes continue to look amazing. Essentially every medieval sword/polearm/axe/bow is incorporated into the movie. The Uruk-hai cross-bow was particularly amazing!

Can't wait for this one.

[Murph]

You suck.

I do agree, though, about not being able to wait for the movie!

Any idea on when Narsil will get re-forged in the movie??

[Chris Nahr]

So I had the opportunity again to attend the Two Towers "party" and exhibit in Toronto. Unfortunately, not a lot of footage (other than the trailers) but what was shown looked amazing.

Damn, I hope they go on a European tour with this show...


- Some other cave with white walls, which I didn't recognize from the book;

Perhaps the Paths of the Dead?


- There's a scene with Smeagal, prior to becoming Golum and finding his "birthday present";

So they'll show Sméagol's history after all. That's very neat, I thought they wouldn't do it when it didn't appear in the first film.


- The Warg rider stuff was very cool;

Warg riders have been cool since Warlords, but were there any in Tolkien's books?


Can't wait for this one.

So have you already pre-ordered the bookstand DVD edition of the first movie? :)

[Desslock]

- The Warg rider stuff was very cool;

Warg riders have been cool since Warlords, but were there any in Tolkien's books?

So have you already pre-ordered the bookstand DVD edition of the first movie? :)

Heh, I don't believe in pre-orders, but I'll pick up the best version I can find. There are no Warg riders in Lord of the Rings, but they are in the Hobbit, at least. The only wolves in Lord of the Rings at all are a bunch that attack in Fellowship, a scene that didn't make it into the movie, which essentially was replaced by this one.

Another location they had in the exhibit was Treebeard's forest, Fangorn.

[Bub, Andrew]

I'm pretty sure there are warg riders in the final battle at the gates, in the books I mean. But then again, everything kind of shows up for that battle.

Aside from the Ents... I think the scene I'm most looking forward to in Towers is when Sam sees the Oliphaunt. I always thought it remarkable that Tolkien's description of something mundane was also one of the most fanciful.

[Ben Sones]

Any idea on when Narsil will get re-forged in the movie??

I'm guessing that it will happen when Aragorn finally comes to Minas Tirith as King. Makes sense, at any rate.

[Jaysun]

So what do they do with all that armor and stuff? I'd love to get my hands on one of those goblin costumes.

[Murph]

The only wolves in Lord of the Rings at all are a bunch that attack in Fellowship

I don't think so. I could've sworn that when Merry and Pippin are being carried by Treebeard as the ents attack Isengard that some wolves -- maybe even warg riders -- showed up somewhere along the way. Anyway, somewhere in The Two Towers there are wolves, and I thought warg riders, though I'm less sure about that.

[Desslock]

The only wolves in Lord of the Rings at all are a bunch that attack in Fellowship

I don't think so. I could've sworn that when Merry and Pippin are being carried by Treebeard as the ents attack Isengard that some wolves -- maybe even warg riders -- showed up somewhere along the way. Anyway, somewhere in The Two Towers there are wolves, and I thought warg riders, though I'm less sure about that.

I don't think that's correct. Do you have a copy handy to check.

[Ben Sones]

There are warg riders in the battle of Helm's Deep, if I'm not mistaken.

[Murph]

I don't think that's correct. Do you have a copy handy to check.

Actually, I don't right now...I'll check tomorrow night. I could be wrong, but it hasn't been more than a couple of weeks since I read it...I'd hate to think my memory was fading so quickly. :(

I'll double-check, though, and get back to ya.

[Anonymous]

sideshowtoys works with wega to make mini casts of all the main armor and weapons. They arent too expensive either, and accurate as can be to the prop (since the prop guys have to approve of the item)

[milo]

That's kind of weird about Aragorn's sword. In the book, he was carrying the broken hilt of Narsil through the entire journey to Rivendell. He actually drew it at the Prancing Pony in Bree to show the hobbits that it was broken. While the company is preparing to leave Rivendell, Narsil is reforged into Anduril, that is "Flame of the West," which Aragon carries for the remainder of the quest.

I can only guess that the screenwriters felt that it would be more dramatic to have Elrond's sons deliver Anduril to him before the ride to Gondor, rather than simply bearing his standard to him as they did in the novel.

I've been trying to figure out how they are going to end this installment of the screen trilogy. If I remember right, the book ends with Frodo believed dead after Shelob's attack, and Sam preparing to struggle on alone. Kind of a downer ending, but there is no good place to break the story once you get into the beginning of The Return of the King.

--milo

[Jim F.]

The first movie ended on a bit of a downer already. Borimir dead, Meri and Pippin abducted, and Frodo and Sam going off on their own to face Mt. Doom. Sure, there was some rousing music and Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas seem happy enough to be hunting orcs, but the ending didn't have a bright spot in it.

I have a feeling Peter Jackson will shoot for the same thing here. Frodo believed dead, Sam mourning him, the music kicks up, Sam raises his head to the sky, grips the ring in his hand, says something about how the quest must continue, and walks off with head held high. Another sad ending with a note of hope.

As for the reforging of Narsil, I expect it to be used as a metaphor for Strider and the kings of Neumenor. As Strider takes up the crown and claims his right, thus becoming Aragorn, King of Men, the shards of Narsil will be reforge, becoming Anduril. Kind of a parallel between sword and man. Plays quite a bit better than the books, where the sword is reforged and given to Aragorn with no real reason or preamble. Sure he's Aragorn, but he has been for decades. Why reforge the sword for him at that moment? Waiting for him to claim the crown makes a bit more sense.

[graller]

Duh ;) Having Aragorm NOT carry Anduril means that they can give Liv Tyler an excuse to come from Rivendell to Gondor bearing the sword and her love for Aragorn. They had to come up with some way to get her in more of the story...

[milo]

Plays quite a bit better than the books, where the sword is reforged and given to Aragorn with no real reason or preamble. Sure he's Aragorn, but he has been for decades. Why reforge the sword for him at that moment?
Well, they didn't give him the sword so's he could hang it over the mantle. After all, he was just about to set off into the land of terror to slay ten thousand orcs and assail the forces of darkness. I think Tolkien's version is the more logical, if less dramatic.

Seriously, I wonder what it must have been like trying to turn this story into a set of screenplays.

--milo

[Desslock]

>I've been trying to figure out how they are going to end this installment of the screen trilogy. If I remember right, the book ends with Frodo believed dead after Shelob's attack, and Sam preparing to struggle on alone. Kind of a downer ending,

It's not in the movie (Shelob's been bumped to Return of the King). Two Towers will end pretty naturally, I think, with the conclusion of the Helm's Deep battle and the confrontation with Sauruman. More closure than in Fellowship.

[Met_K]

Seriously, I wonder what it must have been like trying to turn this story into a set of screenplays.

God-awful? Tolkien himself thought no one would ever pull it off, let alone pull it off successfully. While I won't be pretentious enough to assume that Tolkien's happy with the changes, I think that anyone besides the fanboys will agree that Jackson did a fan-fucking-tastic job turning this book, in all it's form and splender, into one of the largest and most easily accepted movies ever.

I mean, God damn, that's something.

[Murph]

Jackson did a better job than I would have believed possible, based on the first movie alone. (I suppose he could still go and screw up the rest, but I'm skeptical.)

[Jim F.]

Plays quite a bit better than the books, where the sword is reforged and given to Aragorn with no real reason or preamble. Sure he's Aragorn, but he has been for decades. Why reforge the sword for him at that moment?
Well, they didn't give him the sword so's he could hang it over the mantle. After all, he was just about to set off into the land of terror to slay ten thousand orcs and assail the forces of darkness. I think Tolkien's version is the more logical, if less dramatic.

Seriously, I wonder what it must have been like trying to turn this story into a set of screenplays.

--milo

Well, what I was saying is that he's been a ranger for years, fighting orcs, worgs, etc... He's had need of a good sword long before the quest to destroy the One Ring. Then again, I guess the fellowship is a little more important than his every day job.

The way I see it, Narsil was the sword of kings. It just seems right to wait until Aragorn claims the throne before reforging it for him. But that's just a matter of opinion, of course.