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Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The

Universal acclaim
Based on 39 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 330 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Fantasy
Written by:
Frances Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson
J.R.R. Tolkien (novel)
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 18, 2002
DVD: August 26, 2003
Running Time: 179 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / New Zealand
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Bernard Hill
In the second chapter in J.R.R Tolkien's epic trilogy, the Fellowship faces unimaginable armies and deception while also witnessing ancient wonders and the untapped strength of their people. (New Line Productions)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Lovely Bones
GAMES: Metacritic Games: PS2 The Two Towers
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Lord of the Rings Fan Club Official Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Boston Globe Ty Burr
The miracle is that 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is better: tighter, smarter, funnier.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Towers, while not quite so varied as Fellowship in its moods and settings, has a grave gusto that energizes every moment...a thrilling work of film craft.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The Two Towers moves faster, covers more ground, has more action and -- with the introduction of the marvelous character Gollum -- packs some much-appreciated laughs.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Chuck Russel
Thank you, Mr. Jackson for pushing film into a new age -- Ladies and gentleman, we have our new directing God!
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Like its predecessor, The Two Towers is a great motion picture, and not to be missed by anyone who appreciates fantasy adventure.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Jackson has a genuine epic gift: Few filmmakers have ever given gross-outs such resplendence.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Gripping, whole and nourishing. Certainly of the fantasy film series currently in American theaters - I include "Harry Potter and the Secret Toity" and "Star Trek: Halitosis" - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the best, and not by just a little.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Moviegoers should be almost as entranced by the teeming, glorious landscapes and dark, bloody battlegrounds of Two Towers: astonishing midpoint of an epic movie fantasy journey for the ages.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
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.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Casts a spell and then some -- a ringing testament to the power of motion pictures.
Film Threat Eric Campos
Theres no question here that moviegoers will be treated to a completely enveloping, three-hour vacation from reality.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
The result is harrowing and inspiring. As escapist entertainment, it's the movie of the year.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
What makes Towers so staggering is the way it brings the full scope of Jackson's adaptation into focus. Without missing a beat in three hours, the film shifts from epic to lyrical and back.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A brilliantly conceived, boldly executed, cumulatively thrilling fantasy epic that expands the art of film and is sure to be the middle link of one of the movies' greatest trilogies.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
You will be heartened by the amazing sensation of watching one of the greatest works in the history of the medium unfold in front of you, piece by piece, year by year.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
The virtues of Jackson's trilogy, thus far, have been pace and astonishment, which is almost the same thing. [6 January 2003, p. 90]
Salon.com Charles Taylor
Yes, there are some "middle-chapter" problems, but Peter Jackson's Tolkien adaptation hasn't lost its devastating humanity, its heart-stopping cinematography or its epic sweep.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Never has a film so strongly been a product of a director's respect for its source. Mr. Jackson uses all his talents in the service of that reverence, creating a rare perfect mating of filmmaker and material.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
The year's greatest adventure, and Jackson's limited but enthusiastic adaptation has made literature literal without killing its soul.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Has a sharper narrative focus and a livelier sense of forward movement than did the more episodic "Fellowship."
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
God forbid this should ever play on an IMAX screen -- the concussive soundtrack and relentless visuals would likely strike viewers deaf and blind (but what a way to go!). Simply breathtaking.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Epic battles, spectacular effects and multiple story lines make The Two Towers a most excellent middle chapter in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
For now, The Two Towers feels like the second installment in what next year, when Frodo finally reaches Mount Doom and the story draws to a close, we'll surely be hailing as a masterpiece.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Most moviegoers will leave buzzing about the climactic Battle of Helm's Deep. But in my eyes, this is Gollum's show more than anyone else's, even the special-effects wizards behind the scenes.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
What it comes down to is superbly staged battle scenes and moral alliances forged in earnest yet purged of the wit and dynamic, bristly ego that define true on-screen personality.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
An outstanding effort that maintains the integrity and purpose that distinguished "The Fellowship of the Ring."
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Jackson's superior sequel to last year's first installment in his Rings cycle - resurrects the beloved Gandalf (majestic Ian McKellen) and rejuvenates the audience, too.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
The sequel's battle scenes -- especially the climactic assault on the Helm's Deep fortress by the armies of darkness -- easily put those of the "Star Wars" series to shame.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Both a triumph of design and cinematic engineering and, at the same time, long, repetitious and naive.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A rousing adventure, a skillful marriage of special effects and computer animation, and it contains sequences of breathtaking beauty. It also gives us, in a character named the Gollum, one of the most engaging and convincing CGI creatures I've seen.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Spectacular in every sense of the word, even if you don' t know an Orc from a Uruk-Hai.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Seeing Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is like having a second date with the woman who made you fall in love at first sight.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Russel Swensen
Falters precisely because there's not enough stumbling, and far too much striding gallantly forward.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
A glorious, visceral mess -- The film is, by most criteria, an ungainly piece of storytelling. Yet it sweeps you up and hurtles you along like water from an exploded dike.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Jackson's movie is one portentous happening after another -- not unreasonable in that his source, J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, is basically the fantasyland equivalent of a world war against absolute evil.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
If the second film never reaches the highs of the first -- we have met the players before and there are no new worlds of wonder -- it nonetheless invests moviegoing with a sense of adventure.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This second installment is heavy on battle sequences, which will thrill some viewers more than others.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 330 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Dre H. gave it a10:
Best of the 3 movies. No slow build up, lots of story, lots of action, lots of excitement.
Yash S gave it a10:
Best of the series Aragorn was best in this film.
Michael L gave it a10:
The best of the 3 and all were great!
David S. gave it a10:
The most action packed of the trilogy. You can't watch it without seeing the first one or finish it without dying to see the third
Adnan A. gave it a10:
The first time I watched the trailer for two towers in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie. At that time I wasn't interested in the lord of the rings (because I didn't understand the first one) and I was waiting for the trailer to end so I could watch Harry Potter. I found the trailer boring but in the end the scene (battle of Helms Deep) in which Legolas slides on the shield and shoots arrows really caught my attention. Now many years later the lord of the rings trilogy remains my favorite! Story... If you haven't watched the first one then it's gonna be difficult for you to keep up with the story but if you get the plot then it's a story that's gonna captivate you even after the end of the movie. Kudos to J.R.R.Tolkien for creating such a world and Peter Jackson for filling this world with life. Acting... Every character is special and all the credit goes to the actors. Each and every actor, has carried out his/her roles with dedication and devotion. No complaints. Direction... I'd only say that no other person in this universe could have made lord of the rings other than Peter Jackson. Visuals... Four Words... HELMS DEEP and GOLLUM !!!! Helm's Deep is the best war ever in a movie! Gollum is, will and always be the best animated character ever. Andy Serkis as Gollum is the strongest point of the movie. It's not easy for a 3 hour movie to keep you entertained for long but this movie makes you beg for more! Such movies are made once in a decade and to not see them is the biggest mistake of your life.
George C. gave it a10:
Two Towers doesn't have the mood that the first one does, there are more battle sequences, heavier plots, and thrilling moments. This is Gullom's show, partailly Aragorn's (who of which has a background that gives off 10 minutes of important refferences of who he will become). Gandalf has just risen, it is partailly his show. Same Legolas', he is important in this because it is about time the elves stop chillin at home talking poetry, this time the elves go to war, which gives Legolas more screen time, which I like. Gimli, well he is always the humorous little cheekster that gives the fun to the screen. Frodo, this is ultimately his show, taking the ring to Mordor, his advnture is the most important. There many other characters, eomer, Eowyn, Theoden, Theodred, Pippin, Merry, Sam (who becomes way more important in #3), Gamling, Gladriel, Saramaun, Saraun, Treabeard, Arwen, and Lord Elrond. Everyone is connective and always have a powerful importance in the show. I loved this movie, this is the best of the three, has excellent moments, and the outline is very interesting. This is defintely up for the Oscars, it may have won only 2, but the Oscars it got it certainly deserved.
Christopher J. gave it a9:
Great external and internal conflict! This is the best of the trilogy. Gollum is the best computer-generated character in cinema up to this point. I think the extended version it too long, though.
