Lord of the Rings, The: The Two Towers Rebuilt

I never read the LOTR books so I am in no way an authority as to how this compares or if it's better.

But I love the LOTR movies. This was a great edit, it doesn't replace Two Towers for me, but it was still fantastic to watch.

Mucho propos to gem for this, especially the documentary he put together.

Review by Captain Khajiit — April 7, 2012 @ 2:27 pm

N.B. This review contains spoilers.

Geminigod’s edit is well thought out. His attempts to correct narrative problems are creative, and his solutions to a range of other problems, including those relating to tension and plausibility, show both good judgment and editing skill. The editor has a consistent vision for the edit and implements it successfully.

Despite the edit’s many merits, not everything worked for me. I did not like the inserted material on the march to Helm’s Deep (though I understand the reason for it), nor did I feel that the resolution to Faramir’s arc quite came off, because there were too many dissolve transitions in a short space of time, and because I did not think that the second flashback to Boromir’s departure was necessary: it was bold and resourceful, but did not ultimately work for me. Some elements of the Two Towers that I dislike are still present, such as the Elves at Helm’s Deep (not because it is not in the book, but because I simply do not like it) and some of Gimli’s antics. While I appreciated the edit very much, it could never be my preferred version of the film.

I watched the DVD release, which was of very high quality. Animated menus are rarely to my taste, but this one was well designed. There is excellent cover art and a documentary.

Video: 10 out of 10
Audio: 10 out of 10
Editing: overall, 9 out of 10 (from a technical standpoint 10 out of 10; editing choices 8 out of 10)
Entertainment: 8 out of 10
Presentation: 10 out of 10

Overall: 9 out of 10

This edit is highly recommended.

With all the emasculation in the theatrical version, even women and inanimate objects were not spared. Geminigod rides like sunshine into orcish eyes to remove large elements of boolsheet, and it works in many places. [Spoiler alert] The nearly pointless warg battle, Frodo’s poltergeist-in-da-house moment, the ents needing hobbits to realize their purpose—these have been tossed quite deservedly into the garbage heap.

But several problems remain. Theoden still lacks resolve prior to his final ride against Saruman’s orcs and “needs” Aragorn to inject cement into his spine. Faramir’s interaction with Frodo @ Osgiliath is now mercifully abbreviated, but this now creates a gap in the story before Faramir declares his understanding of Frodo. And Gimli still retains his awful “nervous system” line, which seems to be out-of-place terminology in a medieval (albeit fantasy) setting.

The map menu is pretty cool, and the best part of the whole effort, in my opinion, is the amalgamated documentary with commentary by the faneditor himself. The documentary alone is worth the price of admission.

Although an excellent effort by Gemini, Sharkey’s Purist Edit of The Two Towers remains my definitive version of the movie.

8/10 overall; 9.5 for the documentary alone.

Review by BladeRunner391 — May 6, 2012 @ 8:13 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

This edit was a labor of love for geminigod, and it shows. The end product is of amazing quality, with a wonderful accompanying documentary to boot.

I'm possibly the only person in the world who loves the original extended Two Towers, and actually find it the most enjoyable of the three. Where FOTR is too cold, ROTK is too hot, TT is juuust right. So do I prefer this to the original? No, not really. I can understand why the choices were made, and can agree that certain scenes probably deserve to be cut (the Wargs display some pretty awful CGI work), but for me, I like my two towers wargs and all (sorry...).

But that doesn't mean it's not a great edit. Geminigod's editing skills are exceptional, and they are on display here, and great care has clearly gone in to constructing the narrative that gemini wants to see in his vision for this movie. And that's ultimately what this fanediting game is all about.

I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I also loved the high def and amazing sound quality.

Great work Gem