EARLY ACCESS - LOTRs Two Towers Extended Version FULL REACTION

😂😂 opinions vary. I'm not for everyone. It will always be us 4 on this journey. Be we'll🤙

Badd Medicine

Stephen Hert

"The Two Towers" reminds us that for something to grow or change, something must be sacrificed. It is not only my favorite of the series, it is one of my favorite movies of all time. Arwen has a choice: In order to live a life with Aragorn, she would have to sacrifice a life of peace with the elves in the Undying Lands. Faramir sacrifices his dreams of winning his father's approval in order to become a man of integrity. And Gandalf the Grey literally has to die in order to return as Gandalf the White, a beacon of hope to all. I understand the difficulty of letting things go. I’ve built up years of blame toward myself for the bad things that happened in my life. Much like Faramir, I have built my entire self-worth around proving myself to those around me. How radical is it for me to fight that thought and instead accept that I’m good enough? We are enough. We are loved. In order for us to reach such an understanding, we need to begin to realize what mentalities are holding us back. Faramir is one of my favourite characters in the story, because I relate to him on a deeper level. "The Two Towers" shows that what makes a true hero is letting go of pain and accepting yourself exactly as you are.

Kirstine Aaen

Two towers and a private barrel russels reserve single barrel. Let's gooo!

Eric Wallace

So we did LoTR in my undergrad, and we read papers on and interviews with Tolkien about LoTR and WW1, and he denied it being relevant - but it could be that he was annoyed with everyone making it a focus and distilling it down to basic metaphors, like 'the English equal Gondor' which led him to his comments because he was also deeply affected by the war. Either way, I think it's safe to say that he must have been commenting on/alluding to/'inspired' by WW1 in some respects - I mean, who could not at the time? -, but it seems his focus was on the themes of the heroic/epic fantasy novel in a kind of 'academic' way, and with more reference to biblical themes & good vs. evil, not as a direct social commentary of WW1. He's a very interesting person. On a side note: I hope you guys have seen 'They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard'! I can't hear Legolas say that without thinking about it.

Alice

I remember watching this and being out of breath. All that vicarious running I was doing was getting me good

Toan Toan

Really loving rewatching your reactions to these as full watchalongs this time. It's beennso long since I actually sat down and watched these scene for scene!

Sarah

영하

차균 이

The elves aren't really leaving Middle-Earth because of Sauron or his wars. They were banished to Middle-Earth from their original home in Valinor, the realm of God's archangels, the Valar, for many centuries. There's a whole story behind it. In short, the elves in Middle-Earth descend from a group which committed a great act of evil in Valinor. They left Valinor of their own volition, but were kept from returning by the Valar for their sins. Since then, they've been living in Middle-Earth for want of the option to return home. Now, after millennia of good conduct (in essence), they are being allowed to go back by the Valar. This is what Galadriel was talking about after she resisted the power of the ring in Fellowship. She was one of the few remaining original members of the group which left Valinor, and she had yet until that point to prove her worth to return. That was why she was so elated to learn she had "passed the test," in her words. The theme bears a lot of resemblance to the part of the Exodus story where the Israelites were made to wander forty years in the desert after committing sins against God. As a great believer, Tolkien used many biblical themes in his writings, masterfully adapted to his own story. In short, the elves, to whatever extend Sauron was part of their considerations, believed they would be safe in Valinor because Sauron likely lacks the ability even to find the lands of the Valar, let along launch a war on them. Even his late master, Morgoth (a Valar himself - Lucifer, in essence), had no hope of success in such a feat. When the other Valar joined the ancient war against Morgoth, he was quickly crushed. As a Maiar spirit, Sauron is completely outclassed in such a fight.

TheToweringOtakunt

If that is the one with Matt Damon we can't wait to see it if SB is in there🤘

Badd Medicine

Faramir ends up being one of my favorite non major characters in these two films. He is smart, brave and compassionate when he needs to be. He learns new information which is more than one can say for a lot of people in this world and middle earth! I hope you have all seen The Martian as Sean Bean is in it and it is wonderful!!

DrEEsky

And I love the banter of Gimli and Legolas as it breaks the intensity and offers their supreme confidence in their ability to win which then helps the audience feel like there is hope as well! Breaking the intensity, whether with the dwarf and the elf or the trees droning on, helps to bring the intensity down so they can build it up again because we can't sustain intensity for 3 hours!! brilliant editing really!

DrEEsky

This is my favorite of the three. The third one wraps things up and there are some great scenes in the third film but the Battle for Helms Deep is one of my favorite battle scenes of all time. The arrival of the Elves (such a cool scene!) and the rivalry of Legolas and Gimli and the bravery of the king riding out with Aragorn. Fantastic. My favorite scene though (and it was even shorter than I thought) is Legolas standing on the ridge firing arrows one at a time at the wolf riders. He is the coolest of the cool!! Thanks for the great ride!!

DrEEsky

the jokes in the fight scenes were actually some of my favorite parts. it's a great show of legolas and gimli's relationship. they both start off nearly hating each other. elves and dwarves do not have a great history as it is, and gimli has so much pride that he dares not to let legolas see him as anything other than completely capable. once they start spending more time together, you can see their relationship dynamic change. legolas is the first person to stand up for gimli when he can't shut his damn mouth and they have to share a horse throughout this movie. once they start joking back and forth, you can see that even in the face of battle, these two are trying to show compassion for each other, even if they aren't sure how to. in my eyes, i saw it more as two beings who are separated by many worldly things breaking the mold and sharing a friendship.

blue

I definitely disagree with you guys about the comedy tidbits thrown into the battles. Besides defusing the tension some for the audience, I think it shows a way some people cope with stress and fear. I think it also makes the characters more relatable. But then my favorite characters in movies are often the comic reliefs. 😎 Interesting tidbit. In the scene where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli find the Uruk’s burning carcasses and are afraid they lost Merry and Pippen, when Aragorn kicks the helmet and lets out a major scream, he really was screaming in pain because he broke a toe with that kick. Also, the actor who played Gimli was the voice of Tree Beard. I don’t know if he did a voice in Transformers. At 1:29:30, 1:27:45 on the timer you used, you did a rewind and the video stayed blurred making it harder to re-sync.

Ginger

does that mean that theoden has extended life like aragorn?

Kega

Thank you for providing this link! Going to check this out!

Badd Medicine

I have literally spent hours on http://tolkiengateway.net reading all this interesting random stuff like Théoden's family history and Elrond being half-Elvish and had a twin brother. Elrond and Elrond (his twin's name) got to choose if they wanted to be immortal like the Elves or mortal like Men and Elrond chose the life of an Elf and Elros picked Men and became the first king of Númenor. The Dúnedain are descended from Elros and make up the nobility in Gondor.

Dafydd

Thank you! :)

Badd Medicine

Thèoden's mother was from Gondor and also of the Dúnedain like Aragorn.

Dafydd

Keep bringing the tids bits. It's like rediscovering the movie again 🤘🤘🤘

Badd Medicine

To add on to what someone said already. The wizards being essentially angel like beings. They took the form of old looking wise men as to be approachable to regular mortals. They are called Maiar and Gandalf, Sauron, Sauruman, The Balrog demon from the first film are all basically the same thing. They were created by the Valar which are akin to Titans in mythology like Zeus. Tolkien created a world that is absurdly in-depth and covers thousands upon thousands of years and he even invented the entire elf language. It's literally a language you can learn. Just thought I'd share that. Most people are amazed when they figure out just how much there is past the movies

Michael Chase Vickery

Ok. Good to hear what was different from theater to extended. 🤘

Badd Medicine

The Boromir backstory with Faramir & their Father is definitely the biggest difference from the Original vs Extended Version. Can't wait for you guys to watch the 3rd, it only gets better ! 5/5 for Howard Shore & 5/5 for Sam

Lika

Ahhh. Ok. That makes more sense. Especially, since gandalf makes slight mentions.

Badd Medicine

oh you can't imagine just how much layers this world got haha, there is so much it's actually scary. You come around and ask how could one mind be the source of so much worldbuilding, consistency and epicness! really mindblowing!

Silmaril

so actually wizards in this world aren't like what we know now as wizards. They are essentially angel like creatures and were sent in middle earth to help free folk against evil. They aren't allowed to use their full strength. They must use a very small portion of their power and only in greater needs. this is why magic here can't solve everything

Silmaril

Really dig they had the orcs in suits/make up!

Badd Medicine

most of creatures are practical effect! why it does still holds up to this day? Because there is little cgi.

Silmaril

So many layers it feels like. It's great!

Badd Medicine

yep tolkien created many languages for each elven tribe, but also dwarves and men!

Silmaril

Such amazing views over in NZ.

Badd Medicine

noo cgi, everything is new zealand!

Silmaril