The first told the stories of Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf. Tolkien divided The Two Towers into two distinct parts.
However, in Jackson's movie Saruman instead names them as Orthanc and Barad-dûr, which is also reflected in the movie poster. Tolkien considered many possible combinations, but eventually settled on Orthanc and Minas Morgul being the 'two towers'. Notably the meaning of the title itself, 'The Two Towers', has been changed. Interviews with Jackson and the other writers on the extended DVD version of the movie make it clear that they are fully aware of the implications of these changes in terms of the original story, and have chosen to make them not out of ignorance but in order to make the story work better in terms of motion picture storytelling. Arwen does not appear in the second book at all. Jackson's The Two Towers differs from Tolkien's in several important ways. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas encounter a mysteriously transformed Gandalf and battle Saruman's army at Helm's Deep. Merry and Pippin escape from the Orcs and must convince the Ents to join the battle against evil. Frodo and Sam face many perils on their continuing quest to save Middle-Earth by destroying the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. The surviving members of the Fellowship of the Ring have split into three groups. Only glimpsed in the first film, Gollum here becomes a pivotal character with the potential to change the fate of the story's world he wrestles with inner demons and becomes a source of friction in Sam and Frodo's previously unshakeable friendship. His movements and facial expressions were modelled on the actor who provided his voice. The human actors were supplemented by a number of special effects creatures including treelike Ents, the pterodactyl-like flying steeds of the Nazgûl, and, especially, Gollum, widely acclaimed as the first fully realized CGI character in a live-action film. In addition to many characters returning from the first film, The Two Towers featured Éowyn, a noble lady of Rohan who yearns to be a warrior Éomer, a stalwart Marshal of Rohan and brother to Éowyn Théoden, a troubled king, uncle of Éowyn and Éomer and his treacherous counsellor, Gríma Wormtongue. Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow. It was very well received critically and was an enormous box-office success, making over $900 million worldwide (making it the fourth most successful film of all time at that point in time). Tolkien, although some of the later events are held over to the third movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It is an adaptation of the book The Two Towers, the second part of the three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings by J. It is the second part in a trilogy of films, following The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, also directed by Jackson. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a film released on Wednesday, December 18, 2002, directed by Peter Jackson with a runtime of 179 minutes (2 hours, 59 minutes). Promotional poster of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring