Columnist Geoff Carter — Scene Selection: Epic ‘Two Towers’ will whet appetites for ‘Return’

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 8:20 a.m.

The second chapter in Peter Jackson's bravura film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Two Towers" (Warner Home Video, $29.95), is the first sequel in history to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar after its predecessor was nominated but didn't win. The Academy seemed to view "Towers" as a different film than "The Fellowship of the Ring."

And it is. Where "Fellowship" was an odyssey, "Towers" is a true epic in the classic style -- three hours of death, destruction, hope and glory, shock and awe. The near-indescribable Battle of Helm's Deep takes up nearly a third of the picture, and there's still talking trees, battling wizards and snarling Orcs to contend with.

"The Two Towers" isn't so much a sequel as it is a reincarnation -- the first film's second life. I couldn't tell you what this winter's third and last installment, "The Return of the King," will bring to the amazing world Jackson has created from Tolkien's works, but I'll bet money that the third film will be nominated for Best Picture as well. And it might even win.

The two-disc DVD of "Towers" boasts a healthy amount of extras -- a pair of making-of documentaries, a charming short film by trilogy co-star Sean Astin, a video for Emiliana Torrini's haunting "Gollum's Song," a 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of "The Return of the King" and several short documentaries from the "Lord of the Rings" website.

The most extraordinary extras in this package, however, convince you not to buy it. As he did with "Fellowship of the Ring," Jackson and his associates have created an extended cut of "The Two Towers," due in November. A trailer for the extended cut reveals what Jackson was forced to cut for time -- more business with Frodo, Sam and Gollum, and more of Sean Bean's murdered character Boromir (seen in flashback sequences).

Jackson says the 43 minutes added to the 179-minute running time of "Towers" aren't vital to the plot -- Jackson fully understands if you can't watch a movie for 222 minutes -- but they're hardly superfluous: They enhance story threads, flesh out characters and foretell events that occur in the following installment. The scenes are given the full treatment -- finished visual effects, even new music from Howard Shore.

After I bought the expanded version of "Fellowship," I gave the earlier DVD release away. The universe of "The Lord of the Rings" is vast -- too vast to squeeze into three movies -- and Jackson's extended cuts, his "gift to the fans," gives that universe the scope it deserves. How could I go back to the original cut of the film, after seeing so much more of Tolkien brought to glorious life?

I can safely tell you to rent "The Two Towers." However, if you were planning to buy it, you may be well served to wait for November and the release of the extended cut of the film.

It's much too late for the Academy to consider, but that's fine. After all, that august body has made the same mistake twice so far.