FILM · 2002 · NEW ZEALAND
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Directed by
- Peter Jackson
- Runtime
- 179 min
- Studio
- New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company
29 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (29)
- #001
The Helm's Deep miniature was built at 1:35 scale and was among the first miniatures made for the film.
- #002
The Helm's Deep miniature appeared in a 45-minute video that helped sell the project to New Line Cinema.
- #003
Peter Jackson used the Helm's Deep miniature, which appeared in the film's wide shots, to plan the battle with 40,000 toy soldiers.
- #004
John Howe served as the basic designer of the evil forces of Middle-earth for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and the Uruk-hai were the first army approved by Peter Jackson.
- #005
John Howe designed a special crossbow for the Uruk-hai characters in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, notable because it could be rearmed without external tools.
- #006
For The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 100 Elven suits of armour were created with an emphasis on Autumnal colours, reflecting the theme of Elves leaving Middle-earth.
- #007
The ruined city of Osgiliath in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was designed to reflect London during the Blitz or Berlin in 1945.
- #008
The Osgiliath set for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was built on a backlot around a bridge and reused elements of Moria.
- #009
The Rohan scenes of The Two Towers were shot earlier in the production, a period in which Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies's stunt double Brett Beattie sustained many injuries.
- #010
While filming The Two Towers, Viggo Mortensen broke two toes kicking an Orc helmet in the scene where he, Legolas and Gimli find the Uruk-hai remains and believe Merry and Pippin dead; the shot appears in the film.
- #011
During The Two Towers production, Orlando Bloom fell from his horse and cracked three ribs, while stunt double Brett Beattie dislocated a knee; the injuries left the actors in pain for two days of the first act's running sequence, which Peter Jackson jokingly called "The Walking Wounded."
- #012
Jim Rygiel was the visual effects supervisor on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, continuing the role he held on The Fellowship of the Ring.
- #013
Joe Letteri, a newcomer to the team, supervised the motion capture performance of Andy Serkis for the creation of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
- #014
During production of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Weta Digital doubled its staff of 260.
- #015
Weta Digital produced 73 minutes of digital effects across 800 shots for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which also presented the studio's first challenge of creating a battle scene and two digital characters that needed to act rather than serve as set pieces.
- #016
Weta began animating Gollum in late 1998 to convince New Line that the effect could be achieved for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
- #017
Andy Serkis played Gollum by supplying his voice and movements on set and by performing in the motion capture suit later; his scenes were filmed both with and without him.
- #018
Gollum was originally intended to be solely a CGI character, but Peter Jackson was so impressed by Andy Serkis' audition tape that Serkis was also used on set.
- #019
Gollum's CGI model was redesigned in 2001 when Andy Serkis was cast as Sméagol, so that Serkis as Sméagol would appear to transform into the CGI Gollum; the crew reanimated all previous shots within two months over Christmas 2001.
- #020
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Gollum is portrayed with a split personality, dividing into the childlike Sméagol and the evil Gollum.
- #021
The scene in which Sméagol and Gollum argue over remaining loyal to Frodo is described as perhaps the most celebrated scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
- #022
Andy Serkis distinguished the two personas in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by altering his voice and physicality for each, while contrasting camera angles reinforced the split.
- #023
Peter Jackson has called the key scene depicting Gollum's inner struggle one of his favorites, and it was written and directed by Fran Walsh.
- #024
Weta created Treebeard's wooden skin by taking polyurethane moulds of tree bark and applying them to the sculpt of the character.
- #025
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd sat on bicycle seats hidden inside Treebeard's hands to avoid discomfort, and during breaks they were left alone on set seated in the puppet's hands.
- #026
Treebeard required between 28 and 48 hours of rendering per frame, and the puppet was shot against bluescreen.
- #027
Howard Shore composed, orchestrated and conducted the musical score for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as he did for the other two films in the series.
- #028
The scores for the films before and after The Two Towers each won the Academy Award for Best Score, while the soundtrack for The Two Towers was not nominated.
- #029
A new rule applying to sequels initially caused confusion over whether the score for The Two Towers was eligible, and the academy declared it eligible.
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