Amazon.com
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a seamless continuation of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power with the creature Gollum as their guide. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) join in the defense of the people of Rohan, who are the first target in the eradication of the race of Men by the renegade wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the dark lord Sauron. Fantastic creatures, astounding visual effects, and a climactic battle at the fortress of Helm's Deep make The Two Towers a worthy successor to The Fellowship of the Ring, grander in scale but retaining the story's emotional intimacy. These two films are perhaps the greatest fantasy films ever made, but they're merely a prelude to the cataclysmic events of The Return of the King. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The two-disc theatrical-release DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers closely follows the high standards set by the theatrical-release DVD of The Fellowship of the Ring. It has excellent picture and sound, 90 minutes of making-of programs previously seen on TV or on lordoftherings.net (including the 43-minute "Return to Middle-earth" program shown on the WB Network) that will seem redundant to some people and enlightening to others, a music video, the theatrical trailer, and a preview for the video game. And again of supreme temptation to fans of the series will be the preview of the next film, The Return of the King, which director Peter Jackson says will make the thrilling battle of Helm's Deep look merely like "an opening skirmish." Those anticipating the extra footage and more in-depth features of the extended edition of The Two Towers get a five-minute preview of that, and devotees of the book who objected to the film's characterization of Faramir will be glad to see that he's prominently featured in the extra footage. An extra bonus is Sean Astin's charming short, "The Long and Short of It." All in all, it's an excellent DVD that would probably be considered reference quality by anyone not spoiled by the extended editions, and serious fans will probably want both because none of the above-mentioned bonus features are duplicated on the extended edition. --David Horiuchi

Description
Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship continue their quest to destroy the One Ring and stand against the evil of the dark lord Sauron. The Fellowship has divided and now find themselves taking different paths to defeating Sauron and his allies. Their destinies now lie at two towers - Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupted wizard Saruman waits and Sauron's fortress at Baraddur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.