The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Special Extended DVD Edition) [DVD] [2002]

Almost 3/4 of an hour of extended scenes - some brief and subtle, others surprisingly important, was an absolute delight and brought Jackson's masterpiece even closer to Tolkien's. The commentary offers many great insights and is often genuinely amusing. The bonus disk and book, devoted to the creation of Gollum, is utterly fascinating in its own right. The Gollum statuette is beautifully detailed, satisfyingly heavy and now has pride of place in a display cabinet in my lounge!
What else is there to say about the movie itself that hasn't already been stated? Surely THE most spectacular battle scene ever filmed vies for your attention with the most stunning and convincing non-human creature ever to grace the big screen! Gollum is utterly believable and the alternating pity, tragedy and horror that Tolkien wished us to feel, is conjured forth with astonishing skill by Jackson. Sumptious, sweeping landscapes and not a duff piece of acting in sight complete this marvellous movie experience.

This edition is SO much better than the 2-disk theatrical version, that it is indispensible to the Tolkien fan.

Reading some of the reviews on Amazon, I sometimes feel that I have watched a different film, and indeed read a different book. Peter Jackson has done a wonderful job on the adaptation of Lord Of The Rings, and the trilogy will stand the test of time to become a defining moment in movie history. All of you out there who are griping about petty differences between the book and the films should be on your knees thanking God that Hollywood didn't get their hands on the project. (i.e. U571, Enigma etc. Need I say more? Arnie as Aragorn? Bruce Willis as Legolas? Pamela Anderson as Arwen perhaps?) I've read the book countless times in my 48 years, and have no complaints. And to answer one reviewer - Gollum is perfect. Read the book again. We SHOULD feel pity for this poor tortured soul, as Frodo does, and understand that it is the power of the ring which has made him this way, not any inner badness. The scenes where Gollum is at war with his former self are some of the many highlights of this fantastic film. The casting is perfection, the costumes and armour are excellent and the locations - my God - New Zealand is so beautiful!! Mr Jackson and his team have done one awesome job on this incredibly difficult project.
I have bought the first two parts of the trilogy in their boxed presentation form, and have not been disappointed. Fellowship was great, but Two Towers was outstanding. The statuette of Gollum is a work of art, and the boxed bonus DVD of the creation of Gollum was an unexpected extra which makes fascinating viewing.
Whatever you do, be sure to buy the extended versions of these movies. They are more much complete. Fellowship was much improved by putting back the gift presentations by Galadriel, and Two Towers benefits greatly by having a more complete ending than the cinema version.
I can't wait for next November and the release of the final boxed DVD set of The Return Of The King. Can I place my order now please Amazon?

I am a huge fan of Tolkien and after watching the original theatrical version of The Two Towers I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in some of the changes that were madefrom the book. Obviously a book of such complexity could not be fitted in to 3 hours.
Then I saw the extended editions. WOW!
For fans of the books you have the satisfaction of seeing some of the books most imaginitive creations come to life. Such as the Huorns at Helms Deep, a personal favourite part of the book for me.
It also redeemed the character of Faramir, thankfully. Unless you read the book, where Faramir is portrayed as the nicest man on earth, you would find him to be a selfish old grump. A few extra scenes added redeem his character a little and make his actions more understandable.
The extra scenes link the film better together, add more to the characters so that they become more three dimentional and explain where on earth that horse came from who seemed to rescue Aragorn when he fell off a cliff!
For fans of the excellent Sean Bean you get more of him in this and for fans of action and battle Helms Deep is extended (so awesome!)and seems to fit together a bit better.
The extra features get a full five stars on their own just for being superb (watch the Gollum one with Andy Serkis' screen test, his expressions are amazing).
Overall it is much more satisfying and thrilling then the original edition.
Worth every second.