The Lord of the Rings is Peter Jackson’s most iconic trilogy, but the second movie was only faithful to the book to a certain extent. Jackson made changes to Tolkien’s stories throughout his famous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, both of which were based on Tolkien’s books. All three Hobbit movies were based on Tolkien’s 1937 novel, The Hobbit, while The Lord of the Rings movies were based on the three parts of Tolkien’s magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings. Jackson’s second LotR movie was lauded, but its diversions from the source material annoyed some fans.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie differed from the book in many ways, retaining some of the book’s key pillars but dispensing with others. Fans were divided as to the movie’s merit, but it stormed the box office on its release in 2002 and remains one of the most successful fantasy movies ever released. Ultimately, many of Jackson’s changes were necessary to make Tolkien’s novel fit for the screen. Some changes seemed far less necessary than others, but in the grander scheme of things, they contributed to a movie that captured the drama and wonder of Middle-earth.
10 Théoden Was Under A Spell In The Movie
Saruman’s Grip On Théoden Was Different In The Source Material
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Saruman held Théoden under some dark spell in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but his influence on Théoden was much more subtle in the book. The way Tolkien wrote the character of Théoden, he was beleaguered by many concerns and obstacles, including the death of his son. In this sense, he was feeling discouraged, initially, from fighting the Orcs. Gríma Wormtongue, who was Saruman’s tool, was fueling Théoden’s lack of confidence with poor counsel. Peter Jackson amped up Saruman’s influence on Théoden for his movie, making Saruman’s toxic influence a literal spell.
Jackson gave Saruman’s spell the physical manifestation of Théoden’s grotesque premature aging. This was an incredible and striking feat of cinematic engineering, and Théoden’s recovery was one of the most redemptive moments of the movie. Théoden was a powerfully redemptive character, so Jackson got this right. It was a shame that he took some of Théoden’s agency away during his redemptive journey, but it was understandable that Jackson had to sacrifice some great content, bearing in mind The Lord of the Rings’ extensive runtimes.
9 Erkenbrand Played A Huge Role In The Book
Peter Jackson Used Éomer Instead Of Erkenbrand
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Erkenbrand was Lord of Deeping-comb in The Two Towers, part two of Tolkien’s novel, but he didn’t appear in Peter Jackson’s movie. Erkenbrand was a large part of Rohan’s strategy in The Lord of the Rings. Moreover, Erkenbrand was instrumental to Rohan’s success in the War of the Ring. Jackson’s decision to cut him from his movie ties into a more overarching change that Jackson made to the source material. Peter Jackson was struggling to narrow down scenes in all his movies, having to deal with a vast and sprawling story.
In the end, Jackson made extended editions of The Lord of the Rings movies to compensate for the content he would have preferred to keep in the theatrical editions. One way Jackson was able to streamline content was by reducing the large range of characters Tolkien presented him with. Erkenbrand was one of the Tolkien characters that Jackson sacrificed, using Karl Urban’s Éomer to fill the void. This allowed more focus on Éomer, making his arc more meaningful.
8 Jackson Gave Gimli More Comedy Lines
Gimli Was Fairly Serious In The Book
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One of the biggest differences between The Lord of the Rings book and movies must be Gimli’s character. Gimli was one of the oldest and wisest members of the Fellowship of the Ring in Tolkien’s novel. Jackson’s movies didn’t necessarily contradict this, but they did use Gimli as comic relief. Gimli had some hilarious lines in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, making for a controversial script.
Gimli’s request to Aragorn – “Don’t tell the Elf” about being tossed into the path of his enemies – referred back to one of the best Gimli quotes of the trilogy. Gimli had previously said that nobody tossed a Dwarf. Gimli may have lost a certain degree of his heroism, but he gained some of the best lines in the movie. In this sense, the screenplay of Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and Stephen Sinclair was a balancing act that paid off for many viewers but disappointed others.
7 Rohan’s Citizens Fled To Dunharrow In The Novel
Théoden Sent His People To Helm’s Deep In The Movie
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Théoden ill-advisedly sent the citizens of Rohan to Helm’s Deep to weather the storm of the Battle of the Hornburg, but he did no such thing in the book. The Théoden of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novel sent his people to Dunharrow to shelter from the assault of the Orcs. Théoden was altogether more heroic in the book. Jackson’s decision to have Théoden send his people to Helm’s Deep made him look like a worse leader than he was in the book.
Théoden’s decision to go to Helm’s Deep with both army and citizens made it seem as if he was fleeing battle, but the Théoden of the books was confrontational when it came to war.
Not only was Théoden’s decision unsound from a military perspective, but it also illustrated that he was unwilling to listen to Gandalf’s advice, which wasn’t flattering to him. Théoden’s decision to go to Helm’s Deep with both army and citizens made it seem as if he was fleeing battle, but the Théoden of the books was confrontational when it came to war. Jackson had allowed Théoden’s heroism to slide so that he could act as a foil for his focal heroes, Aragorn and Gandalf.
6 Faramir Treated Frodo And Gollum Better In The Book
Faramir Was More Respectful In The Novel
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Faramir exhibited far better behavior when dealing with Frodo and Gollum in the book. In the movie, he showed a level of cruelty. Faramir was one part of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that constituted such a large change to lore that it did push the boundaries of Jackson’s acceptability. Adaptations don’t have to be entirely faithful to work, but they should capture the spirit of the original.
The Faramir of Jackson’s movie sometimes seemed very far removed from the character Tolkien created, making Jackson’s lore breaks seem a little on the questionable side. However, Jackson did manage to pull Faramir’s character back in the right direction. And, in the end, it could have been hard to compress the timeline of the overall narrative aptly without adjusting some of Frodo’s interactions with Faramir.
5 The Ents Needed Less Persuading To Fight In The Novel
The Hobbits Manipulated The Ents In The Movie
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Peter Jackson carried out some changes to the Ents’ storyline in his Two Towers movie. The Hobbits were able to manipulate the Ents into going to war against Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Pippin, in particular, precipitated Isengard’s downfall by suggesting that the Ents go toward Isengard. This allowed Treebeard and the Ents to see Saruman’s evil at work, persuading them to help the Hobbits fight against him.
Peter Jackson will produce
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,
expected to come out in 2026.
However, in the novel, the Ents decided to do this themselves, without the Hobbits’ extra persuasion. Resultingly, the Ents were a slightly less friendly presence in the movie. Jackson’s change made the Hobbits seem smarter. The Ents were one of Tolkien’s great fantasy races, heroic and humane, but Jackson’s changes shifted some of this heroism onto the Hobbits. Nonetheless, they were formidable allies in Jackson’s War of the Ring, making their power clear.
4 Théoden’s Most Heroic Moment Was Given To Aragorn
Aragorn Took Théoden’s Best Lines
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Théoden suggested riding out to meet the enemy during the Battle of the Hornburg in the book, but Aragorn stole this moment in the movie. In Tolkien’s novel, Théoden asked Aragorn to join him on the battlefield: “Will you ride with me then, son of Arathorn? Maybe we shall cleave a road, or make such an end as will be worth a song.“
This was the culmination of a long struggle on Théoden’s part and cemented some of the best character development of the book. Tolkien took Théoden from an antihero to a true hero. This made him more compelling than characters who were heroes to begin with.
Jackson captured a small glimmer of this transition, but unfortunately, much of it was sacrificed to Jackson’s script. In The Two Towers, Jackson allowed Aragorn to shine when Théoden was feeling defeated, giving him the immortal lines “Ride out and meet them… For Rohan. For your people.” Jackson only had limited screen time to create convincing characters. Unfortunately, spreading out heroic moments between many, as per their canonical arcs, probably would have made them all slightly less convincing. Focusing heroics onto a select few targeted a greater impact.
3 Faramir Resisted The Ring More In The Text
Faramir Was One Of The Book’s Biggest Heroes
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Faramir was easily one of the best characters in The Lord of the Rings and one of its biggest heroes, but this didn’t come through in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Peter Jackson showed Faramir being tempted by the One Ring in his movie, emphasizing its power over the race of Men. This served to make the race of Men more consistent and Aragorn more exceptional. It also served to demonstrate how impressive it was that Frodo and Sam both coped with the ring as they did.
Faramir was constantly overlooked by their father, while Boromir was adored. This made Faramir’s kindness and wisdom all the more surprising.
However, it negated Faramir’s purity and strength. In the source material, Faramir’s resistance to the ring was impressive. Faramir was a stark contrast to his brother, Boromir. He was more worthy than his brother of a place in the Fellowship of the Ring, despite being the least-favorite son. Faramir was constantly overlooked by their father, while Boromir was adored. This made Faramir’s kindness and wisdom all the more surprising.
2 The Two Towers Ignored Saruman’s Fate
Jackson Originally Intended To Cut Saruman’s Death From The Trilogy
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Saruman’s fate differed heavily between The Lord of the Rings novel and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie. Saruman died near the very end of The Lord of the Rings book, killed by Gríma Wormtongue. Jackson had chosen to include a scene of Saruman’s death in The Two Towers, but later cut it to make time for other scenes. Many fans, plus Saruman actor Christopher Lee, deemed this a gross neglect of Saruman’s character arc and petitioned Warner Bros. to change it.
Related Saruman’s 2024 Lord Of The Rings Movie Return Is Necessary To Honor Tolkien Canon
Saruman could appear in 2024’s War of the Rohirrim, and the movie can demonstrate a side of his character the original movie trilogy left out.
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Therefore, Peter Jackson ended up including Saruman’s deleted death scene in the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In this version of Saruman’s death, he was killed by Wormtongue, like he was in the book. However, Saruman fell from the top of Orthanc and died impaled on some of his own machinery in the movie, which was an invention of Jackson’s.
1 The Movie Reserved Shelob For Its Sequel
The Hobbits Encountered Shelob In Part Two Of The Book
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J.R.R. Tolkien finished his second part of The Lord of the Rings by introducing the Hobbits to Shelob, but the Warner Bros. trilogy didn’t introduce Shelob until The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In this sense, the ending of the movie changed core elements of its source material. This probably made sense, considering how long The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers already was.
This change meant that The Return of the King was off to an excellent start and had a fresh slate, covering Shelob’s terrifying assault from the start. It also enabled Peter Jackson and his team to focus on the confrontation at Helm’s Deep as the movie’s climax. The change provided a logical denouement for a movie that focused on the terrors of war, as was fitting for The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2
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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a Fantasy film by director Peter Jackson and is based on The Two Towers book by author J. R. R. Tolkien. A sequel to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, this installment continues Frodo’s journey to take the One Ring to Mount Doom to destroy it.
Director Peter Jackson Release Date January 15, 2002 Studio(s) New Line Cinema Distributor(s) New Line Cinema Writers Peter Jackson Cast Elijah Wood , Ian McKellen , Viggo Mortensen , Orlando Bloom , Bruce Allpress , Sean Astin , John Bach , Sala Baker , Cate Blanchett , Andy Serkis Runtime 179 Minutes Main Genre Fantasy Expand