Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

This is the second film in the highly successful series

Summary

-Sam and Frodo continue their journey to Mordor with Gollum at their side while also taking a stand against Saruman, the Dark Lord Sauron's new ally and their army of Isengard

Cast

-Sean Astin: Sam

-Elijah Wood: Frodo

-Sir Ian McKellen: Gandalf

-Cate Blanchett: Galadriel

-Orlando Bloom: Legolas

-Billy Boyd: Pippin

-Brad Dourif: Grima Wormtongue

-Bernard Hill: Theoden

-Christopher Lee: Saruman

-Dominic Monaghan: Merry

-Viggo Mortensen: Aragorn

-Miranda Otto: Eowyn

-Andy Serkis: Gollum

-John Rhys-Davies: Gimli

-Hugo Weaving: Elrond

Did You Know?

-Despite being a CGI character, Gollum was completely acted out by Andy Serkis in a motion capture suit. Peter Jackson wanted Gollum to be performer-oriented so the movements would look more natural

-The scenes from Helm's Deep were so grueling that the extras all got a free t-shirt from Peter Jackson. There were so many extras that they would recognize each other in the cities of New Zealand. The front of the shirt read "I Survived Helm's Deep" with the M scratched out to emphasize the "hell" of the experience. Two versions of this shirt existed depending on who played what role. One was black with red lettering on the back reading "Lord of the Rings Uruk-Hai Battalion". The other was blue with silver lettering on the back reading "The Lord of the Rings Elf Regiment"

-There were not enough men 6' and taller to play the Uruk-Hai soldiers, so men 5' and up were cast. They were jokingly referred to as Uruk-Low

-Since the Orcs have not only black blood, but black mouths, the actors playing the Orcs had to use a licorice-based mouthwash prior to their scenes to give them the black-inside-their-mouth look

-In the scene where Aragorn kicks the steel helmet of the orc pyre, he broke two toes. Peter Jackson was impressed with the painful cry Aragorn lets out for the fate of the two Hobbits, not realizing that cry was because of the pain from two broken toes. Mortensen also impressed Jackson by acting through the pain, despite his injury

-When Grima Wormtongue, played by Brad Dourif, sees the 10,000 strong army of Saruman, a tear rolls down his cheek. This is something he can do at will and filmmakers wanted to use that for the scene

-During the Helm's Deep fight scene, a one-eyed warrior turns to the camera, revealing an empty, scarred socket where there was once an eye. The actor who played this character showed up on set one day, wearing an eye patch. Director sir Peter Jackson asked him, politely, to see what was under the patch. Seeing that this gentleman was missing an eye, he asked if he would like to appear in this movie without the eye patch. The actor was reluctant at first to do this, but after filming had completed, he said the experience helped him with his self-confidence and made him more comfortable with his condition

-The battle chants uttered by the Uruk-Hai army were created by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans being led by Peter Jackson. He led the cricket fans to chant "Dergboo, nashgshoo, dergboo, dashshoo" spelled out on the screen

-Andy Serkis based the desperation and cravings Gollum suffered from on the withdrawals of  heroin addicts

-To help maintain his voice and soothe his throat, Andy Serkis drank a combination of honey, lemon and ginger.

-During the wide view shots of Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn running from the Orcs, all three were injured. Orlando Bloom broke two ribs after falling off of a horse. Viggo Mortensen broke two toes from kicking a steel helmet during the Orcs funeral pyre scene. Brett Beattie, who was John Rhys-Davies' stunt double, suffered a knee injury. Peter Jackson was impressed with how they made it through the scenes. They all only said "ow", "ouch" after the scene finished

-John Rhys-Davies decided to pull a prank on director Peter Jackson. He had lost the tip of his left middle finger in a farming accident when he was a child. A prosthetic was made from a cast of his right middle finger. He took the prosthetic from his left hand and filled it with fake blood. He walked up to Jackson and said "Boss, I had an accident."

-In the scene where Faramir steals the ring from under Frodo's shirt, David Wenham, who played Faramir, was afraid of stabbing Elijah Wood. A swordsman was called in to do the scene instead

-The Dead Marshes were filmed in a water-filled parking lot. This is the same location that served as the mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Passing trains on the nearby railway were able to see Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and Andy Serkis acting in the movie

-When not filming, Brad Dourif maintained his English accent to stay in character. He kept this accent until filming was complete. It was so convincing that when he began to speak in his normal American accent again, Bernard Hill, who plays Theoden, thought his English accent was real and his American accent fake

-David Wenham, who played Faramir, was cast because he resembled Sean Bean, who played Boromir, his on-screen brother

-His hobby of rock climbing came in handy as Andy Serkis would be on his hands and feet for his role as Gollum

-Andy Serkis based the raspy voice of Gollum on a cat coughing up a hairball

-At the start of the movie, the Lembas bread Frodo and Sam eat were actually shortbread cookies baked by the art department

-Gollum's body language and pupils often betray what side of his personality is in control. When his shoulders are hunched up, his pupils like slits, like a wild cat, that is "Treacherous Gollum" in control, making him look predatory, sinister. When his pupils are wider his body movements similar to a happy child, making him look innocent and cute, it is "Friendly Gollum (Smeagol)" in control.

-All three films were shot simultaneously

-There are family members of the actors in this film. Elijah Wood's sister Hannah is one of the refugees in Helm's Deep, along with Viggo Mortensen's son Henry. Philippa Boyen's son Callum is the boy who gives Aragorn his sword. His voice isn't in the final cut. A different voice was used since Callum's voice had changed

-To create more of the Rohirrim riders, many of the "men" were women with fake beards attached. Peter Jackson noted that the women rode the horses better than the men

-Near the end, when Gandalf proclaims "The Battle of Helm's Deep is over. The Battle of Middle-Earth is about to begin." He said this as a sort of tribute to late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his most famous speech uttered to this day. It was from June 18, 1940: "The Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."

-Brad Dourif, who played the character Grima Wormtongue, has a god daughter with the name Arwen

-Andy Serkis will use his raspy Gollum voice on his kids for fun or when they misbehave