Synopsis:

Two Towers is an amazing film. It is however sometimes a bit.. off. Helms Deep is absolutely amazing, but the Ents storyline go nowhere. I aim to adress the films story and pacing issues. This edit is far more intrusive than the Fellowship of the Ring.

Intentions:

The Trilogy is amazing, but the Theatrical cuts are simply superior in a lot of ways. These edits are intended to be the best movie versions possible with the material available.

Change List:

- Cut Merry and Pippin drinking from the water and cut Old Man Willow. It's a cute book reference, but it's also out of place. - Gimli does not disrespect Theodens speech by burping. He now burps while the children are eating. - Gimli is not frustrated by Theodens decision to go to Helms Deep. - Cut the insert shot on Eowyn's disgusting dish. We get it, the food is not tasty. We don't need to vomit. This isn't Braindead, Peter Jackson. - Re-contextualised Treebeard bringing the Hobbits to the borders of the Forest. This happens earlier in the film. In fact, I regraded the entire scene about the borders of the forest into daytime. Treebears says he likes going South. This immediately leads into Pippin saying he notices smoke in the South. - The flashback to Boromir is less punishing for Faramir. He is still obviously not his father's favorite, but it's toned down ever so slightly. - The torture of Gollum is now a mixture of the Theatrical and the Extended editions. It's just enough to show it will turn Gollum against the heroes, but since Faramir is not there while it happens and immediately shuts it down the moment he arrives, his character is preserved and more nobel. - Faramir does not say the Ring will go to Gondor. His intentions are ambiguous. - Treebeard finds out about Saruman's betrayal after this scene. Regraded to feel like a different moment from the march of the Ents later on. - Reordered the Entmoot scenes to be far less obnoxious, while still frustratingly slow. How? Because our heroes patience is rewarded! The Ents are going to war! Re-ordered dialogue and matched them to the scene. This will please some Ent fans of the book. - Faramir brings the Hobbits to Osgiliath, but overhears the conversation between Sam and Frodo. This causes him to realise his mistake as moments after this the Wraiths show up. There is no line about a gift to his father. Again: Ambiguous intentions. - Cut out the sequence of Frodo offering the Ring to the Wraith. It's a great visual, but it utterly breaks the story. Why doesn't Sauron lose his mind after learning the Ring is so close? Because it should never have happened. A simple re-ordering of shots makes this work perfectly. Frodo is now stunned, but the Wraith never sees the Ring, effectively fixing the biggest plothole in the trilogy courtesy of PJ. :P - Cut the soldier lecturing Faramir on his father's will when he releases the Hobbits. We will learn about his father's will soon enough, no need to spoil this. - Since the Hobbits didn't drink the Ent water, I had to get creative with the dialogue at Isengard. The hobbits now have a little gag about the staff and we cut to Saruman and Grima ( a joyful little visual joke I'm particularly pleased with ). After they find the weed we cut to Osgiliath. We will find them smoking in the next film. Sorry Pippin, there is no time for second breakfast here. - Things I wish I could have cut: Aragorn's fake out death. However, it's absolutely mandatory for the film's story to work. And the goal is to create the best film possible. Not to create a book accurate version at the expense of quality.

Additional Notes:

I will edit with trilogy with this goal in mind: To create the best experience and the definitive version for first time viewers, as well as people who already have seen the originals and the extended cuts. Book accuracy is not as important as keeping the film cinematically correct. Every cut is invicible, unless you're extremely familiair with the originals.

Special Thanks:

Artisdead for the terrific poster!