Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Two Towers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The sequel to The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring, this coffee-table edition book is simply the same thing for the second of the three movies by New Line Cinema.

Hundreds of paintings, art work, concept sketches, paintings and diagrams from noted artists John Howe and Alan Lee, as well as the costume designs by Ngila Dickson, and computer-images and artwork from Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop.

Accompanying the images are descriptions and explanations by designers and artists, as well as interviews with Andy Serkis, the physical crux of the amazing and ground-breaking character of Gollum as seen in The Two Towers.

Sketches and art work include drawings of settings such as Mordor, Orthanc, Fangorn Forest, Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, Rivendell, Helm's Deep, Edoras, and Meduseld.

Also included are character sketches and concept art of Théoden, Éomer, Rohirrim soldiers, Treebeard, Éowyn, Grima Wormtongue, Easterling soldiers, Gondorian Rangers, Faramir, Sharku, Warg Riders, Elves, Orcs, and of course, Gollum.

An amazing behind-the-scenes look at the early concepts that took shape to create the spectacular cinematic journey that reaches its end on December 17th, 2003, and if you don't mind having the movies "spoiled" a little, in that you come to learn that a lot of what you saw on the screen really wasn't there, then you'll enjoy this book immensely.

A must-have if you bought the Art of The Fellowship of the Ring, and if you buy this, you have to buy Fellowship too!

"The Art of The Two Towers" is a strong follow-up to "Art of Fellowship of the Ring," which features: Concept art. Lots of concept art. The "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy is brimming over with incredibly detailed and exquisite effects, props and costumes, and though not entirely satisfying, this book gives a lot of good material.

In it, Gary Russell handles many different aspects of the movie sets and costumes, no matter how tiny they are. Here you'll find different places: sketches of the Black Gate and Dead Marshes, different Golden Halls of Rohan (right down to the medieval tapestries on the walls, the ornate chairs, cups, and even the door knockers!), Isengard, Fangorn forest (and the way different light made it seem), the glittering caves (only shown briefly in the movie) and many other places.

Costumes include unused Arwen armor and her more-dresses-than-she-has-scenes wardrobe; Theoden's battle armor, Eowyn's dresses (ranging from regal to homespun), and the new, more regal outfit of Gandalf the White. And for the weirder, there are different kinds of wargs (one looks almost wormlike), different extinguished Balrogs, and many different kinds of Ents, some of whom will be recognizable from the movie.

There are paintings, pencil sketches, exquisitely-detailed clay models from WETA Workshops, and photographs of the finished products. "Art of Two Towers" is, like the previous book, a must-read for those who enjoy seeing how movies evolve. The little comments beside most of the pictures add extra insight as to what the brilliant people who did all this were thinking. (They can also be very funny, such as the dying-Balrog discussions -- how often do people say "creature of slime" so seriously?)

This book is not flawless, however. It doesn't seem very well-organized: Gandalf's costume study is plopped in the middle of the "Fangorn" section when it would have been better with the Rohirrim outfits. Some of the concept paintings (such as the people leaving Rohan, or Saruman down among the orcs) are very splotchy. And I'm not sure why concept art for Rivendell is included since most of the Rivendell stuff was in the first movie.

"The Art of Two Towers" is not quite as strong as its predecessor. But it is a solid source of information for both the "Rings" fan, and the movie buff. Definitely recommended, flaws and all.

I love all things LOTR film(s) related. I am very interested in the aspect of costume design, and I enjoy creating my versions of costumes from the LOTR movies, especially those worn by Arwen the Elf. I have purchased "The LOTR Visual Companion", "The Art of LOTR FOTR", and "The LOTR FOTR Photo Guide" books from Amazon.com, and I have to say that the "Art Of" books are the most thorough and worth the money of the lot. So, my advise to anyone like myself who is into costume re-creation: get yourself the special edition extended DVD set, plus the "Art Of" books. They seem to have the best information out there. The rest, just collectable items with pictures and "fluff". I was dissapointed to find not a bit of information about Arragorn, or Legolas in this second edition ?? =0O

There are nice drawings on Faramir, King Theoden, Eowyn, Grima Wormtongue, even a bit on the costume of Gandalf the White. Maybe it's because the two were covered quite allot in the first edition? I was just dissapointed in that, read right through it and said to myself, hey wait a minute! Where's Arragorn!? Where's Legolas?! No Gimli?! Not even an Elrond.. Arwen's costumes are featured on two pages, and the book even features her armour and quiver that never got into the film. This was pretty cool, that and the information about Gollum was very nice. All in all, you won't regret buying the art of books.

If you were one of the people who raced out to get all the "Fellowship of the Ring" paraphernalia when the first film was released...then slow down. Don't bother with this "Art of" just because you loved "The Two Towers." Save your money for the Extended DVD release.

I'm a film designer. Drawing concept art for sets and costumes is how I make my living. One of the ways I'm inspired is by seeing the process in other designers' works. I think the folks at WETA did a fantastic job with "FOTR", with "TTT" and I'm sure they won't disappoint with "Return of the King." However, the charm of the development work seen in "Art of FOTR" does not necessarily hold up in "Art of TTT," unless seeing concept art executed at any level really blows your hair back. When the first "Art of" book came out, it was a window into WETA's world, and a somewhat unusual one; instead of superstar industrial designers and illustrators (such as the types who populate George Lucas's universe), they were a gang of artists, potters, painters and miscreants. The charm of the imagery lay in its honesty, its sometime awkwardness (Alan Lee is NOT a film designer...but he is an endearing illustrator), its purpose as sustenance for a frenzied population of slavish fans ready to consume ANYTHING "Lord of the Rings" related.

Now that we've seen where the visuals for our precious films were birthed, we've...well...we've seen it all. Some of the matte painters, key art painters and concept illustrators are excellent; others are really no better than a well-trained art student. Often the visual development included in "The Art of TTT" is pre-pre concept art, color keys (loose paintings meant to show color development rather than specific scene detail), or pre-viz CGI images. I'd rather see space taken up in the book with final concepts, storyboards, tight photos of costumes, props and set details, photos of reference art...the generic in-between art just seems to act as filler. It gave me the disappointed feeling that I'd already read and purchased this book...and indeed I had, in "The Art of FOTR." The concept/development process is a long road trashed with a great deal of throwaway sketches and unformed and awkwardly executed ideas. There's no need to give away the farm here. Show us the crown jewels that keep us inspired and captivated by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Grant Major and Ngila Dickson's vision of Tolkien's world.

This keepsake edition for fans of the "Two Towers" movie packs in gorgeous full-page color plates depicting the art of the film. From the process of model-making based on drawings by Tolkien illustrators to costuming and the making of new visual designs, Lord Of Rings: Art Of Two Towers is packed with beautiful works and insights into their creation and origins. Very highly recommended.

I rushed to buy THE ART OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING when it was released last year. The book still sits on my shelf, rarely opened. My extended version DVD, however, is played often -- especially the excellent documentaries about set design, character design, and other related topics.

So, THE ART OF THE TWO TOWERS falls into the same category. It is a handsome book, and some of the art is extraordinary. Author Gary Russell contributes some good words. There is even a sneak peak at THE RETURN OF THE KING with a preproduction painting of Smeagol, Frodo and Sam outside Minas Morgul (!!). However, I'm afraid this book will sit on my shelf after a few glances. I would recommend it only if you are a HUGE fan of preproduction art -- a lot of it is black and white sketches. I get so much more out of the DVD documentaries.

So, I would wait for the extended TWO TOWERS DVD. However, if you absolutely love John Howe and Alan Lee's art, then this book is for you!

The second art book of the movie trilogy is not as shockingly good as the fellowship, but still a great book to own, especially for the Tolkien fan. Some of the maquettes pictured are very cool, especially the varied ents. It's always nice to see how differnt artists interpreted the characters and mood of the scene. These books show how much of a difference the art behind the movie plays on the quality of the film. The paintings are great and in general there is more commentary than in the first book. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book but not over the first one simply because the drawing s in The Fellowship art book surpass the Two Towers, and the organization of the first book is better. If The Two Towers is your favorite movie in the trilogy, then this will probably be your favorite book of the three.

I really enjoyed this, despite me having seen over half of it before.

This completed my collection of "Art of(s) LOTR".

I now own Art of the Lord of the Rings, Art of the Fellowship of the Ring, Art of the Two Towers, and Art of the Return of the King. There were some new great drawings/works that were not in the art of LOTR, but it still had a lot I've seen before.

You really can't go wrong with these unless you can't stand sci-fi/fantasy. I'm not a big sci-fi or even fiction guy but Tolkien is just pure awesomeness. Weta did a fantastic job on a classic story.

If you've already watched The Two Towers, you will not consider is surprising that the movie won the Oscar for best visual effects. But should you be in any doubt (which is unlikely), or rather, should you wish to view the evidence again, then The Art of the Two Towers is the book for you.

The second in the series after The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring, this book takes you as close to the movie as possible, except for actually watching the movie in theaters or on DVD. Filled with beautiful glossy, colorful photographs, paintings, and sketches, one can see how ideas like the tower of Orthanc, the different Orcs, and enemy forces, as well as characters like Gollum initially came to life. There are many initial sketches and ideas of what they were thought to look like, and then a comparison with the final product that is featured in the movie.

It is a book that deserves to be on the shelf of any avid fan of the trilogy, as well as anyone who has an appreciation for art and color. The Art of the Two Towers is simply a great book to own.

Originally published on April 21st, 2003.

Go to BookBanter ([...]) for over five hundred reviews and over forty exclusive author interviews, and more.

This is a great book about the artwork of "The Two Towers" part of "The Lord of the Rings" that one will enjoy reading over and over again.