Every reader of The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien has their own perception of what Mordor, what Gollum, and what the Elves look like. Now the question at hand is, did Peter Jackson satisfy the fans imagination? For those of you readers, like myself, who are curious about the book-to-film adaption of the Two Towers you are in for a treat.
    The Two Towers is the second of a three part trilogy known as “The Lord of the Rings”. In this sequel, Frodo and Sam have now started their journey to Mordor. Now realizing the true evils that wait outside the Shire, Frodo knows what awaits for him and the ring. As Somoran and the Orcs prepare for battle to take over middle-earth, Legolas, Gandolf, and Aragorn look to rally up as many allies in hopes that Frodo can destroy the ring in time. In both the book and the movie these are true. This is a general look at the Two Towers, but no one wants a general look, we all want those dirty details. 
There were tons of little insignificant differences that to even the readers would be unnoticeable. The ones that would make or break a readers opinion of the movie are what are important:

• Battle of Balrog and Gandalf
• Initial meeting of Gollum
• Arwen's kiss with Aragorn
• The elves showing up in battle
• The Shelob scene

    The opening scene is Gandalf fighting Balrog. It was a quality opening scene to get you drawn in, but in the book the battle is only discussed not told like the movie. It happens further in the book and not right away. Smaller changes such as Frodo and Sam being asleep while Gollum sneaks up on them compared to waiting for Gollum at the bottom the Elven rope are not bothering to me. When Aragorn is riding down the river asleep, he is awakened by Arwen’s kiss. This scene never happened in the book. At Helm’s deep battle a fleet of Elves show up in support when in the book only Legolas comes in support. This scene really contradicts Tolkien’s theme about having elves segregated from outside life. In the scene of Shelob, the book ends with Sam coming to realization that Frodo is not dead. In the movie it ends with Sam rescuing Frodo and keeping the ring till he finds Frodo again. It basically adds a scene from the Return of the King into it. There are so many little differences that are noticeable to readers, but the discrepancies are not enough to bother my viewing. These were the big hitters that I thought would effect readers viewings.

All changes made in the movie were made in order to make the movie more bold and entertaining to viewers. That does not mean all were effective. In a non-readers eye yes, the movie was flawless, but to a readers, a few changes did not seem right. A huge change, such as the kiss with Arwen and Aragorn, are what upset readers as well as myself. Scenes being added in with no mention in the book are what can ruin the story. Tolkien made a book of perfection, altering it to make it more of a movie is one thing, but adding in things that never happened are another. Movie and books are viewed differently, meaning they are entertaining on different levels. So by adding in a kiss, the non-readers are more connected to the relationship of Arwen and Aragorn. The readers do not need to see that, they know Arwen and Aragorn’s relationship is special because it is emphasized when Arwen leaves the Elvish community for Aragorn. People who are aware of these changes will be turned off before the movie can even end. 
All that being said I still highly recommend this movie. I am a reader myself, and I want to be hyper-critical for all you readers out there like me. Some of these changes you will enjoy as I did. Seeing Smeagól sneak up on Frodo and Sam made the scene more epic and exhilarating. As much as readers want it to be exactly as the book, the changes make the movie more lively. It is a question only you can answer, would you rather hear Gandolf talk about his battle with Balrog, or watch this epic battle blow for blow? 
My experience of reading to watching was perfect. My expectations were to have a “fairly” accurate representation of the book. For the most part it was, I still enjoyed the movie. The accuracy was fairly met, the excitement and action was unlike any other movie I’ve seen before, the length was very long but I enjoyed every minute and never had the feeling of “just end”. The transition into “The Return of The King” was a little slow and did not really leave you wondering as much as it could, but after watching “The Fellowship of the Ring”, you are sucked in enough to wonder if Frodo will be strong enough to destroy the ring, or will the Witch King take over middle Earth. I give my full respect to Jackson for his alteration and entertainment as a director, but in terms of Tolkien, he added too much for a reader to respect him.


The changes I made for project three were that I made it more clear at the beginning that my review was for readers of the book, and that it was to compared the book to the movie. I added a list of the scenes that I felt were important that were changed. I changed my writing from centered to aligned right with the pictures wrapped.