Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Downtown, Los Angeles
For much of the twentieth century, millions of readers worldwide had their own vision of what author J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth would – or should – look and sound like. But their wildest imaginings could scarcely top the magnificent visuals and the sweeping scope of director Peter Jackson's masterpiece, THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy, introduced to the world in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, then followed by THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING, which tied TITANIC and BEN-HUR for the most Academy Award wins (11) for one film. Twenty years on, the trilogy stands as an achievement in cinema – virtually flawless films created by a cast and crew committed to honoring an author's vision and a worldwide fanbase's expectations. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the first of a trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, grossed over $300 million in the United States, garnered 13 Academy Award nominations (it won four, for best cinematography, best visual effects, best makeup, and best original score) and sent sales of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels soaring. Then moviegoers discovered that THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS was even better than the first film. Since Jackson and co-screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Stephen Sinclair got all the epic's exposition out of the way in FELLOWSHIP, they're free here to concentrate on character development and squeezing into three hours as much of Tolkien's three-pronged plot as possible. Jackson also presides over a number of extraordinary, bone-crunching battles, including the climactic storming of Helm's Deep, in which a few hundred mortals, elves, and dwarves try to fend off an attack by tens of thousands of monstrous Uruk-hai, Easterlings, and the gruesome Orcs from the first movie. In addition, TOWERS works in an exorcism, collapsing dams, exploding fortresses, mutant elephants, swamps full of ghosts, bloodthirsty boar-like monsters, and a Gollum that's funny, frightening, and utterly fascinating to watch. You could hardly ask for more spectacle for your movie dollar. If FELLOWSHIP was built largely around the quest of Frodo (Elijah Wood), the young Hobbit saddled with the responsibility of destroying the cursed Ring of Power, TOWERS primarily belongs to Viggo Mortensen's roguishly dashing Aragorn, the wandering warrior and heir of the kingdom of Gondor, whose physical and emotional strength is tested throughout the story. With the minions of the Dark Lord Sauron on the rampage and the fate of Middle-earth hanging by a thread, there's not much time for romance in TOWERS, but the action does pause momentarily so that Jackson can illustrate, in a sequence that's both gorgeous and shocking, the outcome of the affair between the human Aragorn and the elf princess Arwen (Liv Tyler), who is doomed to be eternally youthful. There's gloom galore in TOWERS, which brings Frodo and his faithful friend Sam (Sean Astin) closer to the terrifying gates of Mordor, home of the fiery mountain in which they can finally end the ring's evil influence. There's no time to spare since Frodo is beginning to feel the maddening influence of the ring, which previously turned a Hobbit named Smeagol into the pathetic, warped Gollum that now guides Frodo and Sam down the perilous path to Mordor. As the Hobbits make their way to their dark destination, Aragorn and his men try to enlist the help of King Theoden (Bernard Hill) in their fight against the hideous hordes of Sauron's earthly ally, the diabolical wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee). But Theoden is under the spell of Saruman and heeding the counsel of the sorcerer's spy, the milky-skinned Wormtongue (Brad Dourif).In the third storyline, Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) find themselves in the sinister-looking Fangorn Forest, where they encounter Treebeard, the shepherd of the forest and the leader of the Ents, a race of walking, talking trees who prove to be valuable friends. While Treebeard and his tribe are impressively brought to life by visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, they can't help but pale in comparison to the schizoid Gollum, a computer-generated creation – modeled on actor Andy Serkis, who provides the creature's gurgling voice – that is stunningly expressive and whose split personality paves the way for a great cliffhanger of a finale; Tolkien fans will note that the screenplay ends a couple of chapters before the book does, probably to save a great, scary scene as the opening sequence for THE RETURN OF THE KING, the final chapter in the saga. Given that much of the drama takes place in shadowy castles, pitch-black forests, and in the overcast land of Isengard – the entire last hour of the film could probably have been shot in black and white, in fact – production designer Grant Major and director of photography Andrew Lesnie have done spectacular things with a very limited range of colors and tones. The landscapes, settings, and backdrops are consistently eye-catching and magnificently moody. What everyone will be talking about, however, are the extraordinary battle scenes, which seamlessly bring together digital special effects and live action in a flood of unforgettable images. Whatever readers may have imagined the siege of Helm's Deep to look like, it could not have been nearly as exciting and gloriously gory as it is on screen. Nearly impossible to describe, it's an awe-inspiring centerpiece of one of the most thrilling fantasies ever filmed. (James Sanford) Note: These are the extended versions of the LOTR films