 Stuart Townsend was replaced shortly after shooting began because Peter Jackson and the producers realized the character of Aragorn needed to be older. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously.
The Gollum that is briefly glimpsed in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) is an entirely different creation than the one that appears in this film. It was during the filming of the second movie that Peter Jackson realized that Andy Serkis` physical performance would have to be employed in the digital creation of Gollum. So Weta Digital had to alter the design of one of the lead characters in the film, scanning Serkis` face so that they would be able to incorporate some of his facial characteristics (the fact that Jackson had also filmed a flashback to be included in "The Return of the King" with Serkis playing the original Smeagal only cemented this decision). This ultimately meant, however, that Weta Digital had only 2-1/2 months to redo two years` work. Serkis himself thought that the final result looked like a combination of his father and his newborn baby.
New Line wanted Peter Jackson to start the film with a prologue done by Cate Blanchett, something that Jackson didn`t want to do. Ironically, a year earlier New Line had been opposed to opening The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) with a prologue narrated by Blanchett, something Jackson was in favor of.
Stephen Sinclair`s screenplay credit stems from when the film was being proposed to Miramax as a two-parter.
The design for Gollum took over 100 maquette sculptures and over 1000 drawings to get right.
Tell-tale signs (grayer hair, blotchy skin) are introduced to show that the Uruk`hai are an inbred set of creatures, who are already starting to erode.
The dead horses that can be seen at the end of the battle scenes are all made of polystyrene.
As the Orcs have black blood, it was only natural that the inside of their mouths should not be pink but black as well. To achieve this, the Orc actors had to swill a liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.
The animatronic puppet of Treebeard was 14 feet high.
Peter Jackson and producer Barrie M. Osborne actively campaigned for Andy Serkis to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Gollum. Academy regulations. however. forbid an actor to be nominated when he is not physically to be seen on screen, despite Serkis` active input into the role.
One of the few films to gross over $100 million in its first week. It reached the $200-million mark within 12 days (Spider-Man (2002)) took nine to do that) and 34 days to reach $300 million.
Sean Astin and Elijah Wood spent most of their scenes acting to an orange ping-pong ball, which was turned into Gollum in post-production.
559 people are listed in the end credits. This number is significantly higher on the Extended DVD Version.
The miniature of the Black Gates of Mordor was partly made of lead.
The Helms Deep battle took four months to shoot, all of it at night.
Originally Liv Tyler`s character Arwen (and love interest for Aragorn) was to be included in the fighting force of Elves who join the men in the battle of Helms Deep. This was a relic of the script treatment for Miramax, which condensed all three books into two films, and met with fan fury on the internet with its free-and-easy approach to J.R.R. Tolkien`s work. Tyler had even trained with swordfighters in preparation for her scenes, when the decision to remove her was made by the writers, who realized that this approach wasn`t working. Arwen, who doesn`t appear in the book of "The Two Towers", was ultimately reworked into the story by lifting elements from the Appendices at the back of the novel, utilizing flashbacks to her and Aragorn at Rivendell. It took the writers about a year to come up with this solution.
When Gollum eats a whole fish, it`s actually Andy Serkis chewing on a fish-shaped lollipop.
The scene where Gandalf calls for his horse and Shadowfax comes galloping across the fields and straight up his master was achieved in the very first take.
Andy Serkis was pitched the role of Gollum by his agent, who rang him up and asked him if he wanted to do three weeks` voiceover work in New Zealand.
Early in pre-production Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke were set to play Eowyn and Faramir. Scheduling conflicts prevented this, but it meant that these two parts were finally cast relatively late into production.
The theatrical version contains roughly 800 special effects shots. The DVD Extended Edition adds about another 160 to that total.
Miniature photography for the trilogy took up a total of 988 days.
Viggo Mortensen was so impressed with the horse his character rides that he purchased him from the owners. The horse was shipped back to New Zealand for the additional shots that were filmed in 2002.
Edoras is only ever filmed during the day as it was well nigh impossible to transport all the necessary night-time lighting equipment up to the location.
Most of the Helms Deep set was made of polystyrene.
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# The scene where Theoden, Legolas and Gimli arrive at Helms Deep, having lost Aragorn, was Bernard Hill`s and Miranda Otto`s first day on set.
Cate Blanchett has only three scenes in this film.
In the wide shots of Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli running after the Orcs, all three performers are running injured. Orlando Bloom had a couple of broken ribs (from a fall off a horse); Viggo Mortensen had a broken toe (from kicking the helmet in the Orcs funeral pyre scene); and Brett Beattie (Gimli`s stunt double) had a knee injury. Peter Jackson said that all three were very dedicated and continued to film the scene, often yelling "ouch" or "ow" after "cut" was called.
One of the reasons for the casting of David Wenham was his resemblance to Sean Bean, his on-screen brother.
Elijah Wood`s sister is one of the refugees in Helms Deep, as is Henry Mortensen, Viggo Mortensen`s son. Philippa Boyens` son Callum Boyens is the boy who gives Aragorn his sword, but that isn`t his voice in the final cut. Callum`s voice had changed by the time it came to do the looping, so a different voice was cast.
There were never more than 100 Uruk`hai at any time; the rest were all computer generated.
The 30 foot "bigiature" of Helms Deep was the first of the oversized miniatures constructed for the trilogy.
They couldn`t recruit enough men in the 6 foot height area to play Uruk`hai so men from 5 foot high were cast as well. They were affectionately nicknamed the Uruk`Low.
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# Instead of being hired out, all the hero horses were actually bought for the production, to allow them the chance to get used to the comings and goings of film crews.
The Battle of Helms Deep features hundreds of spears made of cardboard tubes so that none of the charging horses would be injured.
The swooping camera that pulls back over the thousands of Orc and Uruk`hai soldiers is inspired by a similar shot in Leni Riefenstahl`s Triumph des Willens (1935).
One of the main reasons Sean Astin took the part of Sam was the advice of his father John Astin, who had previously worked with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh on The Frighteners (1996) and had been enthused with their rapport, understanding of film and appreciation of their crew.
Forced perspective was just one of the tricks used on the Helms Deep "bigiature" to make it look like the real thing. Parts of the set that were far away from camera were built to a smaller scale, to make them look further away. The shots were also always made in smoke to increase the sense of atmospheric distance.During the design process, parts of the model were filled with Action Man dolls to provide a scale reference.
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# When Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are in Osgiliath, Sam says, "By rights, we shouldn`t even be here." This was a nod to the deviation the screenplay had taken from the book`s storyline. In the book, Sam and Frodo never passed through Osgiliath at all.
Voted number 19 in channel 4`s (UK) "Greatest Family Films" (as trilogy)
Rohan armor weighed 22 kilograms dry and 24 wet.
It was clear to the writers from the very beginning that the entire final sequence of the novel (Frodo and Sam`s encounter with Shelob) would be part of the third film, not this one. This tactical move meant the battle for Helms Deep became this film`s natural climax.
One of Peter Jackson`s inspirations for the battle of Helms Deep was the epic battle scene at the end of Cy Endfield`s Zulu (1964).
Another problem faced by the writers was that - unlike "The Fellowship of the Ring" - no major characters die in the course of "The Two Towers", something which could have easily provided them with an emotional climax.
The Dead Marshes were actually a water-filled parking lot, the same one that had doubled up for outside the mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Passengers in passing trains on the adjacent railway line were able to see Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and Andy Serkis performing on set.
11,000 sandbags were used for the construction of the Dead Marshes set.
The bodies lying underwater in the Dead Marshes were made of silicone.
The location for Edoras was in the midst of a national park. The Conservation Society of New Zealand gave them permission to film there on the proviso that they returned it in exactly the same condition that they found it. This meant lifting most of the natural vegetation and grasses up and storing them in a purpose-built nursery, as filming in the location would last approximately 18 months.
Some of the physical inspirations for Gollum`s wiry frame were resident artist (and J.R.R. Tolkien expert) John Howe and rock singer Iggy Pop.
The "big-ature" model of Helms Deep stood 7 feet tall and measured 20 feet square.
The Orc juice that is poured down Merry`s throat is a combination of peach juice and Sodastream cola concentrate.
Several members of the cast returned to New Zealand when Peter Jackson thought of some more ideas for scenes.
The Orc battle cries for the Helm`s Deep battle sequence were provided by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans, who screamed the war chants, spelled out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Peter Jackson himself leading the crowd.
Gollum/Smeagol is a CGI character, but Peter Jackson wanted the character to be performer-oriented, so actor Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum, played the character in a motion capture suit. Serkis also played scenes with Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) on set to give the actors a focal point. On those occasions when Serkis was actually in shot Gollum was composited over him in post production.
The set for the Helm`s Deep battle scene was built on location in New Zealand over a period of seven months.
When arriving upon the set to film the scene in which Andy Serkis (Gollum) has to catch a fish, they discovered that it had snowed overnight. Peter Jackson had the snow cleared on the set (which included defrosting the river as well as the land surrounding it) by 1:00 PM.
The role of Eowyn, the White Lady of Rohan, was first offered to Irish actress Alison Doody in December 1999, who had to decline the part because she had just given birth to her second daughter. Miranda Otto then auditioned for the same role.
Director Cameo: [Peter Jackson] Wearing chainmail at Helm`s Deep.
Sean Astin shot his short film The Long and Short of It (2003) during a re-shoot in New Zealand. LucasFilm was demonstrating its new High Definition Digital Video cameras (used on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)) for Peter Jackson, and Astin asked the LucasFilm crew if they could stay an extra day so he could use the camera to shoot his short film. They agreed, and Astin shot the film in six hours.
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# The Warg attack against the Rohirrim was originally supposed to be set at night, and at Edoras. After working on the Edoras set during the day, Peter Jackson decided that it was too windy and too cold to bring cast and crew back for a night scene, so the scene was re-written to happen during daylight.
The Main Door of Helm`s Deep was built so heavily and so well that the real battering ram that was built to knock down the gates failed to do so until the door was weakened. Someone had built the door a little bit too well and Peter Jackson can heard on the Extended Edition DVD commenting that if they had to defend a castle, he would want the WETA workshop guys to build the door.
On the wall of Helm`s Deep during the battle, a one-eyed warrior turns to the camera, revealing his scarred empty socket. The performer who played him showed up as an extra, wearing an eye patch; director Peter Jackson politely asked to see what was under the patch, and then inquired if the gentleman would be interested in appearing in the film sans eye patch. The gentleman was reluctant at first and quite self-conscious, but afterward said the experience had made him more comfortable with his condition.
Between takes, Brad Dourif stayed in character by continuing to speak with an English accent until all his footage had been completed. This was so convincing that, at the end, when he spoke with his normal voice again, Bernard Hill thought that his English accent was real and that his American accent must be fake.
In the Extended Edition, Pippin tells Merry about a dream he had in which they smoked a large amount of pipeweed, and then Merry got sick. During filming, Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry, did indeed get sick when he tried to smoke.
Cameo: [Barrie M. Osborne] the executive producer appears as a Rohirrim soldier throwing a rock down on the Uruk-Hai attacking the gate at Helm`s Deep.
John Rhys-Davies, also provided the voice for Treebeard.
Peter Jackson`s children appear as "cute Rohan refugee children".
The map that Faramir and Madril look at is the map featured in the books, drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien`s son, Christopher Tolkien.
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# The battle at Helm`s Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three month period with the rain machine battering down on the cast.
Viggo Mortensen broke two toes while kicking the steel helmet by the orc pyre, and that take is the one that actually appears in the movie. Peter Jackson said that was really impressed with the shout of pain Aragorn cried out for the fate of the two hobbits, realizing only later that it was pain already, but for his two toes instead. He was also impressed by the fact that Mortensen continued acting even if so seriously injured.
For one shot where Gollum is crawling and splashing down a river after a fish, Andy Serkis was actually in the water. It had been snowing the previous night, and the snow had been melted, but the water was still freezing cold.
To increase the number of Rohirrim riders, many of the "men" were actually women with beards glued on. Peter Jackson and others have noted that in many cases they were more skilled riders than the men.
Viggo Mortensen`s son, Henry Mortensen appears as an extra in some of the Helm`s Deep sequences.
Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan spent so much time up the tree (TreeBeard) during the making of the the film that they spent their time between takes writing a screenplay. Additionally, it was so difficult to get up and down to their "perches" that they were left there during breaks while the rest of the crew went off to eat, though someone was kind enough to pass theirs up to them
To make the many sparkling lights in Galadriel`s eyes, the crew put white Christmas lights behind the camera.
Cameo: [Alan Lee] The Concept Designer can be seen as the Rohan collecting weapons at Helm`s Deep (to the left when Aragorn yell`s "Then I shall die as one of them!").
Gimli`s armor weighed about 30kg (66lb).
A stuntman broke his leg playing the soldier who is hit by the "bolt" from the ballista type device used to hoist the ladders.
Movie theater prints were labeled "Grand Tour" on the film can and the actual reels.
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# Cameo: [Dan Hennah] the art director is getting suited up in the armory at Helm`s Deep. Look over Aragorn`s right shoulder after Legolas says "They`re frightened - I can see it in their eyes."
The first sequel to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture when the original film did not win the award itself, and the third sequel to be nominated for Best Picture.
There were so many extras used in the sequences at Helms Deep, and the filming went on for so many months that almost all the extras and principal actors got t-shirts reading "I survived Helms Deep". There were so many of these shirts that extras would often meet other extras in New Zealand`s main cities because they would recognize the shirts.
General release prints of the film were made from a digital master that has been digitally noise and grain reduced. As a result there is less grain but also digital noise reduction artifacts in the form of smearing of textures (the worst case is in a shot shortly after Aragorn falls off the cliff).
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# Prior to Emiliana Torrini, Björk was approached several times to both co-write and sing "Gollum`s Song". She refused them all due to her pregnancy. Although she was not officially involved, producers did pick three artists with a similar sound, and asked her to choose. Her pick didn`t work out, and after approaching her one final time to sing, the song went to Torrini.
Andy Serkis (Gollum) was ruled ineligible for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2003 Academy Awards because his character onscreen was computer generated.
While filming the trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that during a conversation, Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for over half an hour without him realizing it.
WILHELM SCREAM: An Elvish warrior falls off the Deeping Wall and screams.
The sound of the fell beasts that the ringwraiths ride is actually the noise of a donkey.
When Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are in Osgiliath, Sam says, "By rights we shouldn`t even be here." In the original novel, Frodo and Sam never go to Osgiliath as prisoners of Faramir.
The scene where Gamling (Bruce Hopkins) and Theoden (Bernard Hill) get ready for the battle (speech from Gamling), Hopkins` sons, Tom and Joe, are sitting at the entrance of the room, their backs to the camera, as refugees.
EASTER EGG: In the extended DVD version on the first movie disc, go to chapter 29-30 under the scene selection. Press down under chapter 30 and a gold ring will appear. It`s a hidden extra of the MTV awards for Andy Serkis receiving best virtual performance.
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# Rendering Gollum would often take six hours for one shot, so WETA would leave the shot to render over night and check the results in the morning. Every now and again a computer glitch would occur, for instance, one morning the team woke up to find every hair on Gollum`s head standing upright in a sort of punk looking afro, or his eyes would pop in and out of his head as he spoke.
One frame of Gollum would take around eight minutes to render, while one frame of Treebeard could take up to 48 hours to render.
The Deeping Wall blowing up and the boulder smashing into a tower in Osgiliath weren`t created digitally, but by destroying the miniatures
Andy Serkis did the voices for the three orcs arguing with each other at the Fangorn Camp scene
In an earlier version of the script, Arwen was to have fought alongside Aragorn at Helm`s Deep. Footage of Arwen fighting some Uruk-Hai was shot, but was not used in the final film
The scene with the Uruk-hai before the Battle for Helms Deep starts, where they stomp their spears into the ground, was inspired by the same act the stuntmen would do between takes to pass time. After seeing it, Peter Jackson liked it, and put it in the movie.
Andy Serkis said that he based Gollum`s voice on the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball.
The Lembas Bread that Sam and Frodo eat in the beginning of the film was actually shortbread cookies made by the art department
Early trailers included a brief scene of Eowyn waiting to attack an Uruk-hai from behind a pillar; this scene is not included in either the theatrical version or the extended edition.
Gollum`s pupils signal his frame of mind. "Treacherous Gollum" has narrow pupils; "friendly Gollum" has slightly wider pupils. This is most obvious in the scene when the two sides of his personality struggle with each other.
John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) had lost the tip of his left middle finger in a farm accident when he was younger, so special prosthetic fingertips were made from a cast of his right middle finger.
Bernard Hill was originally considered for the role of Gandalf.
Bernard Hill cracked his sternum while riding his horse.
In the cave scene where Faramir lifts the Ring from under Frodo`s shirt, David Wenham was afraid of accidentally stabbing Elijah Wood so a swordsman was called on to do the scene.
During one take while filming the scene when Aragorn is floating down the river, Viggo Mortensen was dragged under water for many seconds. He managed to kick himself back up off a rock, perhaps saving his life. A safety team then rescued him and took him to shore.
Dedicated to Carla Fry, Brian Bansgrove and Brent Robb.
Many of Treebeard`s lines come from the book, but were spoken by Tom Bombadil in the first volume.
On Miranda Otto`s first day of shooting, Liv Tyler was said to have welcomed her with enthusiastic open arms, saying, "I`m so glad there`s another woman in this film."
The dawn shot of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas pursuing the orcs came about when Viggo Mortensen persuaded the second unit team to camp out on location. Mortenson`s efforts in organizing the overnight trip were so effective that actors and crew from the other film units, including Miranda Otto, came out to join him.
In each film in the trilogy, the subtitle of the film is incorporated as dialogue. In this instance- Saruman: "Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor, and the union of the two towers?"
The scene of Denethor was removed in the theatrical version, which made his first appearance in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). However, he appeared in the Extended Edition.
While the three hunters are surrounded by the Rohirrim, three or four cameras were used at once to get a more realistic shot.
The "miniature" of Orthanc tower ended up being 27 feet tall.
Viggo Mortensen lost a tooth during the shoot.
Andy Serkis said he based Gollum`s desperation and cravings on the withdrawals of heroin addicts.
Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the role of Faramir.
A new technique for creating realistic translucent materials was developed for the creation of Gollum. The so-called technique called "subsurface scattering", allowed the 3D-artists at Weta Digital, to simulate light casting into objects and bouncing around underneath the surface and casted back out again. This has been used ever since in the vfx production to create realistic skin.
Body count: 468
The movie`s line "My precious" was voted as the #85 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
The movie`s line "Precious" was voted as the #93 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
Kate Winslet was offered the role of Eowyn.
Sean Bean had finished shooting his scenes and had returned to England, when he was asked to return to New Zealand to film an elaborate flashback scene. Unfortunately, this scene did not make it into the theatrical cut of the movie, although it is included in the Extended Edition.
Brad Dourif had to shave his eyebrows off, and because he was recalled several times during the trilogy`s filming, he ended up doing that five times over the course of three years.
Bernard Hill would spend up to nine hours in make-up to become the aged Theoden. He wore contact lenses to give his eyes the milky look that very old people can have, but it wasn`t sufficiently successful so his eyes were later tinkered with digitally.
Once Andy Serkis was cast as Gollum, the designers had to alter their concepts of the character that they had been working on for about three years to marry up with Serkis` features.
When Merry and Pippin are being carried off on the back of the Uruk`hai, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan are in reality being carried on the backs of two stuntmen wearing oversized costumes and a false enormous head to give the impression of height disparity.
A scene of a fresh-faced Aragorn meeting Arwen for the first time was filmed, but Peter Jackson was unable to find a suitable place for it.
Conceptual artist John Howe was the model for Gollum`s sinewy arms.
David Wenham hadn`t read the books when he joined the production as Faramir.
Andy Serkis` hobby of rock-climbing came in very handy for his mainly on-all-fours performance as Gollum.
When Gollum spits in disgust at Sam`s cooking of rabbits, that is Andy Serkis` very own spittle flying through the air.
Andy Serkis drank bottles and bottles of "Gollum juice" (a mixture of honey, lemon and ginger) to keep his throat lubricated for his intense vocal performance.
In the wide shots of Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli running after the Orcs, John Rhys-Davies` character (played by his stunt double Brett Beattie) drops something as he runs.
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# One time while Bernard Hill was in England, a woman came up to him and told him about how one of her children had died shortly before then, and that parents shouldn`t have to bury their child. His confrontation with this woman affected him so much that he asked to have a line put in about it.
# About 200-300 horses were used in the trilogy. Because most of the scenes involving horses are intense battle scenes where the horses could likely be harmed, a horse and rider were fitted with the same type of suit that Andy Serkis wore for his role, and were filmed in the studio doing typical "battle" things, like galloping and rearing up, so the footage could be inserted digitally into the battle scenes. In that way, no horses were hurt.
In the scene where Aragorn has washed up on the shore of the river that he fell in when the warg dragged him off the cliff and Arwen comes to him in a dream to revive him, the dialogue was originally in English. But Liv Tyler was entranced by the Elvish language, and since both characters and actors knew how to speak it, she talked Peter Jackson into letting them translate the script for that scene. Everyone agreed that it turned out much better her way than the way it had been originally planned.
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# When Miranda Otto arrived on set, she was introduced first to the people she`d be working with the most. When she met Viggo Mortensen, she commented about her character falling in love with his: "It`s going to be SO easy to fall in love with this man!"
When Legolas is talking to Aragon before the Battle of Helms Deep, he refers to 300 against 10,000. It is a reference to Thermopolyae where 300 Spartans killed 10,000 Persian soldiers.
Peter Jackson`s first two choices for the role of Aragorn were Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell Crowe. Crowe was excited about the prospect of being involved with a major motion picture in New Zealand, but couldn`t commit due to scheduling conflicts in America.
Kate Winslet was offered the role of Eowyn.
Gandalf`s line near the end declaring that "The Battle of Helm`s Deep is over; the Battle of Middle Earth is about to begin" is paraphrased from part of one of Winston Churchill`s most famous speeches of the Second World War, of June 18th 1940: "...the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."
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Liv Tyler
(as Arwen)
with Viggo Mortensen
(as Aragorn)
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