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.


The Art of the Two Towers   January 5, 2004
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Having bought the previous book of a set of three, The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring, I was looking forward to seeing this, and I was not disappointed at all. An interesting foreword and introduction are followed by page upon page of extremely high quality pencil drawings, paintings, photographs, and digital art, and most of these images are accompanied by a short description and explanation by the artist. There are stated to be over five hundred images in total... I'm sure there are in fact far more than that. There is no space wasted on any page, and everything is of flawless quality.

The chapters follow the same order as the film; it begins with Gandalf facing the Balrog at Zirak-zigil through to Helm's Deep and Gollum at the back, and each of these chapters are preceded by an especially impressive painting spread over two pages.

Fans of Peter Jackson's LotR films should know what to expect, and those who enjoyed the Fellowship of the Ring 'Art of' book won't be disappointed.


Coffee Table Book for Geeks   May 29, 2003
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

Some beautiful, large still images, drawings, etc from this absolutely wonderful series of films, glossily bound, make up this book. It's a nice stop-gap to cover the period between the DVD coming out and the fact that the movie is vanishing from cinemas.

There's not a whole lot of text, but that's not really the point. A lot of reviews suggest that if you own the Art of FOTR that this is more of the same - I don't, and I am thrilled with this book.

It also makes a fantastic present for other Tolkien geeks.


A really good book for tolkien fans   May 19, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

When I got this book in the post, i had to go to school straight after i'd opened it. All i could think about was my book waiting for me at home. But it was well worth the wait. It is just as wonderful as the first one. There are some brill photos and digital images. The only thing i was dissapointed in was that i thought there was going to be a whole section on costume, but there was only small pictures dotted about. If you want to find out more about behind the scenes stuff, then this is the book for you. It came in really handy on my essay on a hollywood film production.


Simply Beautiful   April 22, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is a great read whether your a fan of the Lord Of The Rings films, a fan of the books (isn't everyone) or a fan of the artwork by John Howe and Alan Lee for this book. It hasn't got as many pencil sketches as 'The Art Of The Fellowship' and is perhaps not as good as it but the art is breathtaking and the studies of characters and locations really give you an extra perspective on the film and book. Definately a must have.