Question: I know the first film had dialogue references to chapters of the book, such as "A Shortcut to Mushrooms" and "A Long Expected Party". Did this film have any such references?
Question: I've got one question about Legolas' infamous jump on to the horse during the wolf-attack. Is it even possible to do something like that? How did they shoot that scene?
Answer: It's a computer-generated Legolas. While experienced riders are capable of some pretty amazing stuff, I'd imagine that what's seen would be impossible to do in reality - certainly not without throwing the horse off a lot more than seen here. But then, Legolas is an elf, so all bets are off on what he's capable of doing.
Question: Could someone give me the following statistics about the Battle For Helm's Deep? How many Rohan warriors were guarding the Hornburg? How many elves were present (both behind and on top of the Deeping Wall)? How many Rohirrim came with Gandalf? How many Huorns finished off the Uruk-hai?
Answer: There are no particularly precise figures anywhere - all that's available would be educated guesses based on watching the films, and you'd be just as qualified to do that as anybody.
Question: At the end of Fellowship, we seen that Boromir's body (along with his sword and shield) was sent over the Falls of Rauros on a boat and if you look closely will see that the boat toppled forward. Yet in Two Towers, as Faramir sees the boat sail by, the body appears to be unharmed (as well as the sword and shield). Shouldn't the plunge have scattered his weapons as well as the boat and the corpse?
Answer: There is a supernatural element to Faramir seeing his brother's body; even the way it is filmed indicates this. The implication is that the Elven power bound up in the boat, and perhaps some other greater power, safeguarded Boromir; there is also the inference that what Faramir saw was a vision, and not literal reality; there are elements of legend in it, too. From the book: 'He floated by them, and slowly his boat departed... and then suddenly it vanished... the River had taken Boromir son of Denethor... But in Gondor of after-days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars.'
Question: Apart from Gandalf, the Rohirrim and the Huorns, who survived the initial stages of the Battle Of The Hornburg?
Answer: As Helm's Deep doesn't really have initial stages, as such, and, even if it did, none of those you mention would have been there, as they arrive at the very end, I'll assume that the question is really "who survived the Battle of the Hornburg?" The survivors obviously include Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Theoden. Gamling, Theoden's right-hand man also survives. Other than that, it seems fair to say that a number of the other human and elven defenders would have lived through the battle - some are seen to ride forth with Theoden, others presumably remained behind in the fortress. In addition, there are all those women (including Eowyn) and children who hid in the caves behind the fortress.
Question: Where did Sam get the potatoes for the "coney stew"? Not having enough food is a big issues for the hobbits yet it seems he has more than enough ingredients to make a stew with the rabbits that Gollum brings to him. And, if he just dug up the potatoes, why is running out of lembas bread such a tragedy?
Question: Why is Arwen fighting in the battle of Helms Deep? Even if it is a mistake presumably there was some reason for her to be there, like a story line that didn't get included in the movie. Does anyone know if this is true?
Answer: Efforts have been made during the trilogy to beef up Arwen's role in events - using her to bring Frodo to Rivendell in the first film being one of them (replacing Glorfindel in the book). Having her at Helm's Deep was another way of doing that, and Liv Tyler was present at the filming of Helm's Deep. Ultimately, the decision was made to cut her out of that sequence, and the battle was edited to exclude her, with the exception of one brief shot listed as a mistake.
Question: In the extended version, if Faramir is so worried that Gollum will prevent Frodo from completing his quest, then why doesn't he kill him? I know that Frodo 'has to believe he can come back' and so on, but don't you think it is vital Frodo's journey to save the world is made as safe as possible?
Answer: Gollum is the only one who can guide Frodo to the stairs and through the tunnels above it, as he is the only one to have gotten into Mordor that way. And besides, Gollum is under Frodo's protection, and if Faramir had willingly hurt someone in the company of a guest, his and Gondor's honor would be ruined. This may not seem like much in our time and place, but in Middle Earth it matters a lot.
Question: What exactly is the "infamous" Wilhelm scream?
Answer: A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were recorded for the film "Distant Drums." The recording was archived into the studio's sound effects library and it was used in many of their films since. "Star Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording. Ben has adopted the scream as sort of a personal sound signature, and has included it in many of the films he has worked on. Since then it has grown to be something of an "in-joke" in Hollywood among sound designers, who like to see how many films they can fit it into. A list of "Wilhelms" and where they appear can be found at http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html.
Question: There are many scenes where the film is "flipped". (You can usually tell because the brooch on the Elven cloaks is reversed.) Is there a reason why the brooch on Samwise's cloak is the reverse of everyone else's throughout the films?
Chosen answer: It is true to say that flipped shots are obvious for this "brooch" reason, but there is a much better explanation if Samwise's is like it for the whole film. It could be that the actor who plays him is left handed and therefore unlike the majority of the cast, he would put his on the other way round. Not a definitive answer, but a practical one.
Question: Can anyone tell me where I can find the script for the extended Two Towers? I can't find it anywhere.
Answer: They have it at http://www.stupidring.com/tttscript/ On the left side of the screen just click on Special Extended Edition at the bottom.
Question: When the film makers deviate from the book there is often an acknowledgement in some minor detail in the film, for example, Sam's line in Osgiliath, "By rights we shouldn't even be here", is acknowledging that they never go to Osgiliath in the book. Is there anything like that, in any of the trilogy, to acknowledge that the makers / writers left out Tom Bombadil?
Answer: There's a slight reference in the Extended Edition of the Two Towers. When Merry and Pippin are being "eaten" by the tree in the quiet dell of Fangorn Forest, Treebeard arrives and makes the tree let them go. The words he speaks, "Away with you! You should not be waking! Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep!" were spoken by Tom Bombadil in the book edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring", to make Old Man Willow release the hobbits.
Question: What is the title of the very fast paced song in the trailer?
Answer: It's the beautiful theme of Requiem for a Dream, composed by Clint Mansell.
Question: Is it true that Viggo Mortensen almost drowned during the filming of the scene where unconscious Aragorn floats in the river?
Question: Okay, so here is something that always bothered me, although I really like the Elves at Helm's Deep: how in Arda did they get there so quickly? Elrond and Galadriel decide to send the Elven army to the Hornburg during the telepathic conversation-scene, in which there's also footage of the Uruk-hai marching towards Helm's Deep, because, indeed, they have already departed. The Elves that Elrond and Galadriel send are from Lothlórien, they are Galadhrim, and they arrive at Helm's Deep quite some time before the Uruks do, despite a) Lothlórien being significantly further away from Helm's Deep than Isengard, and b) leaving after the Isengard army did. Just, how? I am not buying some random Galadhrim army just happened to be nearby, as it doesn't make any sense for them to be, especially considering the fact that Sauron was attacking Lórien at the time, so you'd think they'd be needed there. I am also not buying Galadriel teleported them or something, because if she could do that, she could have just teleported Frodo to Mount Doom. I know this is probably just something the film makers didn't think through, but can someone think of a plausible excuse?
Answer: Well the Galadhrim have horses, which they send away after arriving at Helm's deep so you don't see them. They didn't come walking like the Uruk army.
Answer: Not really, no. The chapter titles of The Two Towers tend to be relatively factual, like "Helm's Deep", which, while obviously said during the film, can hardly be considered a specific reference to the chapter title. The closest is probably Aragorn calling out "Riders of Rohan" when they encounter them on the plains - there is a chapter with this title (adding "The" to the beginning).
Tailkinker ★