The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (Dramatised)

As I said I wasn't made aware of the BBC's dramatization of Lord of the Rings until 2001, twenty years after its initial release. And even then I wasn't aware of the anniversary edition which added the opening and closing narrations by Frodo. But as I said it was a much better version than the NPR Playhouse version. Granted I do still somewhat enjoy that one, but after hearing this one I must conclude that it' is far superior. And of course it's far better than the films, as good as those admittedly were.
One thing I like about this version is that it stays more or less true to the characters as described in the book, which the films didn't always do.. A notable example is Treebeard. In the NPR playhouse version he was voiced by Tom Luce with a rather annoying echo effect added. Needless to say it made hm sound rather campy. In the films he was hostile towards the Hobbits at first and made them aware of Gandalf's survival long before they learned of it in the book. Here, actor Steven Thorn gives him a commanding yet somewat mischievous quality that I always did perceive in the character. And the Ents have a cool marching song which I'm sure was in the novel but here is excellently presented.
In short I don't think I stopped listening to this any longer than was absolutely necessary, such as for meal and bathroom breaks. But then back to it I went. And now that Audible has them I can carry them with me on my IPod anytime, which should come in useful particularly for long trips in the car. And tense or scary parts of the story really come off as tense or scary here, which is definitely a good thing! Excellent music and SFX combined with an excellent cast bring this tale fabulously to life. It's definitely worth the credits or the money.

Had these on tape. Decided to upgrade to digital audio on my players. Reminds me of when I read these as a teenager. Still one of the best stories ever written.

Sam. In the middle book of the trilogy you learn the value of Sam and his strength. Like Bean was to Ender, Sam is to Frodo.

Well produced ensemble cast. Easy to listen and understand who is talking. Very high production value.

Just relax and enjoy an amazing book.

Once again I enjoyed listening to The Two Towers in dramatization. I think the story is always so much more enriched when the different characters are spoken by different people.
If you want heaps of detail to the story line then don't buy this, there is only so much detail that can be added while incorperating sound effects and music. But overall I found that it contained enough plot line to get the major gist of the story without being waffly and boring to listen to. I really love the LOTR trilogy over the full book anyway. The book, (though I'm sure is amazing once you get into it) is very waffly at the start and I could not read it, so having this to listen to gave me the chance to picture the whole Tolkein world with very little effort.
This Is great to have in the car to listen to on long, and otherwise boring, journeys.

I've read the triligy several times and love the unabridged work, however this dramatised version has very good voices and pace. I don't care for the singing, but I tend to fast forward through that and it's just part of the story.