Fine Elven folk of Middle Earth (Birmingham), it was truly an honour to welcome you back to The Mockingbird for our screening of the Two Towers. Read on for our wines, trivia and gallery.
Two Towers, Five Wines, lots of Fun
La Gioiosa ‘Ca Divo’ Spumante, Veneto, Italy - Majestic £9 per bottle, £7 in a mixed case of six
A sparkling wine from North Eastern Italy in your realm, or Gondor in ours. Veneto is home to Prosecco but in this case made from Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay instead of Glera.
Fresh and fruity, just like Mrs Barliman. Crisp Apple and Pear flavours with Floral notes.
Moselland Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany - Laithwaites £8.99
In our realm Fangorn, in yours the forests of Germany in the Mosel.
This dry fresh wine offers aromas of grapefruit, lime and peach. Peachy on the palate with a citrus freshness and touch of floral.
Ruppertsberg Linsenbusch Grauburgunder Trocken ‘Ruppertsberg Winzerverein’, Pfalz, Germany – The Wine Society £9.95
And now a wine from Rohan, in your realm of Southern Germany, Pfalz.
Grauburgunder may be more familliar to you as Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio.
Rounded, full bodied, rich stone fruits and a touch of spice.
Valpolicella Ripasso, Veneto, Italy - Tesco Finest £12.50
Back to the Veneto or Gondor, this time for a red.
A blend of corvina, rondinella and corvinone, made in the Ripasso style with dried and fermented Amarone grapes passed through our base wine to give a silky, juicy wine offering dark fruits and mocha on the palate.
Pinot Noir Reserve, Joseph Cattin, Alsace, France – The Wine Society £12.95
Here we are in the region of Helm's Deep and we're finishing on a lighter red wine. In your realm Helm's Deep would be close to the point where Germany, Switzerland and France converge, the famous and unique wine region of Alsace. Intensive red cherry on the nose with a hint of spice from oak aging, dry, fruity and light on the palate.
And here is Peter Bird's map showing our two realms:
The Prancing Pony Pub Watch Gallery
Two Tower's Full of Trivia
A few new bits of trivia below for you and some already shared on the night.
Horse Safety Measures: To prevent harm during intense battle scenes, horses and riders wore motion capture suits. Their actions, like galloping and rearing, were filmed in a studio and digitally inserted into the battles.
Sean Bean's Flashback Scene: After completing his scenes, Sean Bean (Boromir) returned to New Zealand to film an elaborate flashback. This scene was excluded from the theatrical release but is available in the Extended Edition.
Elrond's Tapestry: In the scene where Elrond urges Arwen to leave Middle-earth, a tapestry depicting the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, is visible in the background. These trees illuminated Arda before the creation of the sun and moon.
Title in Dialogue: Each film in the trilogy incorporates its subtitle into the dialogue. In this installment, Saruman refers to "the union of the two towers" when discussing the alliance between Isengard and Mordor.
Arwen's Battle Inclusion: Initially, Arwen was scripted to fight alongside the Elves at Helm's Deep. This idea, a remnant from an earlier script treatment, was abandoned after fan backlash over deviations from Tolkien's work.
Andy Serkis's Oscar Campaign: Director Peter Jackson and producer Barrie M. Osborne campaigned for Andy Serkis to receive a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Gollum. However, Academy regulations disqualified performances where the actor isn't physically visible on-screen.
White Wizard's Ambiguity: To create confusion during the White Wizard's first appearance in Fangorn Forest, the filmmakers combined the eyes of Christopher Lee (Saruman) with the face of Ian McKellen (Gandalf). Their voices were also mixed to enhance the ambiguity.
Churchill's Influence: Gandalf's line, "The Battle of Helm's Deep is over. The Battle of Middle-earth is about to begin," paraphrases Winston Churchill's 1940 speech: "The Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."
Best Picture Nomination: "The Two Towers" was the first sequel nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture when its predecessor didn't win the award, and it was the third sequel ever to receive such a nomination.
Gandalf's Fall Duration: Gandalf and the Balrog's fall lasts approximately 71 seconds. Given terminal velocity is around 53 meters per second, they would have fallen about 3,763 meters (approximately 2.3 miles) into the abyss beneath the Bridge of Khazad-dûm before hitting the water.
"The Wizard of Oz" Parallel: The shot of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum observing the Black Gate mirrors a scene in "The Wizard of Oz" where the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion look upon the Witch's castle. Both groups find their destinations heavily guarded, with new armies arriving.
Opening Scene Debate: New Line Cinema wanted to start the movie with a prologue by Cate Blanchett recapping previous events. Director Peter Jackson resisted, preferring to dive directly into the action, believing audiences would recall prior events. Ironically, the studio had previously insisted on a prologue for the first film.
Cameo by Alan Lee: Concept designer Alan Lee appears as a Rohan soldier collecting weapons at Helm's Deep, standing to the left when Aragorn declares, "Then I shall die as one of them!"
Barrie M. Osborne's Cameo: Executive producer Barrie M. Osborne appears as a Rohirrim soldier throwing a rock at the Uruk-hai attacking the gate at Helm's Deep.
Dan Hennah's Cameo: Art director Dan Hennah is seen suiting up in the armory at Helm's Deep.
Uruk-hai Casting: Due to a shortage of tall actors, men around five feet tall were cast as Uruk-hai and affectionately nicknamed "Uruk-Low."
Frodo's Abstinence from the Ring: This is the only installment in the trilogy where Frodo doesn't wear the One Ring.
Gollum's Design Evolution: Gollum's CGI model was redesigned in 2001 after Andy Serkis was cast as Sméagol to reflect his features, ensuring a seamless transformation from Sméagol to Gollum.
Treebeard's Puppet: A 14-foot-tall puppet of Treebeard was constructed on wheels. Actors Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (Merry and Pippin) sat on bicycle seats concealed in Treebeard's hands to ensure their comfort during filming.
Helm's Deep Miniature: A 1:35 scale miniature of Helm's Deep, one of the first built for the film, was used for wide shots and to plan battle sequences using 40,000 toy soldiers.
A huge Middle-Earth thank you from The Barliman, Eomer, Gollum and our Elven wine pouring crew for joining us this evening. We hope you had as much fun as we did.
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