The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The second film of Peter Jack son's historic three-part adaptation of The Lord of the Rings ex tends and in some ways deepens the achievement of the first film but falls short of it in other ways. More liberties are taken, some characters are shortchanged and some memorable events have been deferred to December's The Return of the King.

Like the book, Two Towers is more spectacular and epic in scope than its predecessor. It's also darker; Jackson has showed us the pleasant side of Middle-earth, and here he focuses not on light but on the battle against darkness.

The great exception is the glorious return of a departed character — a moment flooded with as much light and hope as one could wish. In this moment particularly the underlying religious themes intended by Tolkien shine with exceptional clarity.

Among the new characters, Gollum (Andy Serkis) and the Ents rank among the series’ most astonishing triumphs to date. Gollum goes far beyond a special effect, not only for his breathtaking realism but also for Serkis’ conflicted vocal performance.

Note: As with the first film, this week's initial VHS/DVD release will be followed in November by a new “extended edition” with additional footage, potentially enhancing the film.

Content advisory: Intense, sometimes bloody battle violence; scenes of menace and grotesque-rie involving orcs and goblins and other “fell creatures.”

The Wind in the Willows (1996)

There are a number of animated versions of The Wind in the Willows— two from 1996 alone. Of these two, the version more likely to please fans of Grahame's book is not the satiric revisionist production directed by Monty Python alum Terry Jones and distributed in the United States by Disney as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but the BBC version from the producers of the excellent World of Peter Rabbit and Friends series distributed on DVD and VHS by GoodTimes.

Like the Peter Rabbit episodes, Wind in the Willows begins and ends with charming live-action sequences, this time featuring a narrator (Vanessa Redgrave) telling the story to some children. Once again episodes and dialogue are drawn straight from the source material, though with Grahame's longer story more editing has been necessary. The animation, though less striking than in Peter Rabbit, evokes the classic illustrations of Ernest Shepard.

Note: Beware of a disappointing sequel from the same filmmakers, The Willows in Winter, based on a relatively recent book sequel by a different author.

Human characters figure much more prominently, and unpleasantly, than in the original, and the moral is deeply muddled. On DVD the two films come on one disc, but the whole value of the DVD is in the first film.

Content advisory: Mild excitement and action; a potentially confusing sequence involving a brief appearance by Pan.

Roman Holiday (1953)

Audrey Hepburn is utterly be guiling in her star-making role opposite Gregory Peck in Roman Holi day, a delightful romantic comedy about a poised young princess of an unspecified European country who spends a magical day with an American reporter (Gregory Peck) in the Eternal City, playing hooky from her official duties.

On a good-will tour of Europe, Princess Ann (Hepburn) chafes under the constant pressure of official duties and one night in Rome slips out of the embassy to wander the streets unchaperoned.

Soon incapacitated from a sedative administered earlier by an embassy doctor, she's discovered by a stony reporter, who doesn't recognize her but is chivalrous enough to put her up for the night (though not too chivalrous to give her the couch).

For much of the film, the comedic premise of a princess posing as a student and a reporter posing as a salesman provides a pretext for a lighthearted romp that's part romantic comedy, part travelogue, with scenes shot at locations including the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and the Bocca della Verita or “Mouth of Truth” (where Peck allegedly ad-libbed a memorable gag, to his co-star's genuine hysterics).

Then, as the film builds toward its bittersweet climax, the characters rise to real nobility and self-lessness.

Content advisory: Romantic complications; some awkward moments involving members of the