The overwhelming siege began on Minas Tirith, with catapults, an attacking swarm of Orcs, giant trolls, Ringwraiths-Nazgul on flying winged creatures, fiery bombs, and a fiery wolf-battering ram against the gates, as Gandalf attempted to rally the outnumbered men.The film, shot on location in Arizona (near Elgin) and Mexico, authentically chronicles an epic, bleak and tough journey, similar to the ones inThe Odysseyor inExodus(in he Old Testament), that is fraught with external dangers, threats, ests of strength, and internal contentious tensions between its wo strong-willed, conflicting leaders: a hard-nosed, bitter, ruthless and tough commanding father (John Wayne in one of his best performances and his first film, of five, for Hawks) and his men, defiantly led by his less harsh, surrogate, adopted son (Montgomery Clift, in his first film, after being noticed acting in the Broadway stage production of Lillian Hellman""sThe Searching Wind).With a production budget of approximately $2.5 million, and box-office gross revenues of $25.5 million (domestic).Gorier and more violent (characteristic of splatter films rather than slasher films, with lots of random murders), and with more nudity, than the first film.The film is remarkably faithful to the incredible true-life, autobiographical misfortunes and experiences of Burns:In mid-1919 after returning from the warfront, an idealistic, down-on-his-luck WWI veteran (Burns) found only low-paying jobs, and his previous job (paying $50/week) had been filled.