Rating: 
Summary: Interesting But Not For Everyone
Review: I enjoy seeing how books are adapted into a movie so I don't get caught up in what might be missing or what was changed. I have not read the trilogy yet. I've only read The Hobbit at this point. I did glance at parts of the book that are different between this version and the Peter Jackson movie. Although this version is not as entertaining as the newer, live-action version, it seems to change fewer story elements. The first 80 minutes is from The Fellowship of the Ring. The remaining time covers at least part of The Two Towers. (Since I haven't read the books, I don't know how much of the book is covered.) Bakshi has an interesting animation style that often takes live footage and makes it look animated. I think he traces the live action and animates it. It's mainly done with background characters and sometimes main characters during action scenes. It's so unusual you either like or hate it. I'm not that picky as long as the story moves along. Personally, I prefer Bakshi's Wizards over this one. This is the only animated movie where I've seen the characters overact. Frodo's gestures are just unnatural to me. It's kinda cheesy to me. I'm not sure if it could be something from a stage production - where gestures have to get across to people in the back of the auditorium. It just doesn't look right. On the plus side, John Hurt and Anthony Daniels are among the voice actors. I originally liked Leonard Rosenman's score until I heard his later scores for Star Trek IV and Robocop 2. He reuses the same basic melodies. I think he also did the score for Beneath The Planet of the Apes, and I don't recall it sounding like the music here. It's hard for me to recommend this title to the typical viewer. Some fans of the book might enjoy seeing an older attempt at a movie. ...if they aren't too picky about details.
Rating: 
Summary: What was that??
Review: Yes, it was made in 1978 with a newer film type, but what happend to the ring?Where did merry and pippin go, where did frodo and sam go?? It just stopped....nothing more than that, if you didnt read the books than you would be sooo lost. And Aragorn and Boromir would you please put on some pants!
Rating: 
Summary: forgettable
Review: I really can't write much about this film. That is because it is forgettable
Rating:
Summary: A piece of ...
Review: I'm sorry, but I don't understand why people constantly defend this film. "Oh, it's not so bad. It was good in it's time. It's not fair to compare it to the new one." I don't compare it! I saw this years ago, way before the new version came along, and I thought it was horrible then, by any standards! And I'll explain why in one (or two) words: roto-scoping! Here Bashiki had the hard task of cramming an epic story into what he originally thought would be one film! Then he wastes time and money with this animating over live action technique which does nothing but distract and detract precious screen time. Look, if he wanted to test out this new style, he should've done this with another film, not one as pressured of LOTR. And when he decided the film would not fully capture the whole epic, why stop at the battle of Helm's Deep of all places? At least stop in a place which seems right to stop at (like the places where the trilogy was originally divided, for instance).
Rating:
Summary: RUINS THE LORD OF THE RINGS!
Review: This movie absolutely ... and still ...! I hate it. Thank ... I only payed ($)for it! The animation totally sucks (WORSE THAN HEAVY METAL 1) and the voice acting (totally bad!). The DVD is no better. The picture quality is horrible. The sound quality is horrible. Ralph Bakshi should have just made 4 movies in this order: "The Hobbit" (this movie's not that bad), "The Fellowship of the Ring" (Part of this movie), "The Two Towers" (not as developed as FOTR) and "The Return of the King" (haven't seen it). But no, he had to make it like this "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings" (Fellowship and Two Towers in one long 2 hour nap) and "The Return of the King". How can these people like this movie. The live-action movie is totally better. Great acting, great (I MEAN GREAT!) cinematography and great sound effects. But in LOTR (animated) all you get for the Black Riders are horribly animated cretins that pretty much just screech and howl (OH THE NOISE, THE NOISE NOISE NOISE! The DVD sound is so shrill that I just wanted to take the darn thing out. You don't get a 5.1 remaster, you get a poor "Dolby Surround Stereo" recording of the soundtrack)! The widescreen presentation of the film couldn't make this movie any better. I mean it, why did Bakshi had to do that. He ruined what could have been 4 great animated movies and turned Fellowship and Two Towers into a travesty! Please, save your money and buy the live-action movie that is wonderfully directed by Peter Jackson, and DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE! Even better, wait until November when the extended cut of the live action Fellowship comes out. Peter Jackson is doing this the right way. He is making a trilogy out of the Lord of the Rings. Not combining them into one 4 hour movie. ...
Rating: 
Summary: How can it compete?
Review: Poor little animated film. It was to be the first of two films, but it flopped big-time in its initial release. So the second film was never made. There *was* a "Return of the King" released for TV, but its style of animation is more like "The Hobbit" than this one (I think the same folks were responsible for Hobbit and RotK). Nonetheless, this animated Lord of the Rings isn't so bad. Sure, the animation takes some getting used to, especially the combination of traditional animation and roto-scoping (essentially tracing over live-action work). But I think it works and it gives the goblins an extra dimension of creepiness and realism that would otherwise not be present in animated work. There are some tremendous battle scenes in the second half, which work quite well thanks to the roto-scoping. I saw the recent Fellowship of the Ring, so I wasn't expecting much from this 20+ year old animated film, but I was quite surprised and happy about it. In its own way, it captures the spirit of the books just fine. But alas, I don't think anyone will pay it much heed when the extremely good Fellowship of the Ring is now available on DVD. However, if you are adventurous, give the animated DVD a spin. It's good family entertainment (well, might be a *little* scary for the toddlers) and it is certainly better than people tend to think!
Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable
Review: I am a huge fan of "The Lord of the Rings" book by J.R.R. Tolkien and when I stumbled upon this animated film of the first two books of the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers," I decided to watch it. Was I disappointed with the film? Absolutely not! Was the film perfect? No way. But did I thoroughly enjoy it? I sure did. This animated movie is very true to the books in certain places, but in other places the film is very off. It is a lot of fun to see your favorite characters from the books animated on screen and doing what they are doing. As I stated above, this film is based on the first two books of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The movie starts off with some history about the ring and how Gollum found it and Bilbo Baggins ended up retrieving it. Then the film switches to the present and Frodo, Bilbo's cousin, ends up with the ring. The ring is The One Ring that can rule all of Middle Earth. Then the first part of the movie details the beginning of the quest to destroy the ring. Then in "The Two Towers" film we see the battle at Helm's Deep. The ending of the film is a bit shakey but then I'll have to see the last movie in this cartoon duology to get the full story from the movies. This is a film that is very enjoyable but is still with its flaws. I'll start off with the good parts of the movie. The first part of the film, "The Fellowship of the Ring" part, is definitely the best as it is truest to the book. We see Bilbo's party at the beginning, the Inn at Bree, the Council of Elrond, and many other things that were in the book. The thing that was very vital yet missing was the Black Riders invading the Shire and trying to find the ring. I was wondering where this part of the movie was. Other good things about the film are the characters and just the feeling that the film gives off in certain places. In many places this film is warm and inviting, probably because of the atmosphere that the movie builds up. The bad parts are mostly that which was in "The Two Towers" part of the film. Most of what happened with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin was true to the book as most of this part of the movie revolved around them. However, there was hardly any part of the quest of Frodo and Sam with Gollum. We only really see the two friends meet Gollum and start their quest to Mordor. If you have read the book you will remember that Frodo and Sam met a lot of men from Gondor and had a few adventures getting into the Dark Lord Sauron's city. This was the most missed part of the film. I have yet to see the other movie in this animated duology, but it is possible that this part will be there. I'm not too sure. The animation is mostly very good, but in certain places it looks that there were shots taken from live action movies and placed in an animated setting. This was a bit bothersome, but not too bad. Despite the flaws of this film it is still very enjoyable from fans of the books or anyone that seems interested in the movie. If you are a parent with young children that are familiar with the "Lord of the Rings" story and feel that the live action movie is a bit too violent or over their head, then I recommend this adaptation to you. Happy Reading!
Rating: 
Summary: The DVD for people who read
Review: THe DVD is wonderfully animated using live action modeling. If you are expecting Disney than buy something else. Not for people who like to be "hollywoodized" but for Tolkienites who appreciate directors holding to the book. I bought the DVD because my VHS was worn out.
Rating:
Summary: WHAT IS THIS?
Review: I'll only say a few things, first read the books. Second...this movie completely dissappointed me, the Dwarves look just like men, just 3 inches shorter, Elves look like men and Hobbits have pointed ears like the Elves were SUPPOSED to have but did not...what's going on here? Aragorn looks like an out of shape bum, not a kingly handsom man as Tolkien describes. You soon start to hate all the characters and their movements, the hobits would move like giddy school girls and give each other sensual glances and made you wonder what intoxicating substances the director and animators were on. Legolas prances around like a ballarina. Wormtongue strokes Theodin like a dog, or even reminds me of Anna Nicole smith petting her dying billionaire husband waiting for her money. PLEASE TELL ME WHY? WHY DID THEY DO THIS STORY SUCH A GREAT INJUSTICE??? I would much prefer that they'd use the animation style of the Hobbit and not this lazy thrown-together-in-a-week rotoscoped nonsense. Please! do not waste your time with this purchase, buy the Hobbit or Return of the King if you need animated Tolkien, but nothing substitutes his masterful book which you can also buy here at Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: - tells the story -
Review: Well, I got this DVD yesterday. My father doesn't know much about the trilogy and mistook it for the Fellowship of the Ring which is just about out. So, my dad bought it. I was surprised! I have heard many things about this movie. Most being bad. The graphics are horrible, yadda yadda. Frodo, Pippin, and Merry were kinda cute, with the sparkle in their eyes. Sam was weirdly depicted with a weird face and such. But he was quite loyal. The backgrounds were incredible! The movie involves animation, but the Black Riders, Rohirrim, and Orcs were in real film. It kind of messed up the movie. The storyline was roughly followed, so you were at least aware of where you were in the story. I was quite dissapointed that the movie ended near the end of TTT, but oh well. Bottom Line - I suggest getting this if you have spare time, or kids. It gets the point of Lord of the Rings across, but isn't effective at anything else though. I will wait for August 8th and buy the Fellowship on video, because I know that is a LOT better. Later...
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