Rating: 
Summary: Worth Having
Review: If for no other reason than "completing a media collection", these 3 DVDs are worth owning by fans of LOTR that love the story, but haven't gone over the deep end in terms of what they deem "worthy" renderings of Tolkien's work.
The Hobbit is probably the best of the three, though inexplicably is missing about a third of the sound effect work from the broadcast version - most notably Bilbo slaying the spiders, and Smaug's blasts of fire. Weird. Anyway, with the remarkable cast of voices it stands well on it's own. IMHO, Brother Theodore's version of Gollum's voice is probably the best there will ever be. Great for kids, fun for adults who remember.
Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings" was perhaps over ambitious - some of the rotoscoped scenes drive me nuts - but some things he did very very well. The relationships between the fellowship are completely believable. The black riders are spooky as it gets, and his version of Galadriel's pool/test are right on the money. All in all, I still like pulling it out on a dark pre-snowy autumn night.
Return of the King - this one's an oddity. I agree with some other reviewers here, it's treated like The Hobbit, but it's so dark that it almost gets funny in places. Roddy McDowell is over-the-top big time, painting Sam much harsher than the books, and much is glossed over for time constraints. Though,it too, has it's moments.
Over all, the Rankin Bass offerings are beautiful to look at...the backgrounds are breathtaking - water colors brought to life.
None of these three films are perfect, but given the fact that no major studio would touch any of 'em, _and_ the fact that over 1200 pages of story are being crammed into under 4 hours of movie, I find them mostly satisfying versions of LOTR, and find myself watching them more than I expected to.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Hobbit" VHS quality is atrocious
Review: My review isn't about the merits of the films, but rather the quality of the video of "The Hobbit" which is atrocious - as bad as any bootleg copy of a movie I've ever seen. LOTR and ROTK are fine - excellent copies, but Hobbit is fuzzy, yellowed, and just all around not worth having - I've returned my copy, and couldn't even stand watching it for five minutes.
I understand the DVD is good, but this video is awful - get the DVD version (as it is really a cute version of the story).
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't even come Close to giving Tolkien his due.
Review: The Hobbit is actually an alright version of the three but the other two just throw off the story and do no justice to the themes and feel of Middle-Earth.I guess I buy the Hobbit because it is a kids book and made a kids cartoon. However the return of the king is done the same doesn't not grasp the gravity or climax that the book has. The middle one is just plain terrible. It hop skips and jumps its way through the Fellowship and part of the Two Towers really skewing Tolkien's work. Buy the Hobbit for the kids and wait until Jackson's trilogy is complete and on DVD for the Lord of the Rings. Or just read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: For kids
Review: The Hobbit and return of the king are the best in this series. The Lord of the rings skips a ton of stuff, makes samwise look ugly, and leaves out over half the story line, making it impossible to know whom is whom. The other two are from a japenese company that unfortaunatly went out of bissness befor e doing the rest. These are meant for younger audience and their hobbits are not realistic, still, they do not change it to much.
Rating: 
Summary: wow
Review: this is an amazing set of moveis. they capture the true imagination and spirit of the lord of teh rings and they are all amzing stories written in a time before time. calssic tales for all ages. worth every cent you pay.
Rating:
Summary: These are geared for pre-teens--this isn't Orson Welles!!!
Review: I'm glad that these films have been put to disk. Tolkein is powerful. He leaves a great wake every time he surfaces. I am just waiting for the resurgence of fantasy with the live-action "Lord of the Rings." To begin, grown-ups should read books for grown ups. Read the books, and don't drink below the horses. These animated films are designed for younger demographics; so don't expect Shakespeare or Joseph Conrad. But do expect a whittled down retelling of the Tolkein classics. Face it, the films cannot convey the full flavor of the books--Tom Bombadil probably will never be portrayed in any "Lord of the Rings" adaptation. These books are thick, like "Dune," so they do not adapt to the "short attention-span" theater. Secondly, the films should serve as a segue way into the books. You are given a two-hour adaptation of the long and thick book, which serves as a roadmap while you are reading. But our curiosity should not stop with the films. The Hobbit is a good adaptation of the book, although it is designed for pre-teens, about 6-10 years old, and is punctuated by narrative singing. The animation is very stylized, and the Hobbits resemble those red-hated dwarves that were so popular in the early '80's. You get a feel for the story. Admittedly, "The Lord of the Rings" stops abruptly, and it would have been helpful if the same animation companies would have done both films, due to continuity reasons. Frankly, I prefer the style to "The Lord of the Rings," since it was geared to a teen-age demographic, and is not as cutesy as "The Hobbit" and "Return of the King." The ring-wraiths still chill me, and the orcs really do scare the spit out of you. The orcs and wraiths in the other films remind me of Gargamel from the Smurf. You realize he is the bad guy, but he seems more like a vicious Archie Bunker. The style reminds me of jazzed up Filmation (He-Man, Star Trek: The Animated Series), but they inter-spliced real actors in with the animation, so the film has an eerie feel about it. Especially the wring-wraiths. I am surprised that this film didn't give me a nightmare! And this film had the better Gollum! As mentioned, "Return of the King" does not pick-up exactly where "Lord of the Rings" left off, but thre is enough narration to cover the gaps. This was originally a TV broadcast, and not a movie, so you see a lot of commercial gaps, and allusions to "The Hobbit." Face it, TV reaches more people than the cinema, so more people are familiar with the animated Hobbit special than the film. The film focuses mainly on Sam at the expense of the other Hobbits (yes, I have read the books), but I wonder if the was a better way to edit the stories better, giving more time to the other members of the fellowship. This film also contains the classic song "Where there's a whip, there's a way." I recommend these films for children, or anyone who cant wait until 2003 for the boxed set to come out. The films provide a good sampling and feel for the story, but it should be remembered that there is no excuse for failing to read the books!
Rating:
Summary: Back in the day brought out today...
Review: I strongly recommend these!!! For all old school Hobbitans everywhere...
I remeber back in the day when i was from the age of 6 - 8 when these 3 movies came out. They were the best thing i have ever seen. My grandmother bought them for me on Lazer Disk (for those of you that not know it is a record sized cd) and i watched them so much the lazer disks are scratched and they are wore out. I could quote the whole movies and songs from heart. I very vividly remember golums "thief, thief, THIIIEEEEEF!" Line where his eyes were all crazy in the first movie; had nightmares of it. We all from the old school hobbit cartoons and books are well aware of the one being of different creaters and artists... that wasn't the point. Point was this is how they made them then... and how it will stay forever. I strongly recomend these movies to everyone... and soon as i get some money i am buyin them cause i have been searchin for them since i killed the lazer disks lol... they are fun for kids but made for adults...
Rating:
Summary: Anime + Lord of the Rings = Success!
Review: The Rankin/Bass (The people who brought you Thundercats) versions of "The Hobbit" and "Return of The King" are extremely well done and all three films are BEAUTIFULLY restored for DVD! It's too bad it took the release of the Peter Jackson live-action versions to get these beautiful pieces of anime onto DVD but as long as it happened I guess it's all right even though it reeks of band-wagon capitalism. The Bakshi version of Lord of The Rings (Based on "Fellowship of The Ring" and portions of the "Two Towers") is also well done but the animation ranges from cheesy to beautiful and is uneven. I never connected with this middle film even though I appreciate it. It just lacked the organic and emotional feel and cleanliness of the first and the last one. For great battle scenes and images of Minos Tyrith, the third disc has to be seen to be believed! Full of singing and light, these discs straddle the line between kid and adult entertainment like a razor blade. It's really a shame they never put out a good CD compilation of the soundtracks to the first film and the last film (Kind of like the Less Than Zero orchestral score!) because the vocal and instrumental pieces are really beautiful!
Rating:
Summary: Gandalf Gets Tap Shoes
Review: I don't know quite how to show my bemusement with this cartoon. Whether I enjoyed Gandalf's continual hand gestures or interpretational dances more, I cannot say. Yet. I'm still trying to figure out the interpretational dream in which Frodo attempts to cross the ford. The characters certainly are lively (to say the least). One might say that this is an influencial piece: for surely Samwise Gamgee was the inspiration for Disney's Quasi-Modo. The Ringwraiths, on the other hand, were clearly inspired by Igor. The severe limp and slanted shoulders made them look more like boogeymen than intimidating servants of the Dark Lord. And, lest we forget the inspiring dialogue. "It's like a poison icicle," Frodo says, descibing the wound inflicted upon his left shoulder with a cursed blade. He then shivers (or seizes, it was hard to tell) madly, and we can all feel his pain due to those few descriptive words. I think Tolkien would be rolling in his grave. It should be noted that the wardrobe of our valiant heros had been cut down. Due to the excessive spending for Gandalf's tap shoes and lyrical character shoes, the wardrobe department spent its share before pants could be made for our men, Aragorn and Boromir. Aragorn clearly was influenced by the great Indian cheif Squanto. His looks and clothing mirror the Indian style, and I should expect that it took the linguistic department much work to erase the native accent of our Squanto- err, Aragorn. As for Boromir, his hat is reminiscent of...an Opera singer. You may say, "Is the horror over yet?" But oh no! not until the fat lady sings! Now, don't let anyone tell you this is a movie without action! In fact, it is filled with "live animation" in which the animators were feeling lazy, so they filmed a bunch of people running around with swords, colored on top of them a bit, and presto! they had a very fuzzy action sequence. This pops up in the most unlikely places, such as Bree, but is most prevalent with the Orcs. At the Battle of Helm's Deep, the most gruesome "live animation" scene yet, the heros (Gandalf and co.) ride over the hills to save the day. But, wait, what's this? Gandalf throws up his sword, the narrator babbles incoherently, and the movie ends. This would, of course, be a good thing...except that they decided to continue this horror on the third (and thankfully final) video. So, if you're in the mood for this years billion dollar blockbuster, with the incredible duo directing of James Cameron and George Lucas, an unbeatable score by John Williams, acting by teen heart-throbs JTT and Brittney Spears, and amazing Broadway numbers, this is your movie! (now go waste your forty bucks somewhere else)
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this deception
Review: This gift package is a deception. "The Hobbit" movie and "The Return of the King" movie are made by the same people, but the middle movie, "The Lord of the Rings" is made by a differnet team of people. Not only are the styles and approached completely different, but the story line gets all screwed up. "The Lord of the Rings" movie covers the first book and a half of the the trilogy, and appearantley the sequel that would have covered the second half of book two and all of book three was never made. The Return of the King movie jarringly jumps back to the hoakey style of "The Hobbit" and tries to explain the third book of the trilogy without the first two books. The result is the that a large chunk of the trilogy is missing. These three movies do not actually go together as a set, they are just the only available Tolkien videos. The publishers are trying to capitalize on the Tolkien ban-wagon, even if it mean decieving the purchaser. I think they are hoping no one has actually read the books and will realize what they did.
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