Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable For Everyone
Review: THis flick follows the The Hobbit more closely than it does the second. It remains faithful to the story but lacks the overhangin darkness that the second one does. Very Worthwhile
Rating: 
Summary: Worse than Dreadful
Review: Without doubt, this is THE WORST adaptation of any Tolkien work that I have ever seen. It attempted to be a conclusion for the Lord of the Rings movie cycle that Bakshi never finished. While Bakshi's movie wasn't great, it wasn't bad either. This, however, is absolutely dreadful. I could probably add that I consider this the worst movie I've ever seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch this as a comedy
Review: The fact that Peter Jackson is releasing a live-action film of 'The Return of the King' makes this old cartoon release more acceptable in my opinion. If I really think about it, how could anyone make a children's version of the final installment of JRRT's Lord of The Rings, and succeed??? It seems impossible. I think this film was designed to entertain small children, and to make adults laugh at how stupid it is. Play a drinking game at home, and whenever one of the characters says 'festering malignancy' take a drink :) This IS cutesy, and pretty silly for an adult to watch. So if you must, view it as a comedy, and there are quite a few laughs. During a quite scary scene in the book, Frodo and Sam get caught by an army of orcs, and made to march by a whip. In this film, it's turned into comedy with a funny song called 'When there'a whip, there's a way'. I don't think PJ will do it this way, but you have to see it to believe it. BTW, in these films Orc's look very similar to the Tasmanian Devil. Do you get my drift?
Rating: 
Summary: Cute kiddie version of LOTR
Review: From what I understand, this cartoon was created more for children than for adults. The same goes for "The Hobbit." So it's not suprising that the animation is not spectacular. I personally thought the animation was excellent, since they were drawn by Japanese anime artists. I really liked their representations of all the LOTR characters. As for the voice-overs, I don't see any problems either. I think they were pretty good, especially Gollum. The songs were cute, although I can understand how they can be irritable to some people. Just remember, it was made for kids! Purist of Tolkien's lore will probably hate this movie, as it "simplifies" the story, but what do you expect from a child version? I really liked all three movies a lot, despite all of it's supposed short-comings. If you're not a nitpicking fan of LOTR, you will also enjoy them also.
Rating: 
Summary: Sketchy Story
Review: With unimpressive animation and poor voice acting already a hindrance, the Swiss-cheese plot pretty well doomed this movie. Of course, it would be difficult for anyone to show, much less summarize, the whole of The Hobbit and The Return of the King in just over 90 minutes. Still, the choices Romeo Muller made in adapting the screenplay are questionable at best. The John-Denveresque soundtrack is absolutely horrid, save for "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way." Someone should've used that whip on those involved with this film, so it would have been more than just a poor representation of Tolkien's masterpiecce.
Rating:
Summary: A bare-bones adaptation of the book.
Review: If you've seen Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings, and want to buy this to get the rest of the story, be warned: The Return of the King totally dispenses with many characters from the books & previous movie, such Legolas & Gimli. The characters of Sam and Frodo are the primary focus of the film, as they struggle along on the final leg of their quest to reaach Mount Doom, and dispose of the Ring of Sauron. (They stop to break into song every three minutes, only a few of which are tolerable once, let alone 5 or 6 times each.....) The animation is clean and attractive, and the voice acting is pretty good. My only beef on that front is Casey Kasem....YUCK! Fans of the book will probably get a kick out of seeing the characters on the screen, non-fans will like the story, and fanatics will be angry at the stuff they left out. Decide which catagory you're in before you buy. The DVD has little in the way of extras; just a few text features. Hopefully, seeing the animated films will persuade a few people to move up to Tolkien's wonderful books.....
Rating:
Summary: A mixture of the absurd and the sublime
Review: I strongly recommend potential viewers of this telefilm abandon ALL expectations regarding Tolkien lore before hitting "play". This animated story wasn't made to fill the gap left after Bakshi's feature film, or even "complete" the Rankin/Bass "Hobbit" adaptation. Instead, it's a hodgepodge chronology lifted from LOTR's "Return of the King"...and a pretty shrewd one at that. R&B likely balked at the task of making three LOTR installments; the same scale and financial demands applied as with adaptations in the traditional film business. Left with a choice of which (manageable) story within LOTR to bring to television, R&B wisely choose the events preceding LOTR's climax. The movie opens on Bilbo's 129th birthday at Rivendell, some time after the destruction of the One Ring. Flashbacks quickly ensue, and viewers are brought short with Samwise outside the walls of Cirith Ungol. From this point, the major events from "The Return of the King" unfold, though story emphasis is given to Sam and Frodo's relationship as they traverse Mordor. The inclusion of scenes from the siege of Minas Tirith are a small gift for Tolkien fans, but they are also a minor distraction in the context of this production. I should also add that this movie's soundtrack is overripe with folky "message songs," an obvious sop to young children who are unfamiliar with adult responsibilities and relationships. The music would be an incidental annoyance for older viewers, if not for the nasal trilling of Glen Yarbrough, which defies even a deaf ear. Unless you have children doting on the singalong soundtrack, keep your finger near the "fast forward" or "mute" key. Take a minute to listen to the "Where There's A Whip, There's A Way" musical interlude, during Sam & Frodo's march with the orcs of Mordor. The lyrics are humorous and/or amusing on several levels, a rarity in the rest of the soundtrack. As others have mentioned here, the animation in this movie is pretty poor fare, but wholly in keeping with both "The Hobbit" and Rankin/Bass' standard adaptations. Everyone, "good guy" or "bad guy" is craggy, or just ugly. This in itself isn't a major fault, unless you are expecting the type of glamor painting found in Tolkien calendars and the like. The animation is charmingly old-fashioned, and the color tones in this transfer are appropriately rustic. Though the script for this adaptation is patched together, occasionally a bit of genuine Tolkien dialogue pops up, or a minor detail from the book is carefully included. These little touches are what save the movie from being a throwaway, or a kids-only flick. If Tolkien fans are willing to ignore the occasional pronunciation flub or thematic error, they should be able to find something to enjoy in this DVD. Certainly, there is much more to find fault with in this production, but why watch it if your only motivation is the desire to criticize? Adolescents who are fond of fantasy may well find this film a good jumping off point, before tackling the actual books in the LOTR. The violent content of the book has been softened considerably, so I would think this movie would be a safe bet for kids 6 and up. J
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Ranger as Angmar? Yogi Bear? Shaggy? Scooby Doo?
Review: TRUST ME, fans of Tolkien, this production is AWFUL. Poor animation, poor quality, you name it. It's only good because it's so funny to see the voice actors who brought us Shaggy, Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Mr. Ranger and others act out these historic roles. DON'T GET THIS.
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: I am guessing that most of the reviewers are forgetting that the sound experience that we have on movies today was not done when this cartoon was created. The Last Unicorn is another classic done during the same time period & the soundtrack is a wonderful one, but not that clear on the actual movie. We didn't notice back then because they were all pretty much like that, but we notice now since we have become so spoiled. This is a classic trilogy. It takes me back to childhood & I must say it sounds & looks better now than it did on that late '70's TV. The best part is that there are no commercials. My daughter was just as enchanted as I was. We can't wait for the "live action" version to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood magic
Review: I think some reviewers are taking out their frustrations that LOTR hasn't been made into an adult movie or series of movies - until now, that is (DAYS before it comes out - can't WAIT!!). The animated Hobbit and Return of the King are for children, it's true, and LOTR and Hobbit definitely are adult stories. But I saw both of these animated films as a child, and have loved them for many years. (Bakshi left me with a sour stomach, but I probably need to go back and revisit it now as an adult...) What a wonderful introduction to the world of Middle Earth, and what a great sense of childlike magic they brought into my life. I think they are truly classic cartoons. Dated? Not to me. The bard-like voice of Glen Yarborough (sp?) and all the songs in Hobbit and ROTK still make me smile. (I like "Where there's a whip, there's a way," too!) I say drop your expectations of a literal interpretation of Tolkien, impossible to do in any one movie, and enjoy with all your childhood wonder. It works for me, every time I watch them! "Is there Hobbit in me?...is there?"
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