Rating: 
Summary: Pay no attention to the scathing reviews of this great film
Review: This flick gets an avg. of 3 stars, but almost no one gave it 3; rather, about half gave it 5 and half 1. I've rarely seen such polarization. As for myself: when I saw "The Hobbit" in 1978, I ran out and bought my first Betamax just to be able to videotape it the next time it came around. And I think that "The Return of the King" is actually superior, and that the two Rankin and Bass movies (and also their "The Last Unicorn") are among my all-time favorites. Sure, they don't exactly follow the books, but, really, why is that such a big deal??? The books are fiction, so they do not follow real life - does that make them unenjoyable? The movies are also an excellent tale, and a book-perfect retelling is not at all necessary for one's enjoyment of them. And the songs in this movie are not nearly as "cheesy" as most reviewers state; the "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" is done as a Tarantela (spelling?) rhythm and add depth to the personification of the bad guys (in Bakshi's travesty, they may look more realistic, but they're just one-dimensional cartoon characters).
Rating: 
Summary: Bad, but what else is there?
Review: I hate to say it, but this was not what I had hoped for. The guy who keeps singing, all through the film, over and over again, was mind-numbingly irritating. He really wrecked the whole thing. It was as if Rankin and Bass wanted to make a musical, and not a film portraying the dire events in Tolkein's tale. There was a song in nearly every scene! The only things the characters were missing, during these warbling little sing-song episodes, were ice-skates. Ugh! One other point that spoiled the film was the poorly contrived dialogue. Granted, this word-waxing excess was somewhat present in the Rankin/Bass release of The Hobbit, but not to the overblown, and wretchedly unabashed heights of this production. It just didn't carry very well at all: especially when Samwise is talking to himself, like some Shakespearean sycophant on an amphetamine binge, while Frodo is locked in the tower. The Bible had less "thee's" and "thou's" strung through it's whole breadth than were encapsulated in that one scene. My advice is to enjoy Rankin/Bass's version of The Hobbit, (where exposure to bad singing, and over-emphasis, are muted by some very good craftsmanship), then get Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, (because THAT is as good a movie adaptation, for this story, as we have gotten: to this date), skip Rankin/Bass's Return of the King, (it's just not what it could have been, and if you're of an age above 10 it will probably nauseate you) and get ready for the LOTR Trilogy movies, starting Christmas 2001! (Don't forget Tolkien's books, though. They are better than any film about them will ever hope to be. READ THEM!!!)
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I watched the whole thing.
Review: This is a horrible attempt at telling a great story. Rankin/Bass did a decent job with "The Hobbit", but this is practically unwatchable for adults. Glen Yarborough's warbly singing with all of the flashbacks is terrible. The characters are too cartoonish, especially Merry and Pippin - they've made them look like morons. Sure they couldn't have done it as well as Bakshi did LOTR, but they could have given it a little more respect. Skip this one and just watch "The Hobbit" and LOTR over and over.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any Tolkien fan!
Review: This movie covers the second half of the trilogy by JRR Tolkien, and does a reasonably good job. Once again, the voice quality is quite good, as is the music in general. The dialogue is rather good. They do get a little too songy, although "Where there's a whip, there's a way" is one that we all know by heart and sing at times when we're doing something difficult!The animation is rather good given the time in which it was done, and it's not "cutesy" or Disney-ish. Yes, just as in the other movie, there are plot holes and they had difficulties squashing the entire storyline into the amount of time they had available. Still, the movie did a stellar job of introducing thousands of viewers to an incredible book series, and it deserves a place of honor for that accomplishment.
Rating:
Summary: Check the printed scene index in the case...
Review: Simply put...this is a classic that follows in the brilliance of it's predecessor "The Hobbit". I did, however, find it funny that Warner Brothers would have released this movie in it's current packaging. If you check the printed scene index on the inside of the case, you'll find that the scenes listed are actually the scenes from the Ralph Bakshi film "Lord of the Rings" and have nothing to do with this release of "Return of the King". (Heck, if you look at scene 32, you'll see that they didn't even bother to get the spelling correct)
But I guess that's just a trivial issue...who cares...it's still a great movie.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not as bad as all that
Review: While I can't say it's as true to the story as I'd have like to seen, I can say it was true to the trilogy as made on film. It continues and finishes the story as started by Lord of the Rings, and it returns the filming to Rankin and Bass who made the first Hobbit movie. I found the animation top-line considering it was made some twenty years ago in 1980. I do wish that either this or the previous movie had finished scripting from the Tolkin book "The Two Towers", which would have filled in the plot holes, but for the time would have been hard to translate into film. I found the soundtrack really rounded out the story and made for some very moving scenes. All in all, a very fine film indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent entertainment, but untrue to its inspiration...
Review: While Rankin and Bass managed to stay somewhat true to Tolkien's vision of "The Hobbit" in their animated film, the same cannot be said of "The Return of the King." That is not to say that the film doesn't have its moments, but they are sometimes few and far between, and it strays often from its inspiration and takes too many absurd liberties to lazily tie up loose ends and transform "The Return of the King" into a single story, and not the third part of a complete vision. It picks up almost right where Bakshi dropped the ball, but in comparison to his film version of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and half of "The Two Towers," it is very, very pale. The acting is shoddy at times and almost all characters speak with American accents (a problem that also plagued "The Hobbit"). Aragorn, in particular, is a large offender in the department of overacting, and his delivery is dishwater. Oddly enough, the Mouth of Sauron stands out above the rest where the acting is concerned, and that's with only a few moments of screen time. There is another grand exception in the acting department, however, and that is Roddy McDowall who voices Sam Gamgee. Thankfully, he probably has more time onscreen than any other character. In this area, and in this area alone, "The Return of the King" outshines "The Lord of the Rings." To Bakshi, Sam was nothing but a clown, and his depictation of the character was shameful. But here, Sam is given proper respect by both animators and voice-over. But there are too many problems to ignore as a Tolkien zealot. There are too many glaring character omissions to even get into; too many liberties taken by the writers; and there are even moments of song - but not songs penned by Tolkien himself (though several appear in his book). These in particular are a great distraction and almost make a mockery of Tolkien's epic tale. And yet, in spite of ALL this, Tolkien fans who have not seen it should probably give it a try. Until 2003, it's as close as you can come to seeing this tale represented onscreen. And it does have its moments. If I knew how, I would have given it two and a half stars, but on a curve, I have to round up...
Rating:
Summary: Butchery
Review: I can honestly say that this movie absolutely butchered a classic tale. If the goal was to create a sugar-coated children's version of Return of the King, then Rankin and Bass take the cake. If that's what you're looking for, then go right ahead and buy ths movie. What the creators of this movie didn't realize, is that Lord of the Rings was not intended only for children. It was mainly intended for people of teen to adult years. And children would find it interesting even if it weren't sugar-coated. You wouldn't make a jolly children's version of Grapes of Wrath or Mody Dick that was totally inacurate, so why do it with this? That is exactly what you will get if you buy this movie. It is the butchering of a classic. And you will be wasting your money if you buy it because it is the only version available. Read the books, then wait around until Christmas of this year. Peter Jackson has made Lord of the Rings what it was intended to be.
Rating:
Summary: the ending bakshi forgot to film for the lord of the rings
Review: Saw this movie on laserdisc years ago it was also titled "frodo of the nine fingers and the ring of doom". This film pickes up about where the lord of the rings movie by ralph bakshi ended. It tells the rest of the story of ring. This movie was done in the style of the older Rankin Bass carton the hobbit. Using the much simpler animation of the earlier movie makes this one a bit less distracting then the lord of the rings. The complex story of J.r.r. Tolkien was one that was exceptionally difficult for any artist to bring to the screen and it resulted in a fragmented tale this movie "the return of the king" attempted to finish the tale and tie up the story. if you are a tolkien fan whether you love this movie or hate it, I would recommend it just to finish the tale. If you just relax and enjoy the movie its a pretty good tale. It also has a few interesting songs in it like "where there's a whip there's a way"
Rating:
Summary: the hobbit is back
Review: This is really a great kids movie I first saw it in 83 or 84 I cant remember I was about 14 and I thought it was a great movie to watch my brother was only 3 or 4 so he thought it was fantastic and I was also impressed so there isnt much I can say but if you want a great movie get this!!!!!!!!
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