The Lord of the Rings

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The Lord of the Rings

PG

1978

2h 11m

Fantasy

Adventure

Animation

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Popcornmeter

48%

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46 Reviews

64%

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250,000+ Ratings

This animated film by Ralph Bakshi presents the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's renowned fantasy tale. The wise old wizard, Gandalf (William Squire), entrusts the young hobbit, Frodo (Christopher Guard), with a magical ring. Soon dark forces are after Frodo, so he must leave his peaceful home and travel to the ominous Mount Doom, where the ring must be destroyed. Accompanied by a trio of hobbit friends, Frodo is also aided by the mysterious Aragorn (John Hurt) and other heroic allies.

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Critics Consensus

Ralph Bakshi's valiant attempt at rendering Tolkein's magnum opus in rotoscope never lives up to the grandeur of its source material, with a compressed running time that flattens the sweeping story and experimental animation that is more bizarre than magical.

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Paul Gray

TIME Magazine

03/26/2019

Lacking a firm center in Frodo's story, the film plays itself out as a bewildering parade of elves, dwarves, ores, trolls and talking trees.

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William Thomas

Empire Magazine

12/03/2012

4/5

What most people remember is the mix of the live-action tracing within the traditional animation and just how effectively creepy it managed to be, but for the time this did a pretty good job of adapting the dense novels.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

12/03/2012

It looked terrible then and it still does: cartoon characters move differently from live actors, and the attempt to duplicate natural movement ends in stylistic incoherence.

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Jeff Beck

The Blu Spot

Jul 17

2.5/5

While it is quite interesting to see an early attempt to bring this beloved classic to the screen, it simply has too many issues holding it back, primarily with its sloppy rotoscoping and the unbalanced nature of its adaptation.

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John Lapsley

The Sun-Herald (Australia)

11/16/2023

2/5

Bakshi's 2.5 hour animation epic has been drowned by its inability to breathe any real identity into the Hobbits, Orcs, Wizards, and Elves, that Tolkien created. The result is an ordeal for the backside.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

12/01/2022

D

Sheer tedium from start to finish.

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TI H

@MeInCharacter Dec 4

You know all those special effects movies you love because of rotoscoping? This movie is a pioneer in that. It failed, ultimately, but it's a pioneer and worthy of recognition. I consider this a good movie. It tried and succeeded to give us half of Lord of the Rings. It didn't waste time, as does Peter Jackson, forcing us to watch and extra fifty-nine minutes of exquisitely filmed grandeur in order to progress the story. It also didn't say, "Ef it," and scrap the project, even though the project was essentially unfinished, due much to funding concerns, as you will notice in the quality of animation. At times, Bakshi's flick makes it seem as though orcs are merely humans in Halloween masks. At other times, this flick appears to be concisely telling a grand work of art, which is extremely difficult to put on film. Even if you dismiss this rendition of Tolkien's work, you can tell that they put love into it. A love snuffed by bureaucracy, but love indeed. Indeed.

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David W

Jul 27

Has its obvious flaws but when it hits the high notes it really delivers some very memorable scenes.

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David R

Jun 19

Honestly not bad movie. Very underrated.

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Mar 22

Underrated and Overhated and I think it’s better than the Peter Jackson films because this film does almost everything right with the source material and it doesn’t have any filler lines WHOO!

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Emma F

@MovieFan97 Mar 13

While the movie isn’t as popular as Peter Jackson’s, Bakshi’s animation is mind-blowing!

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Leprechaun K

@LeprechaunKing Mar 11

A good effort retelling of the classic using rotoscoping animation. Bakshi took American animation to new heights but it also ended with him. This is no Fire and Ice but is still an enjoyable watch.

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Ralph Bakshi

Director

Christopher Guard

Frodo

William Squire

Gandalf

Michael Scholes

Sam

John Hurt

Aragorn

Simon Chandler

Merry

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Synopsis

This animated film by Ralph Bakshi presents the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's renowned fantasy tale. The wise old wizard, Gandalf (William Squire), entrusts the young hobbit, Frodo (Christopher Guard), with a magical ring. Soon dark forces are after Frodo, so he must leave his peaceful home and travel to the ominous Mount Doom, where the ring must be destroyed. Accompanied by a trio of hobbit friends, Frodo is also aided by the mysterious Aragorn (John Hurt) and other heroic allies.

Director: Ralph Bakshi
Screenwriter: Chris Conkling, Peter S. Beagle
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2014
Runtime: 2h 11m
Sound Mix: Surround

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