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The Lord of the Rings

Play trailer Poster for The Lord of the Rings PG 1978 2h 11m Fantasy Adventure Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
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48% Tomatometer 46 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 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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The Lord of the Rings

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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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Critics Reviews

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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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault 12/01/2022
D
Sheer tedium from start to finish. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Adam N 3d This film's standout feature is its animation. The rotoscoping tends to have a bad reputation in this sort of film, but I believe it is excellent and suits the narrative rather well. The interpretation of the characters is endearing, especially in Samwise and Gandalf (British-accented Gollum, however, leaves something to be desired). The main problem this film has is the pacing. The first section of the film, that is to say the section based off of "The Fellowship of the Ring", is without flaw. However, the second half, based on "The Two Towers", feels rushed and choppy, leaping from one scene to the next as Ralph Bakshi attempts to squeeze in a climax. The disjointed nature of the latter half leaves one rather disappointed, especially considering a second film to finish the narrative was never finished. Other than that, the film is enjoyable enough to warrant more than one viewing. I only wish the vision had been fulfilled, and a second installment had been completed. See more Drew M. @Stonehands211 Jan 19 The animation was excellent and sticks out the most. Hate that it’s not the full story though! See more 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. See more David W @Sternhammer Jul 27 Has its obvious flaws but when it hits the high notes it really delivers some very memorable scenes. See more David R Jun 19 Honestly not bad movie. Very underrated. See more Jimmy 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! See more Read all reviews
The Lord of the Rings

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Movie Info

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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