The Lord of the Rings (1978)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 29
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 15
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 448,792
My Rating
Movie Info
Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi's literal adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is brought to the screen in a reverent, stilted way, with Bakshi forsaking his sharp-edged animated looniness for a rotoscoped dullness. Although the film's title encompasses the entire Tolkien trilogy, this longish Bakshi feature, in fact, covers only the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first half of the second, The Two Towers. Given the complexity of the
Nov 15, 1978 Wide
Sep 11, 2001
WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
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Cast
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Christopher Guard
Frodo -
William Squire
Gandalf -
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John Hurt
Aragorn -
Simon Chandler
Meriadoc -
Dominic Guard
Pippin -
Norman Bird
Bilbo -
Michael Graham Cox
Boromir -
Anthony Daniels
Legolas -
David Buck
Gimli -
Peter Woodthorpe
Gollum -
Alan Tilvern
Innkeeper -
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All Critics (29) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (18) | DVD (13)
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.
Quite simply, those who do not know the characters of Middle Earth going in will not know them coming out.
Bakshi's version, using animation and live-action tracings, is uniformly excellent, sticking closely to the original text and visually echoing many of Tolkien's own drawings.
Top CriticThe film is visually compelling even when murk overtakes the narrative.
Falls far short of the charm and sweep of the original story.
Tolkien fans, who are familiar with novels, will find it enjoyble, while others may be confused by the action.
Innovative and beautiful, cheesy and disjointed.
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.
It's a reckless film, blitzing through some plot points and stalling out over others; the lack of a particular rhythm does not do it any favors, and it is certainly not a fast 133 minutes.
Animated adventure too dated and dark for younger kids.
The live action version trumps it in every conceivable way; there simply is no comparison. And yet Middle Earth is still better off for its presence.
... dark and fantastical with a mature approach rare in animated films of its day, and Bakshi's rotoscope process creates an unusually fluid and expressive style.
... in retrospect it feels like an elegant, appropriately sized adaptation - with some beautiful animation work.
Not even the Dark Lord Sauron would want to put his name to this movie.
Audience Reviews for The Lord of the Rings
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Gollum: Don't hurt us! Don't let them hurt us, precious!, Cruel little hobbitses!
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- Aragorn: And who are they going to trust? A fat innkeeper who only remembers his name because people shout it at him all day?
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- Gandalf: Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time! Be quiet!
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Foreign Titles
- Herr der Ringe (DE)
- The Lord of the Rings (1978) (UK)
