good film but with many flaws

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Having recently seen this version for the first time in a number of years, I can see its faults, but many of the reviewers here are way too hard on it. Tolkien's masterful trilogy was unfilmable in live action before the advent of CGI, but fans were clamoring for film versions anyway, and then hated them when they arrived. Oy veh! While this Rankin/Bass version was not as good as their THE HOBBIT, I still found it to be quite entertaining on its own level, as long as you don't compare it to Peter Jackson's impeccable epics. The voice cast was great, and it was quite ambitious for Rankin/Bass, known chiefly for their animated Christmas specials.This film's haters should listen to the lyrics of one of Glenn Yarbrough's---It Is So Easy Not To Try. Rankin/Bass tried, and Tolkien fans who have expressed outrage over this would have been angrier if no one had tried back then. Everyone here needs to take a chill pill.

First of all, I'd like to express how much I love The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien was a genius. Peter Jackson did a great job on the films, I think. But Rankin-Bass, however, did not.SPOILERS The thing that bothered me a lot in this movie was the music. It was annoying, and ends up getting stuck in your head. Right now I'm trying to get rid of the one about Frodo's Nine Fingers. The animation is awful. There were also several elements of the story that bothered me, in animation, and in plot. For example, why did Elrond have a beard? Elves don't have beards. They are clean-shaven, always. Why did Merry and Pippin meet on the Pelenor DURING the battle? Where are Legolas and Gimli? What's with Denethor? The orcs looked much too top-heavy to be able to walk. The Nazgul were terrible. (They were on flying horses.) Denethor was bad, as well, as he just looked like a crazy old man with a back problem. He didn't look strong at all, as he was portrayed in the books and the recent film by Peter Jackson. Gollum looked as if he were pregnant, and sounded like a guy clearing his throat. And Sam's frequent exclamations of, "Oh, my God!" and "Lord, help me!" were not true to the books. (Although Tolkien was a Christian and so am I, the phrases should not have been in the movie.) And the battering ram, Grond? The thing looked as if strangely colored drool was coming out of its mouth rather than fire.This was overall the worst adaptation of anything I have ever seen. It was, truly, painful to watch.No, really, I was writhing in agony. Good thing the library rents out tapes for free.

I will ignore the obviously superior films by Peter Jackson when evaluating this low-budget cartoon.So ... I think that the team behind this had a success with The Hobbit, even though the animation was horrible. Orcs do not look like toads, Elrond does not have a goatie and stars around his head, gollum does not look like a fish etc. (even if it got worse here when the skeletor-nazguls showed up) Still, The Hobbit (1977) worked in my mind (I gave it an 8 vote here), Glenn's songs were great there, the voices were very good, the story was a children's story, my 4-yr old girl loves it (I saw it for the first time just a month ago). So, The Hobbit was great.How can this fail so miserably? Of course, the whole idea of omitting almost everything in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers does not work very well. Who is this Aragorn dude who is made king? We feel nothing for him. Galadriel? Whatever. Theoden? Some guy who falls from a horse and dies. He should have had a better horse. Eowyn? Some random girl who gets lucky.Glenn's songs are also worse in this one, including only two numbers I really liked (Frodo of Nine Fingers and Where there's a whip). The folksongs seems much better suited to the children story in The Hobbit.I gave this a 4 ... only because it is still Tolkien somewhere there in the background. It is still the battle of Pelennor fields (and they don't show it just like dots as they did in the battle of five armies). Perhaps I am being too kind to the film.And whoever decided to make Sam a Christian? That was just plain weird.Having said that, the film works best when it deviates from the original story, as with the singing orcs and the dream sequence with the waving orcs or when Sam conquers Mordor.This film is only for the die-hard Tolkien fanatics who just have to see it. I don't think I will even show it to my daughter.

This is an animated version of Tolkien's Return of the King and parts of the Hobbit. It is not overly accurate nor thorough, but it is still quite memorable and enjoyable.The movie starts with Bilbo's 129th birthday celebration. The guest list includes Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Elrond and Gandolf. The Minstrel of Gondor comes out and proceeds to sing. From there we are treated to flashbacks. First a flashback of events from the Hobbit, followed by events from Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers. The story picks up during Sam's rescue of Frodo from the tower. We are treated to the Battle of Gondor, Frodo & Sam's trip to Mount Doom (through the lands of Mordor) and the Battle at the Black Gate.This movie is mostly a patchwork of elements from the novel. There are some good voice talents being used. First and foremost is John Huston as Gandalf (and the narrator). One can also recognize Roddy McDowall as the voice of Samwise Gamgee. The voice of Gollum is also memorably done by Brother Theodore. These three characterizations (and voices) along with the music is what makes this movie truly memorable. The music is just so wonderful. I fondly remember my childhood watching this movie, in syndication on television during the mid to late 80's, and being simply captivated. It is quite evident that the target audience for this movie is children. While this movie is not perfect, it definitely opened the door for me to read the books and learn more. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.-Celluloid Rehab