Friday 1 November 2019

The Lord of the Rings (1978)



The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle-earth.

From memory:  Remarkable, ambitious (using rotoscoping, a technique in which scenes are first shot in live-action, then traced onto animation) and audacious attempt to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's classic is a bit messy and tinged with Bakshi's psychedelic sensibility, but throughout fascinating; unfortunately, the movie ends in mid-air of the novel's plot.


Halliwell*: "Disappointingly stolid, overlong and confused cartoon version of a modern classic which may well deserve all those adjectives. Parts of it are charming, and the method of making cartoons from film of actors photographed in the ordinary way is certainly ingenious though it denies the cartoon characters their own full richness."

Maltin**1/2: "Ambitious animated version...is inspired and exciting, but begins to drag - and confuse - during last hour. Bakshi's technique awkwardly combines animation and live-action tracings."

No comments:

Post a Comment