Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, Part One: A Critique

Perhaps the hardest thing, for me, in preparing this web-page is having to view this movie over again. I saw it with friends in the theatre when it first came out, within mere days of its' opening, and loathed it. I came across it again last year, stumbling across it in a video store, and found myself thinking, "Oh, it can't possibly be as bad as I remember."

Sadly, I was right. In fact, memory had softened the blow and the movie seemed substantially worse.

This will be the third time I've felt compelled to endure this movie. I will admit I don't think the movie is completely bad; there are one or two things here and there which did work. It would also be incorrect to say that I don't like Mr. Bakshi; I admire the fact that he was willing to attempt the Herculean task of committing The Lord of the Rings to film.

I just wish he could have done a much better job.

WARNING: This review makes absolutely no attempt to be objective.



If Mr. Bakshi, or someone else associated with the making of the film, would like to post a rebuttal to this review or other related information, I'll be happy to add it (or a link to it) to this server.

Part One: The Game Attempt. For the initial third of the movie, the filmmakers make their best attempt to tell the story. True, they get bogged down in unwieldy, half-given explanations and make it clear that exposition is not their strong suit, but at least they gamely make the attempt.

Part Two: Tolkien's Greatest Hits. Once arriving at Rivendell, the movie shifts gears; it assumes it's given enough exposition, and now drops the plot in order to start hitting the "high points" of Tolkien's work. To its credit, this means the characters actually begin to show a bit of the personality Tolkien infused them with. Unfortunately, without an adequate framework of plot to tie the scenes together and give them coherence and meaning, the movie simply becomes more confusing.

"The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all... [he] may think he knows more about Balrogs than I do, but he cannot expect me to agree with him."

Part Three: Let's All Fight A Lot. Having discovered that Boromir's fight scenes were moderately effective, and that they could be shot with a minimum of character and exposition, the filmmakers finally abandon the plot to fend for itself and rely on more and more combat to keep the movie going. Without the plot, though, the battles become so confused that even the filmmakers soon have trouble figuring out who's winning.

A Final Observation. Many of you reading this, having only seen the movie in revival screenings or on videotape, may not have been aware of one other unique aspect of its' original release.