In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Monday 17 March 2014

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Ralph Bakshi’s version of LotR is mostly rotoscoped from live action but also has some traditional cel animation. The saturated colour scheme, use of silhouette and posterization gives scenes a real dramatic power befitting of Tolkien’s words. The Orcs are kind of silly looking but the Nazgûl are wonderfully creepy and darkly menacing.
It condenses approx one and half books into just over two hours, so some story had to be dropped but it somehow remains largely faithful.
It’s a great shame he didn't get to do the planned sequel. I'd love to see his version of both Shelob and Sauron.

3½ battles that don't go on forever out of 5

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