The Lord of the Rings (1978)

"Falls far short of the charm and sweep of the original story."

"The film is visually compelling even when murk overtakes the narrative."

"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."

"Quite simply, those who do not know the characters of Middle Earth going in will not know them coming out."

"The film is flat, dull, and sloppy."

"Lacking a firm center in Frodo's story, the film plays itself out as a bewildering parade of elves, dwarves, ores, trolls and talking trees."