Insane review!!!

[Beleg Cuthalion]

For your purentertainment I offer and highly recommend reading this review of the (well known and well hated) animated Lord of the Rings/Fellowship of the Ring/Two Towers "movie" You won't be disapointed.

The agony booth LOTR

go on! shower me with reputation!! you know you want too.


Enjoy


-Beleg

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[Aiwendil]

Maybe it's just me - but I really don't think Bakshi's version was anywhere near as bad as it's generally made out to be. I'll grant that Jackson's was better (and it ought to be, considering its advantages in terms of money and technology); but honestly, I think there are some lessons Bakshi could have taught Jackson. For instance, Bakshi doesn't stray nearly as far from the book as Jackson does, and yet he manages to cover half the story in a little over two hours.

Of course, the cartoon's flaws are numerous and serious, and some of this reviewer's criticisms are quite incisive. Others are not. And there are two points that I'm afraid I can't allow to pass.

The Black Riders. Actually, the Brown, Limping, Groaning and Snuffling Riders, but let's not split hairs.

The Black Riders were incredible in Bakshi's film. They were scary! And the mixture of pure animation and rotoscoping gave them a great feeling of otherworldliness.

The movie opens with a blast of loud—and very dated—orchestral music. This is the sort of music they used in '60s Disney movies, only scratchier, cheesier, and a thousand times more lifeless.

Were we listening to the same music? I think Rosenman's score was great. It's a shame, really, that current trends in Hollywood view this kind of music as 'dated'. I'd take Rosenman's 'dated' orchestra over any of the bland, cliched, factory-made pieces of muzak passing for film scores these days.

[Beleg Cuthalion]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

The Black Riders were incredible in Bakshi's film. They were scary! And the mixture of pure animation and rotoscoping gave them a great feeling of otherworldliness.

I agree with you there. But I didn't write the review... I just think it's funny.

-Beleg

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[Aiwendil]

Oh, I thought it was funny too. I just feel a need to defend this movie when it's so harshly maligned.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Aiwendil,

I agree. Bakshi's version of LotR is a long, long way from perfect but there were even a few things that he did better than PJ. And PJ openly admitted that he paid homage to the guy by "swiping" a few of his devices.

What I really want to do. however, is to aim some shots at this particular reviewer. This is what the guy says in the opening paragraphs of his lengthy review:

Well, here it is. The first attempt to bring Tolkien's famous trilogy to the big screen. And before I attempt this recap, it's confession time: I didn't like the Lord of the Rings books.

Is it possible for someone who dislikes the books to be a fair reviewer of any movie adaptation? Actually, this ia an interesting question. But, in my opinion, the answer is no.

[Farael]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

Is it possible for someone who dislikes the books to be a fair reviewer of any movie adaptation? Actually, this ia an interesting question. But, in my opinion, the answer is no.

Ah, you have a good point there. This guy (he's a guy, right?) didn't like the books, although he seemed to like the PJ adaptation. And I believe he himself argues that PJ had more budget and well... more technology. Thus, it's not really a fair comparison.

Still, about Bakshi's movie, I caught it on TV a while ago and I just couldn't watch it for more than fifteen minutes. And I will watch anything LoTR related.

[doug*platypus]

Cheers, Beleg! Once I got into that review, it was actually quite entertaining! I've never seen such a critical blow by blow review of a movie which the reviewer so obviously reviles before!

I particularly liked:

Sure it's blurry, but you can still tell it's a disco ball.

Plus all the screen grabs were pretty cool. Like watching the movie without having to fork out preciouss dollarss. The Balrog looked ultra scary when you see a picture of Gandalf actually fighting it. Moreso than the PJ Balrog, IMHO.

It's been a longo time since I saw the Bakshi, but my main memory is that I was disappointed that it ended partway through TTT. So I can't have despised it as much as the Agony Booth reviewer, since I was willing to sit through more of the same. I do recall that the switching between animation and live action was weird at best, though.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

Hilarious review. I laughed out loud regularly, and at various times I was rolling on the floor. I have not seen the Bakshi, but now I must see it if only to ascertain whether it is indeed as bad as the reviewer says it is.