DVD Corner

The Lord Of The Rings Blu-ray Review

“The Lord Of The Rings” is a flawed, but unique take on Tolkien’s classic tale.

Grades:

Content: B-

Picture: B

Audio: B+

Extras: A-

By now, we all know the story of “The Lord Of The Rings” and Frodo’s quest to destroy the powerful ring so there’s no need to get into the plot here. What I will talk about is the film itself.

For the most part, Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated film is generally a faithful re-telling of “The Fellowship Of The Ring” and “The Two Towers.” The only problem is, Bakshi had to cram two books into one film. The film would have been stronger if Bakshi and crew focused on “The Fellowship Of The Ring” only. Putting parts of “The Two Towers” into this film made the story feel completely rushed. Even worse, it leaves little room for characterization.

On the plus side, the voice actors and actresses do a fine job here (aside from the miscast Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum). I especially liked Christopher Guard as Frodo, William Squire as Gandalf and Anthony Daniels as Legolas. Also worthy of praise is the animation style which includes Bakshi’s pioneering rotoscoping technique in which actors are filmed in live-action and animated over. Nowadays, rotoscoping is fairly common and has been used in films like “A Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly,” but Bakshi was the first to make a feature film with this process back in ’78. I have to say that the animation style works like a charm (especially in the visually enagging battle sequences with the Orcs). As for the traditional animation, it’s somewhat hit-and-miss. The environments (such as the Shire) are detailed and stunning, but I found some of the character model facial features (namely the Hobbit’s and Gandalf) slightly awkward (ie Gandalf’s creepy wide eyes).

Summary: While certainly not on par with Peter Jackson’s “Lord Of The Rings” films, Ralph Bakshi’s work here is flawed, but still impressive. Worth a rent.

The 1.85:1 1080p picture quality is hit-and-miss. There is a noticeable amount of dirt specs and the frame is sometimes jerky, but some of the sequences look superb in this new remastered cut.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track is lively. The voice acting and action sequences sound clean and clear from start to finish.

Extras include a Warner Blu-ray and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” season 1 trailers, a DVD/Digital Copy, and a “Behind The Story” featurette titled “Forging Through The Darkness: The Ralph Bakshi Vision For The Lord Of The Rings” which includes interviews, discussions about Bakshi’s life and work, information about the rotoscoping technique, etc.

April 8, 2010 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 1 | J.R.R. Tolkien, Ralph Bakshi, The Lord Of The Rings Blu-ray Review