After seeing Peter Jackson' miraculously brilliant movie version of The Lord of the Rings, I had to finally see the much maligned 1978 animated version.
Let me get this off my chest first. There are those out there who thinks that the movie is alright to watch, and there are those who still cannot get over the shock of seeing their beloved story being torn and shredded into little pieces. At first I thought, how bad can it be? But upon seeing this movie, I became a true believer. A believer that Ralph Bakshi had indeed turned a great novel into trash.
For those who hasn't seen this movie and need recommendation, you just hav e to watch this movie just to understand why it has deserved so much criticism for all these years. First of all, the artwork is TERRIBLE and very, very inconsistent to the point where you think that Ralph Bakshi must have ran out of time and money to do a decent job. The movie combines characters that seemed naturally hand-animated with rotoscoped human beings that looked eerily real, it doesn't look like if it belongs there. Just imagine an artist blending surrealism with cubism into one canvas, or Walt Disney with Leonardo Da Vinci. Chaotic backgrounds is often depicted as rough paintbrushing work. Visually, this movie is a total mess.
Now for the characterisations, which I'm afraid its no good either. Saruman is often pronounced as "Aruman" and he wears red and not white gown, and as a wizard who supposedly possess a beautiful and spellbinding voice, he sounded like a croaking frog. Gandalf is so theatrical its not funny, with his riverdance-esque spins and exaggerated hand-weaving gestures. Samwise Gamgee is being turned into such a coward, all he does is hug people when he gets scared (but unfortunately the other hobbits do the same thing) and instead of being down-to-earth and courageous, he is too effeminate and annoying, unlike his likeable novel counterpart. Aragorn wears Robin Hood's short skirt, Gimli is turned into a monstrously tall Dwarf, and Boromir is now a Scandinavian Viking sporting an awfully thick red beard. Why did the Nazguls limped at first but later on managed to walk normally? Also, there are a lot of bad editing, such as the fellowship suddenly arrived in front of Galadriel from Moria's exit without any transition shots of them travelling from one point to the next. The Balrog looked laughable as opposed to be striking fear into our hearts, and what's up with his growling? The Balrog is no zoo lion, and it does not growl! The soundtrack did not enhance any emotions or situations in the slightest bit, which doesn't help at all.
There are some good, well-executed moments, but they are a rarity. This movie has too many flaws, and that is not good enough considering the mythical status of Tolkien's stories. Peter Jackson's version is billions of times more superior in every single way, and thank goodness we can all watch that one instead!
Let me get this off my chest first. There are those out there who thinks that the movie is alright to watch, and there are those who still cannot get over the shock of seeing their beloved story being torn and shredded into little pieces. At first I thought, how bad can it be? But upon seeing this movie, I became a true believer. A believer that Ralph Bakshi had indeed turned a great novel into trash.
For those who hasn't seen this movie and need recommendation, you just hav e to watch this movie just to understand why it has deserved so much criticism for all these years. First of all, the artwork is TERRIBLE and very, very inconsistent to the point where you think that Ralph Bakshi must have ran out of time and money to do a decent job. The movie combines characters that seemed naturally hand-animated with rotoscoped human beings that looked eerily real, it doesn't look like if it belongs there. Just imagine an artist blending surrealism with cubism into one canvas, or Walt Disney with Leonardo Da Vinci. Chaotic backgrounds is often depicted as rough paintbrushing work. Visually, this movie is a total mess.
Now for the characterisations, which I'm afraid its no good either. Saruman is often pronounced as "Aruman" and he wears red and not white gown, and as a wizard who supposedly possess a beautiful and spellbinding voice, he sounded like a croaking frog. Gandalf is so theatrical its not funny, with his riverdance-esque spins and exaggerated hand-weaving gestures. Samwise Gamgee is being turned into such a coward, all he does is hug people when he gets scared (but unfortunately the other hobbits do the same thing) and instead of being down-to-earth and courageous, he is too effeminate and annoying, unlike his likeable novel counterpart. Aragorn wears Robin Hood's short skirt, Gimli is turned into a monstrously tall Dwarf, and Boromir is now a Scandinavian Viking sporting an awfully thick red beard. Why did the Nazguls limped at first but later on managed to walk normally? Also, there are a lot of bad editing, such as the fellowship suddenly arrived in front of Galadriel from Moria's exit without any transition shots of them travelling from one point to the next. The Balrog looked laughable as opposed to be striking fear into our hearts, and what's up with his growling? The Balrog is no zoo lion, and it does not growl! The soundtrack did not enhance any emotions or situations in the slightest bit, which doesn't help at all.
There are some good, well-executed moments, but they are a rarity. This movie has too many flaws, and that is not good enough considering the mythical status of Tolkien's stories. Peter Jackson's version is billions of times more superior in every single way, and thank goodness we can all watch that one instead!