The Lord of the Rings
United Artists | Release Date: November 15, 1978 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Mercifully, the book has escaped the typical Disney demolition; 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. Read full review
80
EmpireStaff (Not Credited)
What most people remember is the mix of the live-action tracing within the traditional animation and just how effectively creepy it managed to be, but for the time this did a pretty good job of adapting the dense novels. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Now that cinema technology has made a live-action "The Lord of the Rings" possible, these versions are likely to be displaced. They'll retain a nostalgic charm, though, especially for those to whom they were the first peek into the fantastic world of Middle Earth. [24 Aug 2001]
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What the film gains at Bakshi’s hand is a very clever bag of animator’s tricks, most of which serve to make Tolkien’s characters palpable after all those years on paper. Read full review
60
The New York TimesVincent Canby
The Lord of the Rings, is both numbing and impressive. Yet it would be difficult to recommend this movie to anyone not wholly absorbed by the uses of motion-picture animation or to anyone not familiar with Tolkien's home-made mythology, which borrows liberally from various Norse myths, the Eddas, the Nibelungs and maybe even Beatrix Potter. Read full review
60
IGNJeremy Conrad
The "live action" footage simply looks "blah" when interacting with the animated characters. It breaks apart the look of the movie, and really hurts it. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Unquestionably, Bakshi has perfected some outstanding pen-and-ink effects while translating faithfully a portion of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. But in his concentration on craft and duty to the original story - both admirable in themselves - Bakshi overlooks the uninitiated completely. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Animator Ralph Bakshi's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings"trilogy is an entertaining film, but in attempting to remain faithful to the source material, Bakshi tries to cover too much ground. Read full review
40
TimePaul Gray
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. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChristian Blauvelt
Not even the Dark Lord Sauron would want to put his name to this movie. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
The film is flat, dull, and sloppy. Read full review
More From This Movie

51 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL