Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings - REVIEW (pics) (1 Viewer)

[RicP]

Well, I was fortunate enough to grab this disc over the weekend and have poured through it the best I can.
First the good news...It is Widescreen and it is Anamorphic. The rumors of a Full Frame release of this film were thankfully just that...rumors.
Here's the Opening Menu...

I don't suppose I need to explain what The Lord of the Rings is for anyone so I'll just skip the preliminaries about the film and dive right into the DVD presentation.
The film is broken up into 38 chapters and looks much better than my going on 8 year old VHS copy does. The animation is sharper than I've ever seen and the colors seem crisp, if not as vivid as some would like.
There is some grain present but it doesn't detract from the presentation at all. There is also some speckling and oher signs of film wear, but all in all this disc looks better than I've seen.
Here's a shot...

The sound is in either English-Dolby Surround or French-Mono. The Doby Surround track sounds good and is perfect for the film. Back ambience is there but not in abundance and essentially is the same sound mix that has appeared on previous home video releases.
Special features include two "textual" based Production notes. One on Tolkien, and one called "Of Elves and Other Races" which is sort of a "Middle-Earth" primer.

Lots of subtitles including Thai, Manadrin, and Japanese are interesting to look at
All in all a fairly solid release from Warner. Nothing too incredible, but if you're a fan of this film or grew up with it like I did, then you'll most likely want to give it a spin. It's a little fragmented at times...but it's worth a viewing.
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Ric Perrott - My DVD's

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Thanks Ric. Glad to see they spelt Elves properly

 

[Craig S]

Thanks, Ric. At the price this seems like a great release.
All that angst over full-frame for nothing. Just think, if Warner had an active rep on the forum it all could have been avoided. Or better yet, if they would only provide timely, detailed & accurate DVD specs to their retailers... what a concept!

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Too many DVDs, too little time...
AFI 100 Challenge - 36 to go!

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Whew!!! (sound of full-frame/p/s anxiety dispelling)...
dave

 

[James D S]

Thanks Ric. Looks like a great disc. That's another I'll have to re-add to my buy list. This is turning into an expensive season!

 

[Steve Christou]

Finally Bakshi's Lord of the Rings on DVD!
Not sure whether to order the r1 or wait and see what the upcoming (nov) r2 has to offer, my old video copy is really worn out.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

What's the price tag on this? I may pick it up if I have some spare $ after Christmas shopping
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My DVD Collection

 

[Ben Motley]

RicP - so, where's the bad news?
j/k. Seriously, I am waaayy stoked for this. I agree that Warner needs to address their public relations, and fast. It is mindboggling that they would allow such a commotion to go unchecked. Eh, anyway, we get what we wanted. Hooray!

 

[Nick Westbridge]

Heh, I picked this up today for $15.99CAN, which is well worth the price of nostalgia IMO.

 

[Kenneth Cummings]

Call me a bit slow on being a adult, but just in time for me to buy when I started to read the book(I know it good, just haven't been on a reading pace that much before).
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[Adam Lenhardt]

Also, this is widescreen, but according to those screenshot, it is improperly framed at 1.78:1 rather than 1.85:1. Only an approximate 4 percent loss of horizontal image information, but still not in OAR. Warner did the same thing with Batman.
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My DVD Collection
[Edited last by Adam Lenhardt on September 04, 2001 at 11:11 PM]

 

[cafink]

Also, this is widescreen, but according to those screenshot, it is improperly framed at 1.78:1 rather than 1.85:1. Only an approximate 4 percent loss of horizontal image information, but still not in OAR. Warner did the same thing with Batman.

As far as I've seen, Warner does that with ALL 1.85:1 films.

 

[Geoffrey_A]

Man, it sure does look a whole lot nicer than the gawd afull muddy video print, and widescreen too, I'm one happy animator

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Thanks for the scoop! Those screen shots were a nice touch!
How about doing The Hobbit for us next?
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Scott
Check out my Movie Reviews at Epinions. Help support my debilitating DVD addiction!
AOL IM: TheAngryJew29

 

[ShawnC]

What about The Hobbit and Return of the King? Are they widescreen as well?

 

[David Lambert]

What about The Hobbit and Return of the King? Are they widescreen as well?

They are not SUPPOSED to be widescreen. They are both made-for-TV, and their OAR is 1.33:1!!
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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[ShawnC]

I didn't know for sure, just asking!

 

[Geoffrey_A]

Too bad they put The hobbit and The Return of the King out on seperate discs. I'll buy the Hobbit, but I ain't gonna touch retun of the king. Seems to me they ccould move more units with both on one disc

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Geoff
Now with Kung-Fu grip and realistic facial hair!

 

[Geoffrey_A]

What the flyin' forkin' frackin' crackin! I just finished watching my LOTR disc all the way through, and they've changed the ending!!!

It used to end with:
Spoiler:Gandalf tossing his sword in the air, followed by the army rriding off and then the narator's voice would come in with "Thus ends the first part of the history of the War of the ring"
Now it ends with the narator saying:
Spoiler: the forces of dakness were driven forever from the face of middle earth, by the valliant friends of frodo. As the gallant battle ended, so too ends the first great tale of The Lord of the Rings
Not a big change, but I don't understand why it was made. I prefered the original, it sounded better, more classy, this one sounds more hokey.
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Geoff
Now with Kung-Fu grip and realistic facial hair!
[Edited last by Geoffrey_A on September 05, 2001 at 11:57 PM]

 

[RicP]

Geoff,
I noticed that too, but it didn't register at first.
I went back and re-watched my VHS copy and the voice over was changed. Like you said, it's not a big deal but it is interesting.
I'll try and investigate this further.
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http://www.ricperrott.com
Ric Perrott - My DVD's