Cheap The Return Of The King (DVD) (Orson Bean, John Huston) (Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Return Of The King

A "sequel" to "LOTR" done in the style of "The Hobbit"
To be accurate, Ralph Bakshi's animated version of "The Lord of the Rings" only made it halfway through "The Two Towers" before suddenly concluding. My understanding was that because Bakshi did not get to "The Return of the King," the rights were available for Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. to do their own version for television in 1980 in the same style they had employed for "The Hobbit." In fact, Orson Bean is back to do the voices of not only Bilbo but also Frodo, and John Huston returns to provide a perefect voice for the wizard Gandalf.

"The Return of the King" certainly begins in the middle of things, with Sam (Roddy McDowell) trying to rescue the captive Frodo from the orcs and Gollum scrambling after his "precious" ring. Those who have read the trilogy will be able to pick up the narrative without any problem, but for the uninitated who have to try and enjoy this without some sort of "Previously on 'The Lord of the Ring,'" it is going to be quiet disconcerting. Clearly this version is geared for the kids, in the grand tradition of "The Hobbit," which was far and away the best of these three animated Tolkein films. Adults will undoubtedly cringe at some of these moments, as when the Orcs sing "Where There's a Whip There's a Way," but hopefully you will find a few small moments that you can enjoy. The chief charm of "The Return of the King" for me is that it does a decent job with my favorite scene of the Trilogy, when Éowyn, the shield maiden of Rohirrim engages the Lord of the Nazgul in mortal combat during the Battle of Pellennor Fields.

Glenn Yarborough again does the music, as he did with "The Hobbit," but with notably less success. Except for the first little ditty about "Frodo of the Nine-Fingers and the Ring of Doom," the songs this time around add nothing to the telling of the tale. When you consider all the great moments from the book that were cut because of time constraints and then add to that list those that were jettisoned because of Yarborough's songs, it is the proverbial example of adding insult to injury.

The best case scenario is to show young children "The Hobbit," and use that as a way of inspiring them to read the book and then move on to the Trilogy or the Peter Jackson film's. If your children got a kick out of Gollum in "The Hobbit," then they might be interested in seeing what finally happens to him, but it does give away the climax of the Trilogy. So I am back to my original position, that you should whet their young appetite's with "The Hobbit." "The Return of the King" is made with affection, but it lacks the time and money to make it a worthy presentation of Tolkien's story.

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the ending bakshi forgot to film for the lord of the rings
Saw this movie on laserdisc years ago it was also titled "frodo of the nine fingers and the ring of doom". This film pickes up about where the lord of the rings movie by ralph bakshi ended. It tells the rest of the story of ring. This movie was done in the style of the older Rankin Bass carton the hobbit. Using the much simpler animation of the earlier movie makes this one a bit less distracting then the lord of the rings. The complex story of J.r.r. Tolkien was one that was exceptionally difficult for any artist to bring to the screen and it resulted in a fragmented tale this movie "the return of the king" attempted to finish the tale and tie up the story. if you are a tolkien fan whether you love this movie or hate it, I would recommend it just to finish the tale. If you just relax and enjoy the movie its a pretty good tale. It also has a few interesting songs in it like "where there's a whip there's a way"

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A bad movie!
This movie cracked me up. Songs like "Wheres there a whip, theres a way!" and funny lines from Bilbo Baggins like "bless my soul!" This movie is a crackup! However, despite its stupidity it really does not have the drama and climax that the Hobbitt did (this was the previous movie made by this studio).