anakinforce

Please dont put any spoilers in this if you can help it, but I was just curious if the Rankin/Bass animated version of Return of the King is an accurate version of what happens in the book. I saw it many times as a child and only some of it is still in memory. I'm worried that what little bit I remember may have spoiled too much of the upcoming film for me. Any thoughts? Again, please try not to put any spoilers as I've never read the Return of the King. If you do please use the hightlighting option.

tor_greg

It's accurate in that it contains the general gist of it, but there's A LOT left out.

The Hobbit, on the other hand, is an exceptional adaptation.

Jepthah

Stay FAR away from the R/B Return Of The King--at least until you see Peter Jackson's version.

Agreed with tor_greg though--The Hobbit is charming as long as you don't demand it conform to the LOTR films.

bboisvert

I was coming in here to give an answer, but tor_greg sums it up quickly and accurately.

Giles

and if you notice on the DVD cover of the ROTK, it looks like Smaug is resurrected for this adaptation and is displayed on the upper left hand side of the DVD.

Gourmet Artist

I don't remember Smaug being in the animated ROTK, but they did change the ending slightly.

Giles

he's not, he just makes an appearence on the DVD cover, go figure?

Jepthah

It's an awful cover newly commissioned by WB Home Video, but to be fair, it could be one of the Nazgûl's winged steeds.

DaveNinja

Did they ever fix the audio on the HObbit DVD? The dvd was missing the "whhooopp" sound made when bilbo put on the ring, also missing other sounds like the spinning spiders scene

dstrauss

I'm sorry, I just can't consider any movie serious that has the voice of Casey Kasem and has the orcs break into song.

Jepthah

Hey man! Much as I despise the movie in many respects, "Where There's A Whip There's A Way" is a stone-cold classic!!!

talemyn

Aw, c'mon now . . . without Casey Kasem, we would have no Shaggy . . .

Can't help with the singing orcs though . . . although there was a singing bush in The Three Amigos . . . does that help?  

darqleo

All I have to say about this is... don't let this be your first exposure to The Return Of The King. Wait until the movie or better yet read the books.

kenbuzz

I was actually thinking of picking this up to go with my copies of The Hobbit and the animated LOTR, but I just saw on tlavideo.com that they're taking PREORDERS for this, with a release date of 2/3/04. Check it out: http://www.tlavideo.com/templates/ca...sn=1&id=199374

Is Warner pushing out a new release, or is tlavideo just out to lunch?

Seeker

Pasolini

the cover painting is REEDICYOULOSS!

Who are the two dwarves peeking around the horse. And why the heck is Frodo even ON a horse? A white horse no less - possibly shadowfax? If so, why is he wearing a saddle and other raiment?!

AND SINCE WHEN DO HOBBITS WEAR LITTLE SANDALS!

And why is Frodo holding up a glowing sword anyway? He doesnt even... well, never mind. I don't want to ruin anything.

And why are there TWO Minis Tiriths? And why are all the knights wearing full body armor including full face shields? Gondorians wear helms with wings of the sea birds.

AND WHY DOES THE RING OF POWER LOOK LIKE A KRISPY KREME, BEFORE IT HAS BEEN FRIED?!

talemyn

You're absolutely right on all accounts except maybe one . . . I think that the "sandal" that you see is just the stirrup for the horse. Apart from that, very odd indeed.

milo bloom

I'd go with a price drop, but I thought it's been about that price since it came out. I think there was some issue with the menus being wrong or something though, so maybe they fixed that.

Maybe'll they fix the sound FX in The Hobbit while they're at it. Anyone picked this up lately?

Eric F

You mean the menus being the same for ROTK as it was for Bakshi's LOTR? That problem? Lol.

I do like The Hobbit very much. The Road Leads Ever On is a great song, and you have to give them credit for putting music to Tolkien's words.

Seeker

I like "The Greatest Adventure" in the Hobbit...

Pasolini

i might pick the hobbit up just to hear how they handle the music.

The llittle snippet of the song in Jackson's FOTR is nice, but I always wondered how the rest of the lyrics of the song could possibly fit into the tune that H. Shore wrote - esp. since he brings in that cutesy irish flute/whistle that is overused in millions of movies for shorthand to communicate 'this is a lovely, whistful, folksy, rural, idyllic setting that will soon be overcome by misfortune'.

SilverScreen

Here Here !

I think you've got your answer from the previous posts. I own it only because I'm a completest and I love this song.

I love R/B's "Hobbit" but "The Return of the King" isn't even worth watching imo.

Giles

Talking about music, i always felt the music for Bakshi's Lord of the Rings was the best aspect of that film. I own both the vinyl and CD version of the soundtrack and have to say I think it is one of the most overlooked film scores. Leonard Rosenthal's score is grandiose, powerful and far superior to Howard Shore's IMO.