"THE LORD OF THE RINGS"

Ralph Bakshi,(showing promise after his feature "WIZARDS"), took a stab at J.R.R. Tolkein's masterful trilogy, "THE LORD OF THE RINGS". Some critics had long felt the work was unfilmable...Others stated the trilogy was not appropriate for the screen. Bakshi, unfortnately proved them right. Aside from the obvious plot deletions, the most disappointing characteristic of the film, is the "cutesy-wootsy" rendering of the characters. Frodo, Samwise, Smeagle, etc., are portrayed as "goggle-eyed" muppet types. Tolkein's epic is far too serious to warrant this kind of a treatment. Bakshi's skills would be more useful, if applied to ANIME, or DISNEY-like flotsam and jetsam. Sadly, this treatment forgets the inner complexities and taut characterizations, which have made "THE LORD OF THE RINGS" the classic piece of literature that it is.

WHAT TO DO...?

Hollywood should invest their incredible resources into a proper live-action, "LORD OF THE RINGS". They should film the trilogy, book-by-book, and stay true to the source material. Several directors would be competent for the project. Lucas, of course, is busy, but others come to mind. Tim Burton, Nicholas Roeg, John Boorman, and F.Ford Coppola could all translate Tolkein's work with consistency and style. Today's special FX are certainly up to the task, and think of the fun in casting! Brad Dourif as Smeagel-Gollum...Liam Neeson as "Strider"...Rutger Hauer as Elrond...Jeri Ryan as Galadrial...Max Von Sydow as Gandalf...Kathleen Turner as Shelob...Robert Z'Dar as Saladan...Armin Shimmerman as Bilbo...Richard Keil as Tom Bombadil...The possibilities are endless! Think of the merchandising! "Look for the Magic Ring in specially marked boxes of LUCKY CHARMS!" Return of the "BURGER KING!" M & M's (Mordor & Mirkwood)! Six Flags fun-filled new adventure ride "THROUGH THE FOREST OF MIRKWOOD"! Soundtrack by a re-united LED ZEPPELIN! Action Figures! Role-Playing games! Halloween costumes! Bedsheets! Wallpaper! Mouse pads! Screen-savers! Imagine the cottage industrys, the chatrooms, the trading cards, the comic books, the...? Forgive me, I'm fantasizing!...But that's all right! That is the purpose of these sites!