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Buy This Blu-ray and Watch it Instantly
Watch the Amazon Instant Video rental on your PC, Mac, compatible TV or compatible device at no charge when you buy this Blu-ray disc from Amazon.com. Your rental will expire 2 days after you begin watching or 30 days after your disc purchase, whichever occurs first. The Amazon Instant Video version will be available in Your Video Library and is provided as a gift with disc purchase. Available to US customers only. See Terms and Conditions.
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"Star Trek Into Darkness" Available for Pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD
From director J.J. Abrams comes the next installment in the Star Trek saga, Star Trek Into Darkness. See it at Cinemark theaters now and pre-order on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD, and the Exclusive Starfleet Phaser Gift Set. Shop Star Trek Into Darkness and more in the Star Trek Store. Learn more |
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That was over 20 years ago, and I think I've seen this movie once since then, so when it was released on DVD I eagerly snapped it up. So how does it hold up to the childhood memories?
Pretty good, actually.
The story is basically the same as in the book: The Hobbit Frodo is joined by eight companions in a quest to destroy the evil Ring of Sauron. The characters and locales look pretty much as one would imagine from reading the books. (This movie adapts The Fellowship of the Ring & half of The Two Towers.) I had a problem with Strider and Boromir trudging through feet of snow in nothing but their little dresses, though.....bundle up, guys!
The scenery is by turns lush (The Shire), and forbidding (The excellent Mines of Moria sequence). The problems were pretty much all the same: Bakshi's use of "Rotoscoping", or filming real actors and drawing over them. The rotoscoped portions just don't fit with the rest of the movie, and it can be QUITE jarring to look at. (Check out how all of the Orcs seem to have just 2 kinds of faces.....couldn't they at least have made different masks to film the Orc actors in????) Also troubling (in a very minor way...) was how "Saruman" was pronounced "Aruman" about half the time. People who aren't familiar with the story will find that confusing; people who ARE will find it more and more irritating each time it happens......and it happens A LOT. The film also ends a little too abruptly; I remember being bothered by that as a kid. (It still bothers me!)
On the plus side, the DVD looks great; the colors are perfect, and the sound is great. It's too bad there aren't more extras: all there is are a few text features. (Not even a trailer!)
Overall, not as good as the new film adaptation, but worth a look for Tolkien fans.
The voice-overs are all spectacular, and the rotoscoped animation gives the characters a life that animation seldom possesses - though there are those who would argue that point, most assuredly. The animation is also suitably dark and grim, though this also translates into a visual problem, for even places that SHOULD look fair and beautiful - such as Rivendell or Lothlorien - tend to be almost gloomy and ominous. When the Fellowship enters the dark halls of Moria, however, Bakshi is in top form.
This adaptation attempts to make a single film out of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and over half of "The Two Towers," which is obviously a mistake. Because of this, there are several changes to the story that we Tolkien zealots so adore, and sometimes beloved moments are lopped out entirely. This happens most in the beginning of the film when the hobbits are on the road and making toward Bree. There is no Tom Bombadil and no fog on the Barrow Downs here (nor will there be in the upcoming Peter Jackson film, alas!). And just when you expect to see the battle with Shelob, the movie ends most abruptly without completing the narrative. A pity.
Still, Bakshi does manage to deliver a good (if not excellent), well-animated, well-acted film version of fantasy's most beloved classic. It is far superior to the Rankin-Bass productions of "The Hobbit" and "The Return of the King," even at its worst. Fans of the series will probably either love it or hate it. I myself cannot wait for the DVD...