Product: The Hobbit [VHS] (1977)
Rating: 3.0
A pretty good adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece
This animated version of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit,' along with the other two films of Bakshi's trilogy, stays pretty faithful to the book on which it was based. There are parts missing, of course, but that is to be expected with any screen adaptation. The voices are great, and the music (by Glenn Yarbrough) is tolerable, although very dated. In fact, this is one of the chief defects of the movie--the dialogue is very dated. You can only tolerate hearing Bilbo or a dwarf say "Bless my Soul!" so many times.Overall, though, this is a pretty good film. The animation is not great (Smaug has the face of a cat), but is tolerable for the time in which it was made. Again, there are no technological marvels here, just a good, well-told story. This movie isn't perfect, but it will do until a newer version of 'The Hobbit' comes along.