If you read the critics, you might not suspect that J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the first true epic to come along since Milton revitalized Homer's and Virgil's genre, was a monumental work. That its followers, as with Abraham's seed, are as numerous as the sands. That there are people who meet each week to play Middle-earth games. That maps, calendars, pictures, puzzles, and deluxe editions of the trilogy sell in the millions year after year. I suspect that the critics and the audiences of Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings … will be just as far apart.

With few exceptions, the critics find it a bad film. The audiences don't…. Bakshi, the director, hasn't created a flawless film; here is no Star Wars; neither is it Billy Jack. But considering the sprawl and scope of Tolkien's story, Bakshi in a somewhat...