Watched Bakshi's Lord of the Rings again...

Yeah, I know. The rotoscoping is terrible, hearing Saruman called "Aruman" during the film is annoying, the balrog isn't very intimidating (in my honest opinion) and it ends abruptly. But, in some ways, it's better than Jackson's attempt.

The high point of this version is that Bakshi has more respect for the characters and original dialogue; there is no "wizard duel" but a snippet of Gandalf and Saruman's debate. Faramir doesn't take Frodo, Gollum and Sam away from their quest, distorting the character and wasting screen time. Gimli isn't reduced to comic relief. Saruman isn't killed on a spike. There is no "if you want him, come and claim him." (Duh, Arwen. An elf as old as you should know that the nazgul have every intention of claiming Frodo. Your challenge was pathetic, and took away from Frodo's "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!") Also unlike Jackson, Bakshi does not take liberties with characterization: he retains Tolkien's portrayal of Boromir's ambiguous character without turning him into a simplistic bad guy; he doesn't change Saruman from a would be rival of the Dark Lord into a simple minion; he brings out Theoden's underlying nobility. The only real problem is the abrupt ending of the story - and that's only an issue because Bakshi never went on to create a sequel.

Find it at your local library. Rent it at your nearest rental. Buy it at the bookstore or at Amazon.com. I recommend it.