Director Ralph Bakshi's attempt to set down an animated version of J R R Tolkien's massive saga of Middle Earth (or at least the first half of it) must go down as a jolly good try at an almost impossible project. Certain sections - the mines of Moria; the Ringwraiths in the sky are bitingly close to one's visualisation of the book. The voices of the hobbits seem a little too light and west country at first but, like the rest of the voices - John Hurt makes a splendid Aragorn - they grow on you. The action is at times a bit jerky where so much has been telescoped into so little - don't miss the beginning or you'll lose the thread of it; but we should be grateful that Bakshi has tried so hard to be faithful to the original that its spirit and inspiration often shine through to stir the blood. Gandalf, Saruman, (the good and evil wizards) Wormtongue and Legolas are particularly well realised, and the flowing music theme is of great assistance in lending the action momentum when it needs it most.

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