Theatrical Release

Hell yeah... I still have the fold-out full color press releases that I got at a Star Trek convention a few months before it came out. Back then we really didn't hope for a live action version and even ten years later we realized that the mediocre Willow was the best we could expect. The best fantasy films of the period were Conan the Barbarian (a lousy take on Robert E. Howard, but not bad) and The Dark Crystal, which is still one of the best of all time.
Fortunately, Watership Down came out at just the same time as the Bakshi LOTR, so my disappointment with this half-ass film was soothed by a genuinely good animated fantasy.
I still love the Rosenman music though.

I did. I was 18 and had already read the books a couple of times. I enjoyed it, though I can’t say for the over-the-top Jackson films. I still love the books.