The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) double LP featuring four scenes: The Hobbits leaving Hobbiton, The Ringwraiths at Bree, Gandalf and the Balrog, Journey with the Orcs. In 2001, the album was reissued on compact disc, with bonus tracks. The film was originally intended to be distributed as "The Lord of the Rings Part I". According to Bakshi, when he completed the film, United Artists executives told him that they were planning to release the film without indicating that a sequel would follow, because they felt that audiences would not pay to see half of a film: "The Film Book of J.R.R. Tolkien's the Lord of
The Lord of the Rings that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and those who are going to read them". The "New York Herald Tribune" also seemed to have an idea of how popular the books would become, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". W. H. Auden, an admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded "The Lord of the Rings" as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of John Milton's "Paradise Lost". "New York Times" reviewer Judith Shulevitz criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's