Films like The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings (1978) reads as Sombre, kinetic, measured fantasy / rotoscope, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Phoenix 2772 (1980) poster
1. Phoenix 27721980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the world-sized stakes — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Toward the Terra (1980) poster
2. Toward the Terra1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the world-sized stakes — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981) poster
3. Adieu Galaxy Express 9991981

Keeps the world-sized stakes and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Arion (1986) poster
4. Arion1986

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Harmagedon (1983) poster
5. Harmagedon1983

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the world-sized stakes — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Galaxy Express 999 (1979) poster
6. Galaxy Express 9991979

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) poster
7. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes1972

Keeps the world-sized stakes and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) poster
8. Escape from the Planet of the Apes1971

Keeps the world-sized stakes and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Megazone 23 (1985) poster
9. Megazone 231985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988) poster
10. Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack1988

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the world-sized stakes; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981) poster
11. Mobile Suit Gundam I1981

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the world-sized stakes; trades toward a grounded, familiar shape.

Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983) poster
12. Legend of the Eight Samurai1983

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

These are The Lord of the Rings’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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