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December 13, 2007.
Can I give it 10 STARS!!!!!!!!!!.
Rating: 5
Excellent dialogue, acting, and superb adabtion of the book!!!! Must see movie.
December 11, 2007.
Daniel Deronda: A Prince among Men.
Rating: 5
Wow....If the ratings could go higher than 5 stars, I'd sure give it at least a 7!. The actor who plays Daniel Deronda couldn't have been chosen any better and the selection of Romola Garai to portray the beautiful but selfish Mrs. Grandcourt was equally rich. What makes this movie so memorable and endearing is the theme. You have two beautiful, very beautiful and talented girls vying for the heart of one man (of course, this is every man's dream). But where it gets really good, is the humbling process that Mrs Grandcourt must go through, in order to see what kind of woman she was. At the end, through great pain and self discovery of her inner selfishness, she is finally fit to become someone's excellent wife. She pines away the hours and for days on end for the chance to become Daniel's wife, but during this humbing and transformation of the most beautiful Romola Garai, Daniel is falling in love with another girl, whom he rescued from a watery grave. Daniel was an English Gentleman, with manners, courtesy, love and caring for those he knew. As Daniel was slowly discovering his Jewish roots through the girl whose life he saved, he began to fall in love with her, not only for her beauty, but her commitment to God through Judaism and her angelic voice. She was very talented and nice to look at, but it was her singing voice and dedication to God is what attracted Daniel to her. Towards the end, Daniel became more involved is his new found Jewish family and began identifing with them. The scenery of the film switched back and forth from England to Italy, and the twist at the end with Daniel's mother emerging from a life long silence added to the excitment and plot. As Daniel finally proposed to this beautiful Jewess, it was followed by a Jewish wedding ceremony with Jewish wedding music. It was so good to see a film that included the richness of the Jewish traditions and religion without apology. And now, at the end of the story, where both beauties wanted Daniel Deronda, only one of them won the prize. On the one hand, this story is every guys dream; a well mannered rich guy, who is handsome and desired by all the ladies, and on the other hand, they both can't have him, and it leaves your heart broken for the beautiful Mrs Grandcourt. The picture on the cover of the DVD is really a prophetic look at the whole thing. It's a wonderful show, and real treat for guys!
December 19, 2007.
Read the book!.
Rating: 5
Evan the product description is wrong! Read the original book! BBC drama is much worth the penny than American movies!
December 19, 2007.
Excellent adaptation, insightful and moving.
Rating: 5
I'm a HUGE George Eliot fan. Better just get that out of the way to show my bias from the outset.
On the other hand, that could have made me like it less since the film has so much to live up to. Fortunately, this BBC mini-series managed it most excellently. The characters and their lives are engrossing and the film runs long enough (210 minutes) that things are allowed to happen at a natural pace....In Hollywood movies, characters often seem artificial and when they change it's more to fulfill the scriptwriter's needs than their own. In Daniel Deronda, the characters change gradually and realistically, plus the drama is gripping and engaging. Highly recommended!!!
December 14, 2007.
Daniel Deronda discovers his Destiny.
Rating: 5
Daniel Deronda is a fascinating character study as it relates to a man faced with two seemingly impossible challenges. He must realize his true calling and conquer his superficial desires to embrace a much more complex love.
The story unfolds in over three hours of lush settings, gorgeous period costumes and romantic vistas. Yet all the while the story is being told, you can feel the deeper connections between the characters. As you come to terms with their individual destinies, the beauty of this Masterpiece Theatre series reveals itself with startling honesty in a drama where emotions are mostly simmering beneath the surface.
Love as a commitment and love as a game reveals two contrasting worlds. This dance in a world of decadence turns into a game of survival, where the choices of the two main characters hold lives in the balance. One wrong decision and the fate of everyone around them is changed forever.
Daniel Deronda and Gwendolyn meet and mingle in a world of wealth, but in their hearts they long for a more challenging life fraught with conflicts only the soul can fight. Gwendolyn is in a controlling marriage, while Daniel is still finding his way in the world of love. Like a knight he seems to prefer courtly love to a long-term commitment, but this starts to change when he meets a beautiful Jewish singer who he rescues from drowning.
Gwendolyn's wild exuberance while horse riding seems to represent her inner tenacity and as it is only when she has been broken herself and then healed that she too finds her true heart. This series captures an excellence so few period dramas ever try to attain. At first chilling and calculating, this story warms to a shimmering brilliance.
"I shall be better for having known you." ~Gwendolyn
~The Rebecca Review
December 05, 2007.
"I just put 1.795379 and 2.20468 together.".
Rating: 5
Doctor Who and Douglas Adams. Two of the absolute greats of British science fiction, both equally quirky and imaginative, and here they are combined, no less! The results are timeless, of course. Okay, sure, it's a bit clear that Adams is a bit new at writing for television, and the script has a few rough spots, but overall his style resonates perfectly with "Doctor Who"--his audaciously ambitious vision and conceptual sophistication are dead on with the show's approach to the sci-fi genre, and his oddball cerebral humor and sharp sense of satire play right in to Tom Baker's somewhat whacked interpretation of the Doctor. Indeed, it seems pretty clear that Baker is thoroughly enjoying this performance, even despite a dog bite on his lip (No, not from K9).
This is also a visually interesting story in many ways, with a top-notch attempt to depict an alien architecture and lifestyle on the pirate planet Zanak, including the technological additions shoehorned into the planet rendering it a portable, marauding pirate ship on a massive scale. The pirate captain is also larger than life, a sort of Captain Hook ingeniously translated into sci-fi terms (with a cybernetic eyepatch and mechanical arm as well as a robot parrot perched on his shoulder) blustering and belligerent in a totally over the top manner. And rather surprising, in that he seems like an amusing but utterly forgettable one-dimensional villain at first, and then towards the end Adams really throws you by revealing layers of complexity in this supposedly stock character.
Not all the characters are so memorable, it must be said. Most of the inhabitants of the planet are a bit bland, and some of the actors seem to be walking through their roles by rote. There are too many long, drawn out scenes of the expressionless Mentiads (telepaths) strolling along the landscape, and most of the action scenes are humdrum and lame in ways that the show should've transcended since Jon Pertwee's tenure. Still, the excitable Captain and the funny interplay between him and his majordomo, Mister Fibuli, along with the Doctor and his bickering repartee with Romana of course, all make up for these defects, as does the genuinely fascinating story idea as a whole. And anyway, it's not everyday that you get Douglas Adams hitchhiking on the Tardis, so enjoy!
P.S. Since "The Pirate Planet" is the second storyline in the six-part "Key to Time" saga of the sixteenth season, this DVD is also included with five other DVDs in a box set, Doctor Who - The Key to Time Collection, so unless you have a particular interest just in this one storyline, that may be the better option both in terms of economics and convenience.
December 29, 2006.
By the left frontal lobe of the sky demon!!.
Rating: 5
Doctor Who has and always will be remembered by me as one of the absolute greatest television series of all time. What it lacked in terms of budget and special effects, it more than made up for in terms of brilliant writing, witty dialogue, intriguing ideas, and great acting. Though, to me, even the notoriously "bad" special effects in the original run of the show were probably a good thing. They 1) added to the charm of the show, and 2) forced writers to work around budgeting constraints by intriguing the audience with amazingly clever stories alone. Just as big budgets have ruined many a horror director's talent, I suspect that a big budget would have also worsened Doctor Who. Here, in The Pirate Planet, we are given a brilliant sci fi premise by Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide books and radio show, which is served up with his usual liberal amounts of gut-busting humor (which is also, I might add, perfect grist for the humor mill that is Tom Baker--what a nut!) The plot involves a large, hollow planet that captures and loots smaller planets by materializing around them, and then mining all of their valuable minerals. The Doctor calls this the greatest crime in the galaxy, and takes measures to put an end to it. Many of the laughs come to us from the villain, the pirate captain, who has a penchant for odd exclamations: "By the left frontal lobe of the sky demon!" "By the giant parrot of hades!" The Pirate Planet is great entertainment, and is probably the best story in the Key to Time season. My only complaint: put some makeup on those damn cold soars!!!
December 19, 2005.
Rated 4.5 -- excellent story.
Rating: 5
The Pirate Planet (DVD) is one of my picks of Baker shows and not because of the story being by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). It doesn't drag, there is plenty of plot, and it holds my attention. Well, we'll overlook a few set problems, but that's Doctor Who.
December 06, 2004.
Two of the British SCI-FI greats collaborate . . ..
Rating: 5
And the result is synergy! Douglas Adams ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency") worked at BBC for a while, including some work as an Editor on "Doctor Who", until they finally let him write an episode, and here is the result.
Tom Baker's quirky portrayal of the peripatetic Time-Lord is the absolutely perfect marriage of actor to script, as he seemingly fits right in to Adams' view of the universe, and the director seems to have allowed them a bit of a free hand on this go-around. As a result, gags and bits appear here that occur nowhere else in the series thirty-plus (and still growing!)-year history, and fans of the series will be delighted to watch Tom chew up the scenery as he plays Doug's artfully constructed and humorously finished story to the hilt and beyond.
Watching this story makes the viewer feel what a real pity it is that Douglas Adams' other "Doctor Who" story, "Shada" landed in the dustbin due to a filming strike at BBC. If you love this long-running science fiction series and you also loved the late, great Douglas Adams, then this is your rare, one-of-two opportunities to see them both together.
The other one is "City of Death", which Douglas Adams rewrote under the pseudonym "David Agnew", because he was the script editor on Doctor Who at the time, and the BBC didn't want any trouble with the writers.
December 16, 2004.
This Douglas Adams script holds up well over time....
Rating: 5
I love the Tom Baker Dr. Who, but not all episodes are equally good. This series is one of the better ones -- not unexpectedly, since Douglas Adams wrote it.The plot involves a sinister Captain who brings prosperity to his people by doing something really evil -- and I won't tell you what it is for fear of giving away the plot. The budget for special effects and sets for this series must have been about fifty pounds per episode (makes the original Star Trek series look slick in comparison) but for a true Dr. Who fan, the cheesiness of the sets only adds to the charm. This video has a classic laughably funny scene, with a ride in an "air car" that is obviously a cheaply constructed prop tilted to one side, with a blue back drop, and a fan blowing on the characters to imitate flight. But there are also some very witty lines, beautifully delivered by Tom Baker and others in the cast. If you collect Dr. Who videos, this one is a "must have."
December 24, 2006.
Very boring, and low budget film.
Rating: 2
My family and I are fans of BBC/ Masterpiece Theater series and after watching the BBC Our Mutual Friend, were looking forward to another wonderful adaptation of one of Dickens' novels. However, we were disappointed with this production. The acting is good but there are two major problems: 1)it dragged tremendously; it seemed like it went on forever and nothing ever happened in it; and 2)it was a very low-budget production. It looked as if it had been filmed on two stages and the quality of the film was extremely poor.
December 10, 2006.
Some time spent in Cheapside.
Rating: 3
This disc came with the BBC Dickens set. It is probably the weakest entry. Alan Bates is good as always, but some of the other actors are rather weak. But they don't have much of a script to work with, as the adaptation is poor. It is difficult to make Dickens work with such a short length; the characters and situations never seem to get fleshed out. The production values were poor as well. It makes you realize how much money and effort has gone into other Dickens adaptations.
This story is prime for a remake -- much more than the version of Bleak House that came in the same set (which was quite good).
December 29, 2005.
Beautiful, excellent, highly worthwhile natural history film.
Rating: 5
Volume Three of _The Life of Mammals_, hosted by David Attenborough, contained episodes seven and eight of this truly excellent BBC series.
_Return to the Water_ covered the world of aquatic mammals. The opening sequence is with Attenborough and several Asian elephants along a beach. He said a number of mammals, including ones that might seem unlikely, are quite good swimmers. Asian elephants if they so desire can easily cross rather deep channels at sea, a point illustrated by footage of them swimming in the ocean.
Noting that the elephant's trunk may have evolved as an adaptation for aquatic locomotion, the show segued to another aquatic mammal with a flexible trunk, only much, much smaller - the shrew-like desman. One of several mammals that exploit the rich food resources of freshwater, thanks to its long, dense fur it is able to hunt insects in streams and creeks, though because it is extremely buoyant it cannot stay underwater for very long and it must return to land to eat.
Many aquatic mammals though are able to eat while in the water, such as the marine otter, the next animal depicted. Shown hunting shellfish in a kelp forest and floating on its back, smashing them open against a rock, otters thanks to their webbed feet, graceful movements, and extremely dense fur (there are more hairs in a square centimeter of otter fur than there is on an entire human head) are quite well adapted to their environment (they are even able to sleep in the kelp forest, wrapping themselves in the seaweed so they won't drift).
Still better adapted for life at sea is the sea lion. Their limbs are more paddle-like, they have developed thick blubber for warmth in cold waters, and their external ears are small. The show contained good footage of a mother and pup negotiating a kelp forest in New Zealand to go swimming in the waves beyond.
Even further adapted to life at sea are the true seals, such as those found in Antarctica. They have no visible external ear and their hind limbs are not capable of being maneuvered forward.
Attenborough made some interesting points about seal mating habits. The sea lions for instance required gentle sloping shores to come ashore to breed, shores where they won't be battered to death by waves, and shores that are relatively safe from land predators. Such places are few and far between and male seals are able to exploit this and create big harems. The Antarctic seals on the other hand are able to get on top of sea ice to give birth and raise young, which can be done just about anywhere, and are not exploitable by male seals and not susceptible to land predators.
However seals in the Arctic are vulnerable to predation. Attenborough showed the caves above the sea ice but not breaking through the snow that seals create to give birth and raise their pups - some such as the harp seal cannot swim for several weeks - places that are occasionally discovered and raided by Arctic foxes and polar bears, which were shown.
Hooded seals were shown with their bizarre mating rituals, as were harbor seals, which apparently do something Attenborough referred to as competitive choral singing, which after having seen the footage is an apt a term as any.
After spending several minutes on the Florida manatee we are shown the Ganges River dolphin, an animal that lives in very dark waters, a segue into a discussion on echolocation. From there Attenborough showed some interesting feeding behavior of dolphins along the coast of Georgia, USA, behavior that implied intelligence, communication, and teamwork. To continue that particular point he showed a huge pod of common dolphins at sea working together to corral a large school of fish to feed upon.
The episode closed with some wonderful CGI of the interior of a blue whale, footage of a blue whale at sea, beautiful photography of humpback whales (and discussion of their haunting songs and use of sound in navigation and communication), and southern right whales (which were shown mating).
_Life in the Trees_ showed the numerous different mammal groups that live an arboreal existence. Opening up with some humorous footage of meerkats - which will climb anything they can (including the host) in their sentry duties - Attenborough as the show progressed gradually showed mammals that were better and better adapted to life in the trees. First we see the hyrax, which uses something akin to rubber soled feet which provide some suction, then the coati, which uses claws and long tails for balance.
Climbing high into a rain forest tree, Attenborough showed the rich variety of foods - insects, leaves, fruit, birds, and eggs - that are to be had in the trees; even water, thanks to bromeliads (with footage of coatis and woolly monkeys drinking from them).
Next, we see the sun bear, which climbs trees in pursuit of fruit, an arboreal species of anteater, which has a prehensile tail, and the familiar gray squirrel, which are nimble, acrobatic - able to leap between branches - and lightweight (capable of going to nearly the end of even small branches). Able to leap - or glide really - even further is the flying squirrel, a nocturnal mammal that was shown moving about in some truly wonderful footage. Some arboreal mammals fly instead of glide, like the flying fox (the footage of the huge flocks and the predation on them by crocodiles when they came to drink and eagles while in flight and at rest was amazing).
Most of the remainder of the mammals shown are primates. We see wonderful, eerie footage of nocturnal slow lorises, more frenetic lesser bush babies, and a rich variety of lemurs in Madagascar. Chasing one species of lemur is the fossa, a mongoose-like predator. Finally we see some awesome footage of the gibbon, a consummate aerialist from Southeast Asia. Along the way Attenborough discussed the adaptations in fingers, wrists, tails, backbones, and vision to life in the trees.
December 05, 2004.
Water dwellers, tree climbers.
Rating: 5
This, the third volume of an excellent four-volume series on mammals, balances the expected with the unexpected, the large with the small, and the well-known with the less well-known. It contains two hour-long episodes: _Return to the Water_, which focuses on aquatic mammals such as otters, seals, manatees and whales; and _Life in the Trees_, which discusses primates and other arboreal mammals. Attenborough has obviously filmed these animals extensively, and his films benefit from being viewed multiple times.Because he is able to find beauty in things other people would not notice, Attenborough is at his best when he describes behaviors and animals which are neglected by other popular filmmakers. His awe of all creatures great and small is apparent in every movie in the series. _Return to the Water_ discusses the large whales with awe, but also takes care to mention the many other groups of mammals that have taken to the water. _Life in the Trees_ also divides its time about right between primates and non-primates. Overall, I highly recommend this video, which is densely packed with outstanding footage and fascinating information.
December 11, 2006.
The best one so far.
Rating: 5
I bought the entire boxed set and so far this DVD is my favorite one - they are excellent!! It seems the more it goes along, the better it gets. I have 4 more DVDs to watch so we shall see. Get the whole set. I watch an episode or more a day and I find that I look forward to it. Enjoy!!
December 04, 2005.
I never knew what I was missing.
Rating: 5
In the past, I've always just taped this show off our PBS station, but my tapes are worn nearly out and our PBS station dosen't carry it anymore.
I have never seen the show with such absolutle clarity, even when watching it directly off the TV! This is the ONLY way to watch the show! Now I will have to collect the rest of the series. I'm hooked!
December 07, 2005.
God I LOVE the British!!!.
Rating: 5
I am an American, I was born in America and have always lived in America. I grew up watching sitcoms like Full House, The Cosby Show, Saved By The Bell, The Wonder Years, and Three's Company. Not until just this year have I even seen a BBC sitcom. I have always totally adored British accents and loved the way the British talk and have always found England to be so much better than the U.S. as far as artistic architecture and the way they design the interior of buildings just from what I've seen and read. But I never knew how the British sitcoms were until just a few months ago.
I was at a friends' house and we were watching these British sitcoms and Are You Being Served? came on and it was so funny when I saw Mrs. Slocombe staying in this "apartment" in the department store and she was going to be with Mr. Humphries after the lights went out and people kept coming in her "apartment" and 2 of the guys had to stay in one bed and I was just totally cracking up!! Then the very last thing Mrs. Slocombe says before the credits that I'll never forget, "Mr. Humphries, Leave My P***y Alone!" I was just totally rolling on the floor after that. I HAD to buy that episode on DVD and I just got Vol 9 last week and I just totally love this show!! Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocombe are just amazing and hilarious!! Since I've seen this episode which is called The Apartment, I have watched many other episodes on PBS and I crack up everytime!! I do plan to own every episode on DVD one day!
Another favorite that I also started watching is Keeping Up Appearances and I really wish that was still showing as well. And for years I've heard of Judi Dench and just recently started watching As Time Goes By as well. Judi Dench is also amazing. I really love these British sitcoms so much especially Keeping Up Appearances and Are You Being Served? and now all I can do is watch the DVD's or see re-runs on PBS. I really do wish that they would return Are You Being Served? because in my opinion, it beats any American sitcom any day!! I didn't realize what I've been missing all these 26 years of living, living in the U.S. but now that I've discovered the British way of sitcoms, I'll never turn back!!!
December 14, 2004.
"once used by a lot of soldiers".
Rating: 5
--Mr. Harmon's perceived reading of Mrs. Slocombe's medical report.
Of the DVDs in the Season 6-10 boxed set of the AYBS? series, volume 9 is the best. It contains six episodes--and all six are winners. In The Junior, the staff must choose an applicant to fill the space left by Mr. Tebbs' retirement (at first, a junior position as Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas were to be promoted). The funniest part of this episode is when one of the applicants bears a little too strong a resemblance to Mr. Humphries who remarks "We don't want people like that working here." In this episode, Alfie Bass as Mr. Goldberg is introduced. Of the three characters who tried to replace Mr. Grainger as the senior salesman, Goldberg was the only one that worked. Mr. Tebbs seemed like a cheap imitation of Grainger and Mr. Klein was so unmemorable, you almost forget he was there. Goldberg, however, provided a spark and, right away, gets "up the nose" of Col. (oops, Capt.) Peacock with memories of their army days. In Strong Stuff This Insurance, the staff must undergo medical exams for a pension bonus plan. The guys get caught with their pants (and everything else) down and the staff mistake Mr. Harmon's reading of appraisals of Young Mr. Grace's antique furniture for their medical reports. In The Apartment, Mrs. Slocombe finds squatters in her new house and must spend the night in the store. Due to a transport strike, she gets many visitors, including Mr. Humphries who she tries to put the moves on! Mrs. Slocombe takes over Mr. Rumbold's position in Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person (the temporary promotion does not go to her head as much as it did Mr. Grainger, when he once got the position). In The Hero, the staff (and the store) find out Capt. Peacock has a boil on his "bum." They try not to be "cheeky" about it but, when word spreads, Peacock finds himself scheduled to box Mr. Franco in sports who first revealed the "misfortune" (played by wrestler Jackie "Mr. TV" Pallo). Finally, the staff takes over the canteen for a day in Anything You Can Do and, for once, seem to work well together. If you are unsure about getting the Season 6-10 boxed set, volume 9 represents the best of the last half of the series.
December 11, 2007.
An English education and history lesson all rolled up into one!.
Rating: 5
In describing my thoughts and feelings for the movies Jane Eyre and Middlemarch, it's like telling someone of an old friend. I love to watch these movies over and over again, just to get the raw education and great historical lessons from the land of my ancestry. In Jane Eyre, you have Mr. Rodchester slinging out so many ten dollar words that are not so commonly used in our American discourse, that you feel like you've just been to college and your among the elite in society. You also have the typical themes of the Rich verses Poor, and unprincipaled verses the godly and chaste. But what I like most about Jane Eyre beside the education, was how that one line spoken by Mr. Rodchester seemed to sum up what happened, and what would eventually turn to his good. He said: "fate has out maneuvered me or providence checked me" and to that the minister said Amen! Mr. Rodchester's fate of trying to force a marriage with a godly sweet angel before it's time, was rewarded at the end of the show by the Providence of God. God allowed him to be judged by fire, but then answered his hopes and prayers by letting the whisp of his anguish travel over the air, hundreds of miles to the awaiting ears of his true love. And with Jane about to enter into a marriage with a steely cleric with no heart of love for her, she received the message on the wind from God and from Mr. Rodchester just in the nick of time, and she fled to her fulfillment. I highly recommend Jane Eyre for viewing over and over again, it's an education and a heart throbbing love story all wrapped up into one. Now as far as the history lesson of MiddleMarch is concerned, time and space will not allow enough to be said about this show. It was not your typical English film, this is a series of many plots and sub plots, which show the true nature and character of a growing nation. A snippet out of time, a viewing of the developing countryside society of England's heart land. Once again though, the English protray the villian as a clergyman, and the so called good clergyman, was a pool playing, card playing, pub attendee. But the other plots of love and of riches carries well, and one wishes that Dr. Lidgate would have married Dorothea. This film has many of your favorite English actors in it, and is the kind of movie that you have spend a lot of time with and engross yourself in, to really enjoy......When we want to watch an old favorite, MiddleMarch is right up there with Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. You'll be enriched and educated if you spend time with both of these films. We loved them!
December 06, 2005.
Jane Eyre on DVD.
Rating: 5
I purchased only the Jane Eyre DVD from this set. It's the same production with Timothy Dalton as the older 2-tape VHS edition that has been out for many years. Supposedly the DVD has some additional footage but I have not been able to detect it...certainly no additional scenes. Also, I did not expect the format to be episodes of a TV series, with frequent breaks. The VHS version is a continuous movie.
December 04, 2006.
The Weakest Series.
Rating: 3
Harry Enfield doesn't really click in this. ITV made the right choice in essentially rebooting the show with Neil Morrissey. It's still pretty funny though but really you are better off starting with series 2.
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