Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

valerie-hoganfamily-fan This one is surely my favorite rendition of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations into a movie. The story is brilliantly told and masterfully executed thanks to the stellar performances by Ioan Gruffudd, Charlotte Rampling, Daniel Evans and others. Gruffudd's Pip is more believable and mysterious at the same time. He plays him very convincingly. Gruffudd should do more of period pieces as he does them SO artistically well. Such roles come to him so naturally. And his voice: He brings all the charm, music and pathos only by uttering his thoughts in words. You could linger on every word that he utters. Such is the beauty and spell of his voice!Joe and Biddy are beautifully depicted. They bring joy to an otherwise sad story by their mere presence. Miss Havisham looks ravishing and tragic at the same time. In my opinion, this is by far the finest version of the Great Expectations. I,therefore, highly recommend it to the true lovers of literature. They would not only love the movie but they would adore the book even more after watching this. Its kinda sad to see that such masterpieces don't make their inroads into the mainstream Hollywood cinema. Coz if they do, I am certain that they would gain more popularity and recognition which pieces like this truly deserve in tons. All and all a beautiful beautiful period drama not to be missed at any cost.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU One of the cruelest stories I know. Dickens is so cruel we cannot imagine he is a man, what's more a humane human being.A poor orphan, Pip, is raised by a poor blacksmith. A life of rough and tough luck. Take it or leave it, but there is no way out, except the radical one. And he dreams of being a gentleman one day. An aberration of course, morally wrong and bad taste.He is selected and invited by Miss Havisham, a deranged rich woman who is mourning in total decay and sorrow after the failure of her wedding when the bridegroom did not come, twenty years before. Her objective is to provide a male companion and eventually husband to her adopted daughter, Estella.But one night on the moor Pip is "accosted" by an prison escapee of some kind who asks for food and the boy of six or seven, maybe eight provides in the night, including a file for him to get rid of his manacles. He will turn up as his benefactor.Luck, luck and luck. But then systematically Dickens shatters every single opportunity and hope on the side of the boy, Pip, who ends up in prison for unpaid debts, on the side of his benefactor, Abel, who will die in prison holding Pip's hand after his final arrest, on the side of Miss Havisham who will achieve none of her plans, on the side of Estella who will marry the rich and noble young man, will be brutalized and will end up alone in Miss Havisham's house, on the side of Biddy who will marry Joe the Blacksmith when Pip finally realizes she had been his closest ever friend, and even on the side of Estella who will refuse to requite Pip's love, though she will accept to make him her platonic companion in Miss Havisham's.redecorated house.That cruelty is so extreme that we just wonder if Dickens then is not going through a phase of complete social rejection, rejection of the upper classes, rejection of the lower classes, rejection of justice, rejection of any discourse about the possible improvement of individuals and society. Absolute resignation and pessimistic submission to a totally inhumane world that only has some small pockets of satisfaction, but never for yourself, always for some rare others. He did not even salvage the exiled criminal who became Pip's benefactor, as Victor Hugo did in Les Misérables, and makes him die a solitary, nearly solitary death in prison with the sole company of the young man he tried and failed to help, and unaware of his daughter's fate, which does not seem to be particularly brilliant anyway, since she is Estella, daughter of a female assassin and a male exiled criminal condemned to absolute reclusion for life.I just wonder if here Dickens does not reach Zola's pessimism who considered that anyone born in a criminal circle could only be that and drag everyone around him down into that criminal circle. No salvation for those who are badly born. The belief in an elected people turned into a savage and wild social Darwinism: some have been elected to be crushed and powdered by life as slowly as possible for them to regret ever being born but absolutely unable to shorten the ordeal.Sad and sad and sad.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

pekinman I have always enjoyed the old David Lean version in spite of the fact that it is so abridged and has a "Hollywood" happy ending. This version of 'Great Expectations' knocked me back by its fidelity to the original book... I had not expected to see it filmed with the bittersweet and ambiguous ending that is employed here with such a powerful effect.There is nothing in the nature of the usual cinematic mawkishness that so often accompanies adaptations of Dickens books to film. Nothing exaggerated, nothing glossed over. The characters are flesh and blood and their emotions are vividly characterized by a wonderful cast of performers.Ioan Gruffudd, Justine Waddell and Charlotte Rampling are fabulous as Pip, Estella and Miss Havisham. Rampling's Havisham is terrifying in her quiet way, like the ghost of a dead princess haunting her huge Satis House. Waddell's Estella is the truly tragic figure, as in the book. She has been prevented from developing the "loving mechanism" found in most human beings. Waddell's conveyance of this dilemma is profoundly moving. Gruffudd's highly responsive Pip is also deeply felt. Their younger counterparts, played by two wonderful young actors, Gabriel Thompson and Gemma Gregory, possess uncanny resemblances to Gruffudd and Waddell. One of the best transitions in time, as far as character development, I've ever seen. The photography is utterly beautiful, the music haunting and memorable in its stark simplicity. It is rare that I notice the editing but this film is so perfectly put together that I took clear notice of the artistry at work in that department.For Dickens addicts this film is a must for your collection; for lovers of great cinema I would say the same thing. This version of 'Great Expectations' SHOULD have been a major film release in the theaters. Even if it had been more than the four hours it takes in the TV adaption, longer even, I think it would have had a greater following than it enjoys. Julian Jerrold's 'Great Expectations' joins the short list of the finest productions out of Masterpiece Theatre's stables, along with 'I Claudius', 'The Jewel in the Crown' and 'Brideshead Revisited.'See it!

flyboy-7 Director Julian Jarrold does a truly excellent job of bringing Charles Dickens' finest novel to the screen. Filled with haunting camera angles, a magnificent score by Peter Salem, and superb acting by Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd and Justine Waddall, this version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS is defintly worth multiple viewings!!