Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

emuir-1 The distillation of James Clavell's rich and intricate book into a six hours mini series meant that much of the detail and some minor characters had to be cut, along with at least one major thread, that of the espionage network, which was only touched upon by the exposure of one spy, and the unresolved gun running. The mini series could have used another two hours to fully develop the espionage network involving Britain, Mainland China and Russia planting sleepers, and double agents. Watering down the espionage plot resulted in the intelligence official Crosse being a one-note character. I guess we can be thankful that it was not a two hour movie! The TV version differed from the book in that Ian Dunross was a widower, rather than a happily married man, which allowed him an unnecessary affair with Casey. and it was moved forward from pre-Vietnam 1963 to the 80's, when the cold war was not quite so cold and the fear of what would happen when Hong Kong was returned to China was not quite so acute. I will admit that Deborah Raffin was well cast as the tall loud and brash American woman trying to make it in a man's world, but I could not resist the urge to fast forward her scenes. What became of Philip Chen, last seen threatening to deal with the theft of the half coin in a Chinese Way? We never saw him again. Other than the truncated storyline, my only problem was with the insipid art design. I found the bleached out look of the European homes, hotels, and any scene in which Deborah Raffin appeared very disconcerting. When a blonde woman wearing white or cream is in a room with white or cream furniture, neutral carpets and very pale green walls, with men in cream colored clothing, the whole scene has an anemic look as well as making her merge into the couch. At the first party, Casey Tcholok is described in the book as wearing a deep emerald green dress, not white silk as shown. The emerald dress would have made her stand out, which is what she was meant to do. I have watched both the VHS tape and the vastly superior DVD, and even on the low quality tape found the art design poor.The DVD was brilliantly sharp, to the point where you could see the hair dye and artificial grey streaks. Overall, the sumptuous look, other than the aforementioned, was a feat for the eyes, especially the views of Hong Kong, the race course and the beautiful gardens, and the crowded harbor life.

pekinman Recently I decided I needed to read a mindless potboiler so I picked up James Clavell's Noble House. It's not great literature but he was a good writer and knew what he was talking about with all his experience as an old Asia hand. I got through 1000+pages and then got weary of a plot that was growing more and more predictable. I hopscotched my way through the last 200 or so pages, just for the record, and to find out if my hunches about the ending were correct. They were. Then I decided to get a cheap copy of the mini-series, and I'm glad it was cheap.What I didn't realize was that this televised adaptation was a Dino de Laurentis production. What I found upon watching it was an excruciatingly long Asian version of 'Dallas' or 'Knots Landing'. The casting was pretty well done but as good as some of them were they couldn't do anything with the banal dialogue and the foreshortened story line with many characters omitted entirely. This didn't surprise me as any filmed undertaking of such a long involved novel is probably doomed from the start as far as presenting a complete version of the story.The resulting TV show was like one of those crib books we used to buy in college to get us through tests on books we hadn't read. The skeleton was there, almost, but none of the guts. Another constant irritant was the saccharin and formulaic music of Paul Chihara, which surprised me because he is a fine composer, as a rule. The location shots were repeated over and over and almost none of the glamour and glittering energy of Hong Kong was captured on film. The whole production was more like a grade school travelogue than an adult drama set in one of the most intriguing cities in the world.However, no expense was spared on the set designs, costumes and automobiles, but the rest was pure Hollywood pabulum. On paper Pierce Brosnan might have seemed a good choice for the Tai- pan, Ian Dunross. In actuality he was far too young. The character in the book was low-key, but intense. Brosnan catches that aspect of Dunross well, but the script is so limiting that he, as good an actor as he is, could do little to create a three-dimensional human being. But he looks sensational and that is what really mattered, I suppose.Deborah Raffin is very good as K.C. and she has more success in her role. Ben Masters looks the part of Linc Bartlett but is also hobbled by the script. Of the rest there are some very effective, though futile, performances by Gordon Jackson, Dudley Sutton, John Rhys-Davies and Julia Nickson. Tia Carrere's role as Venus Poon is so hacked about that she is simply left with a prop in the form of a toy poodle to haul around, in lieu of any meaningful part in the story, beyond going to bed with several old men and getting squished, presumably, in the final cataclysmic landslide that neatly kills off several of the leading players.The producers of this sprawling story have reduced it to a boy meets girl love story with an auxiliary boy meets girl love story. They've jettisoned the Tai-pan's wife and kids so that he can be a love interest for K.C. The Russian spy angle is dumped altogether.Basically, then, what we're left with are several bedroom scenes, very tepid they are too, and a big fire on a restaurant boat, a horse race and a mudslide. It is all very tedious.This mini-series was a complete waste of time.

Virginia 1948 This film is a wonderful Sunday escape. Where is the DVD? I've tried to write to Pierce Brosnan, as well as the distributors. No one answered. The locale is away from the US. The characters are fully developed. There is enough intrigue to keep the most earthy type of personality interested. The dialog is quick. Mr. Brosnan shows his penchant for a preliminary James Bond here - well admired. Sorry, but the blond lady does very little for me. She was a decoration, but hardly someone to leave the role of Tai Pan. The beauty was the lovely oriental lady. And the shark was the handsome American. Gritty, petty, and greedy. Tell me where to buy the DVD - we will be first in line!

arumbold I still remember looking forward anxiously to seeing this miniseries when it first aired -- I had considered "Noble House" James Clavell's masterpiece, even greater than "Shogun." I had come away from reading the book with the sense of knowing the characters as if they were real people, and missing them when the book was finished.In some cases, the characterizations in the miniseries hit the mark. Pierce Brosnan does an excellent job as the supremely self-confident Ian Dunross, John Rhys-Davies gives a truly inspired performance of charming villainy as Quillan Gornt, Burt Kwouk is very convincing as the compradore of the Noble House, and Gordon Jackson did a fine turn as the committed, conflicted Superintendent Armstrong. I also thought Julia Nickson Soul really heated up the screen; she was much better than a young Tia Carrere (in her pre-"Wayne's World" days).Unfortunately, I thought the American performances were weak. Deborah Raffin was OK as K.C. Tcholok, but I would have preferred it if they had stuck to the story and not had her wind up romantically involved with Ian Dunross. The weakest in my opinion, though, was Ben Masters as Linc Bartlett. While Mr. Masters may be a good actor, I didn't think he carried this role off very well. In the book, Bartlett is a cool, calculating, and yet personable man who comes across as opportunistic but respectful of Hong Kong business and cultural traditions. Clavell wrote him as a friendly, likable man who moves easily into the circles of power in the Colony but who is an unknown, unpredictable quantity to all of the vying factions. I thought that Mr. Masters overplayed the part as too cocky, too brash, and too shallow to be a likable or sympathetic figure. In the novel, I thought Bartlett was an intriguing character on a par with Dunross. In the miniseries, I generally thought he was just a jerk.That aside, while the miniseries has to trim a lot of the interesting sub-plots in the interest of time, it does a good job of remaining true to the spirit of Clavell's novel. I'd agree with the observation that you should watch the miniseries, then read the novel to see what the story was REALLY about.