Great Expectations (1999)

 Mr. Dickens' Divorce Tells in this Story.

The story focuses upon a young man, who desires a young woman, who is pretty but immature, and makes a fool of him. The attractive, but deceitful charm of the pretty young woman leaves the young man empty, and so you.

The 1981-version has a better first episode; but then drags painfully. Both versions have some strange scenes.

The 1947-version is much better, with John Mills, father of Haley Mills.

Mr. Dickens wrote the story "Great Expectations" in 1861, after leaving his wife. Mr. Dickens married his wife Catherine in 1836. They were together 21-years; during which he wrote his brilliant novels: "Oliver Twist"-1839, "A Christmas Carol"-1843, and "David Copperfield"-1850. Mr. Dickens left his wife in 1858.

Unlike "Great Expectations", Mr. Dickens's great novels have a high-minded thought; balance with moments of cheer, triumph for the main character, adventure, and interesting characters. A novel is not a classic just because it is: old, assigned in English class, and written by the writer of other novels indeed brilliant. "Great Expectations" has portions which show Mr. Dickens's talent; however overall it lacks the charm and elements that make his other stories enjoyable, true, classics.

Walt Disney, usually brilliant, made the poor decision to go from one feature length animation film at a time, directly, to working on three such films at a time, over-extending and nearly bankrupting the company, as World War II closed Europe to Disney. The Disneys saved the studio, only, by becoming a public corporation, giving up total family control and ownership. Mr. Disney's poor decision followed the tragic death of his beloved mother, caused by a leaking gas heater, that had supposedly been repaired by a Disney studio mechanic the day before. Mr. Disney hurried to use work as a distraction from his grief. (This is also likely the reason Bambi's mother is killed.) Mr. Disney eventually bounced back. Divorce is also traumatic, even if for the better. I do not judge Mr. Dickens's divorce. I do say Mr. Dickens's divorce from the mother of his ten children affected his writing, and for the worse, telling in the empty "Great Expectations".
April 5, 2007

 The Production is Great......But dont Buy this DVD
Even though I have never read the book I found this Production very good.
I would recommend this to any one who is a Dickens Fan but do youself a favour and dont buy this DVD release.
As a British review on Amazon uk site indicated this DVD looks as if it was copied straight off the TV and also the commentary in the beginning and end of the movie telling us about the Great Expectations novel made the DVD worse.
Masterpiece Theatre has spoiled this Great BBC Production of Dickens Great Expectations with it's Commentary (even though they think they are being helpful- but are not) and poor DVD.
Four Stars for the Production itself but giving this Two stars because of the DVD quaility.
Wait until BBC Release a DVD of the Production and the DVD quaility will be much, much better.
I will be selling this DVD and wait until BBC release the DVD in Australia. April 5, 2007

 bad DVD production
The video quality of this fine adaptation is terrible. I've been waiting years for a DVD release only to be dissapointed by the poor video transfer to DVD. March 2, 2007

 Excellent film adaptation
Charles Dickens triumphs once more. This excellent film adaptation of the masterpiece novel manages to be somewhat dark, gritty, and mysterious, and still maintain quirky memorable characters and a tangled web of plots in the typical Dickens way. Justine Waddell's performance as the icy Estella (a very different role from her warm character in "Wives and Daughters") is perfect, complimented by Ioan Gruffud's dramatic display as the hero of story, Pip. The movie is fairly true to the book, and likewise manages to be ambiguous, but satisfying. Fans of Dickens work will not want to miss this instant classic, and anyone looking for a good drama with mystery and character study will not be disappointed. January 23, 2007

 Great Expectations Box Set
This movie follows the book pretty well. My 8th grade students enjoyed it. We watched the movie before we read the book since sometimes the book can be hard to follow with the English flavoring in the language and the many characters. I would reccommend this movie. January 10, 2007

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