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Great Expectations [DVD] [1998]
enlarge	Director: Alfonso Cuarón Actors: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£12.99~~ Buy New: £1.97 as of 25/11/2009 10:35 GMT details You Save: £11.02 (85%) New (21) Used (7) from £1.97 Seller: direct_offers_uk Rating: 11 reviews Sales Rank: 8305 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 107 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5039036008112 ASIN: B00005UWN4 Theatrical Release Date: January 30, 1998 Release Date: February 4, 2002 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review The key ingredient in this modern-day version of Charles Dickens's classic is director Alfonso Cuarón, who made the glowing, estimable iA Little Princess/i. If you saw that (and you should), understand that iExpectations/i has those ingredients (great sense of time, place, and timing) but adds modern music and sex appeal; the latter personified by the long-legged Gwyneth Paltrow. Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke as an adult, Jeremy James Kissner at age 10) is the new version of Dickens's Pip. He's a child wise beyond his years, befriending an escaped convict (Robert De Niro) in the warm waters of Florida's Gulf Coast. Finn is also the plaything for Estella (Paltrow as an adult, Raquel Beaudene at age 10), the niece of the coast's richest and most eccentric lady, Ms. Dinsmoor (a fun and flamboyant Anne Bancroft). The prudish Estella likes Finn (catch the best first kiss scene in many a moon) but has been brought up to disdain men; she'll break hearts. As the object of Finn's desires, Estella unfortunately is a one-dimensional character, yet what a dimension! Clad in Donna Karan dresses and her long, sun-kissed hair, Paltrow is luminous. She and Hawke make a very sexy couple. Mitch Glazer's script does better by Finn. He's a blue-collar worker with a gift for drawing (artwork by Francesco Clemente). Following his Uncle Joe's (Chris Cooper) honest ways, Finn grows up as a fisherman, thoughts of Estella and art drifting away in the hard work. When a mysterious benefactor allows him to follow his dream, Finn finds himself in New York, preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime art exhibit--and in the arms of the engaged Estella. Filled with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's golden-drenched light, the film has an irresistible, wildly romantic look. Dinsmoor's place is certainly gothic, Estella and Finn's longing encounters glamorous. Cuarón uses an MTV-friendly soundtrack with a confident touch. Songs by Tori Amos and the band Pulp--along with Patrick Doyle's silky score--create passionate scenes. It all ends far too swiftly with a seemingly tacked-on ending (reflecting the book, as it happens) but the film is splendid storytelling. It's a stylish, sweet valentine. i--Doug Thomas/i

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 11 1 2 3 Next » Great movie, great compositions, great expectations realised April 6, 2002 13 out of 16 found this review helpful I watched this film, not expecting much but came out with a great sense of passion. This heart-rendering tale is told beautifully and superbly acted by an all-star cast. Not to mention the soundtrack which I have to say blew me away and reduced me to tears! The dvd has great visuals and is a real must for any movie lover. Moody symbolic update of the Dickens classic August 13, 2001 Martin Haworth (UK) 12 out of 17 found this review helpful A brilliant rerun of the original story which stands alone as a superb manifestation of a classic in it's own right. Paltrow is simmering throughout, whilst Hawke has just the right balance of a maturing young man. Superb cameo+ roles for Bancroft and De Niro top off the excellent casting. The finish, whether it is as per the book or not (I can't remember and indeed it is irrelevant to this masterpiece), is just right.pBrilliant and evocative scenery does justice to the plot and makes the whole thing a brooding yet hugely entertaining couple of hours, transforming a classic in the right way February 16, 2007 Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane (Fife, Scotland) 6 out of 8 found this review helpful 'Great Expectations' is a wonderful novel, and the 1946 David Lean film is excellent and justly admired. This fairly recent adaptation attempts and achieves the very difficult task of providing something true to the spirit of these but significantly different from the letter. It is watchable from start to finish, beautifully cast, wonderfully filmed and full of memorable moments. It succeeds in working in its own right, and while it is never difficult to relate any scene to its equivalent in the book or the 1946 film, you don't want to do that ; it exists in its own right and is excellent. pure mastery May 27, 2000 ryan2000@banbridge2000.club24.co.uk (NORTHERN IRELAND) 8 out of 21 found this review helpful I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK BUT THIS FILM HAS CREATED A CATALYST TO READ IT. THE FILM WAS PURE GENIUS WITH THE GEORGOUS PALTROW WHOSE FANTASTIC PROTRAYAL OF ESTELLA REALLY MAKES THE FILM REALLY EXCITING.I WAS SKEPITCAL BEFORE RENTING IT BUT IT IS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS I HAVE EVER SEEN. BUY IT NOW AND ENJOY DICKENS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. A successful adaption October 1, 2008 Dr. Vernon M. Hewitt (Bristol, UK.) I am not usually one for adaptions. Something invariably gets lost, and the result is either too clever, too irrelevant, or too wooden, as if an attempt to re-image a classic requires it to be either ignored, or followed too slavishly. I still wince, for example, over Toya Wilcox in The Tempest, and Jarman's Edward II. Here, however, the adaption of Dicken's gothic rags to riches story is lovingly, almost whimisically transported to the Gulf of Mexico and the 1980s. Assisted by a deft use of the camera, and a cast that includes Bancroft, Hawke, DeNiro and Paltrow, this is a beautiful film. The children who play their adult counterparts are also brilliant, and although there are some odd moments - the sound track IS a little suspect - the essence of Dickens is perfectly rendered here. DeNiro IS a modern Magwitch, the final scene with him (held, dying by Hawke) perfectly sublimates the death of Magwitch in the Thames, secure in the knowledge that Pip (Finn) is now a gentleman. The subplot with Stella as Magwitch's daughter has been dropped, but Bancroft as Miss Haversham is hammy and operatic, perfect - the crumbling out door wedding feast beautifully nuanced, the ruined house and garden excellently executed. Hawke is perfect here, perhaps too vulnerable, sometimes perhaps too clueless. But what some reviewers here saw as wooden is more a desire, I think, to show the relationship between Stella and Finn as allegorical: it isn't real, like the landscape, the kent marshes morphed into brilliant tropical seascapes and the cries of gulls, this is not a love story, its a story of expectation, of illusion, of disappoinment and stocism. I defy any critic to compare the scene where DeNiro reveals himself to Hawke in the studio apartment with the original, the young Guiness as a lawyer, and not be impressed. And as for what Dicken's would have thought - we will never know. He was a reformer and a bit of a modern - I think he would have been touched. Showing reviews 1-5 of 11 1 2 3 Next »

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