Northanger Abbey (BBC)
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Movie Reviews of Northanger Abbey (BBC)
Movie Review: A Classically Bad Movie
Summary: 1 Stars
This movie is not just a bad movie, it ranks in the highest echelons of classically bad movies. It finds itself in the rarified company of films like _Plan 9 from Outerspace_ and _Surf Nazis Must Die_. It differs from the aforementioned only in that it does not rise to the level of 'so bad its good'. Consequently, it is not even worthy to be watched in order to laugh at its abismal rendering.
I know what you are thinking, you are thinking 'I am a Jane Austen aficionado(a) and I must have this film to complete my collection. I am sure that the true fan like myself will appreciate the film more than whoever wrote this review'. I promise you that is not the case. The true fan, the fan of either Austen books or the book-based films, will find this movie ugly and tedious. There is about five minutes of Austen wit spread throughout the film, the rest is full of hackneyed acting, preposterous directing and the most ear-jaring, fingers-on-chalkboard, that-seventies-show sound track I have ever heard. (Nice saxophone!)
Oscar Wilde said that 'all bad poetry is sincere'. If the same is true for film, then no one will ever question this movies sincerity!
This movie blows. It is the first DVD that I have watched and then promptly thrown away. Don't watch it! Read the book or watch Collin Firth play Mr. Darcy one more time. You will be glad you did.
Movie Review: Poorly created
Summary: 1 Stars
First off, I would like to say that this film might be mildly entertaining for someone who has never read the book, Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen. However, having read the book, I find this BBC adaptation a poor substitute. The film cuts out so much of the plot and action. The action it does not cut out, it changes or summarizes. For the BBC to have done the book justice would have required at least 200 minutes. Instead,the film is compacted into about 90 minutes.
In fact, I enjoyed the Wishbone children's television 30 minute edition more than this one. The emphasis of this BBC film seemed to be into making General Tilney a villain with horrible habits rather than merely a villain in Catherine's eyes. Furthermore, the film makes Catherine too gothic in my opinion. The music and seens all appear too hastily create, with poor action and an extremely modern-gothic setting.
Futhermore, many of the secondary characters are hardly even developed. While I generally enjoy the BBC versions of Charles Dickens' and Jane Austen's works, this BBC work is flawed. Unlike many BBC productions, (ex: Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Emma)I would not want to show this to a class of students for fear of them coming away with the wrong themes and motifs.
Movie Review: Worst Austen adaptaion so far
Summary: 1 Stars
I watch a lot of the Regency era movies to get costume ideas and have seen and own most of them, but had never seen this movie. Before I bought it I rented it from BB and am so glad I did, because I totally can't use it. If I hadn't seen that it was a BBC production,I would have thought it was one of those awful Hollywood numbers. The costumes and jewelry are totally off...okay, I realize sometimes the directors take liberties, but these clothes don't belong in any clothing era I know of LOL! The use of heavy makeup on even the younger girls, wrong use of accessories, and the hair styles were down right embarassing....I couldn't watch the whole thing and I usually watch Jane Austen over and over....
Another reviewer criticized the musical score, and I must say,that didn't bother me as much because it IS a movie. I didn't watch the whole thing so I don't know if inappropriate instruments were shown, or just heard...
The best movie I have seen recently as far as authenticity is BRIGHT STAR about the last years of John Keats's life...
Movie Review: Northanger Abbey video review
Summary: 1 Stars
This is one of the weirdest video adapatations of a novel I've ever seen. The novel was an early work by Jane Austen (published posthumously) so it's not as well crafted as later works. Despite the novel's weaknesses, however, even this video production does not do it justice. The heroine looks like she's on heroin, Maj. Tinley (played by the same guy who played the older doctor in "All Creatures Great and Small") is positively creepy, his son, Henry Tilney, smirks instead of smiles, the Thorpe sister is just plain ugly (I should say she's just plain plain) and the Tilney sister is a stiff. I can't remember whether other videos of this novel were available and this is the one I chose or whether there was no other choice. The only value the video had for me was it helped establish who the characters were and their relationships--before I read the book. As they say, "the book was better," and in this case, the old saying couldn't be more true.Movie Review: Could have been worse, but not much
Summary: 1 Stars
*warning* spoilers
What an awful adaptation. The worst part was the music. Saxophone muzak and synthesizers playing in a story set in the early 1800's?????? The only character that didn't bore me to sleep was Robert Hardy's General Tilney. I had to fight to keep my eyes open on this one, and I love Jane Austen movies usually. I didn't even rent it, I borrowed it from the library. They should have paid me to take it. I don't quite understand how Catherine and Henry managed a passionate kiss at the end when throughout the movie they had no chemistry or indication whatsoever that they cared for one another. Isabella and her brother were way overdone; it was no secret to me immediately that she and her brother were the "bad guys" and part of the excitement of Jane Austen movies is the discovery that who you think is good, isn't. This is probably on my list of the ten worst movies I've seen.