Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
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Movie Reviews of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
Movie Review: Excellent Mini-Series That Encompasses Scott's Novel In It's Entirety. Worth Owning.
Summary: 5 Stars
Like Kenneth Branagh's epic, 4-hour "William Shakespeare's Hamlet," this 4/1/2 hour mini-series from the BBC (capializing on their success of two years previous with a lavish version of Jane Austen's classic romance "Pride & Prejudice"; see my review on it) renders the complete novel...and does it very well. Steven Waddington (as Ivanhoe) heads a strong supporting cast that includes Nick Brimble ("Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves") as the villainous Front-De-Bouef, Ronald Pickup ("Fortunes Of War"; see my review on it) as Prince John's scheming counsellor Waldemar Fitzurse, Cirian Hinds ("The Mayor Of Castorbridge," "The Phantom Of The Opera"; see my review on it) as the lecherous Brian De Bois-Guilbert, James Cosmo ("The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe"; see my review on it) as Cedric the Saxon and horror screen legend Christopher Lee (best known for the 1958 film "The Horror Of Dracula"; his many screen credits include the evil Rochefort in "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers" and the title role in the James Bond thriller "The Man With The Golden Gun"), making his first appearance for the BBC in 50 years (next year, it will be 60), as the menacing Grand Master, Lucas DeBeaumenoir. Very strong cast.
Of all these actors, I think Christopher Lee's performance was the best. He is simply well-cast as a villain (though he also makes a very credible good guy). It is interesting to note that, like Basil Rathbone, he also played the greatest fictional detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes, of 221B Baker Street. I haven't seen him in the role, but he must have done a good job.
There have been several other film versions of this story, notably the 1952 costume drama starring Robert Taylor, Joan Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor and a 1982 made-for-TV movie starring Anthony Andrews, Olivia Hussey (best known for her performance in Franco Zefferelli's classic version of William Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet"; see my review on it) and James Mason (also an excellent screen villain; see Hitchcock's "North By Northwest" and Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea"). While they are excellent, within their own scope, this mini-series surpasses them all. Read the novel before diving into this entertaining movie. Right up there with the BBC's "Pride & Prejudice" and HBO's "Elizabeth I" (see my reviews on both these excellent TV movies). This mini-series is Not Rated.
Movie Review: Best version of Ivanhoe, so far.
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. For the most part it follows Sir Walter Scott's classic novel "Ivanhoe". Of course the book is always better. But this movie has so much more than the other movies. The costumes are awesome. And best yet, the actors look like the people you would have met at that time period... not hollywood movie stars or models. Some people may say that the actors did not act well, but it its better to see a movie were the actors are actually in the role of the characters at that time.
The stories and characters were awesome. Very touching, very realistic. You see the treachery, feel the kindness, the good, the bad, and also see how evil and twisted power and religion can be. All the hypocracy of religion and how it's twisted to suit those in power is in the movie. The inquisition demonstrated how the Roman Catholic (Christians) think and how they persecuted others and used their power to twist words and create fear. All the human elements are there in this movie, all the human sins, the weaknesses and the goodnesses too.
Appearances by Robin of Locksley (Robin Hood) and his merry men followed the story and legend of that time. The jousting is not as spectacular as other movies... but if you want to see jousting... watch a Knight's tale (LOL). The jousting in this Ivanhoe movie is more realistic than the other Ivanhoe movies. The melee on the second day of the tournement was something that the other movies didnt have. Well done, and the appearance of the disguised Black Knight.
Storming castle Torquelstone could have been done much better. With more action and more archery, and seige warfare. But if you want that... Watch Lord of the Rings! Don't compare movies.
The Champion fight at the end was awesome and very believable.
This version of Ivanhoe, for the most part, tried to stay with the classic novel. Kudos and well done on that. The picture quality could have been enhanced when they converted the VHS to DVD. Parts of the DVD is not made for the High Definition TVs we have today.
Movie Review: A SLIGHT CORRECTION IN THE PRODUCT'S INFORMATION
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the DVD recently and I absolutely loved it! The storyline is very consistent with Walter Scott famous novel and the actors are extremely good. I loved the subplot with Ivanhoe and Rebecca, never fully explored before in another movies or TV series but very clearly delineated in the book , the insinuation that perhaps Ivanhoe would prefer marrying Rebecca instead of his childhood girlfriend Rowena, but dismissed by Rebecca because she, very wisely understood that a marriage between a Christian and a Jewess in the period would be misunderstood by his father and her father also (and by society). The white lie she tells Rowena that she is entering a convent and becoming christian, and in the end she is going to Spain (then a country half-Muslim, half-Christian, where the Muslims invited the Jews to live freely)with her father seemed the best solution to an impossible love (this scene does not appear in the book, perhaps the script writers inserted it for closure in the story of Rebecca). I loved the TV series very much but there is a slight correction I would like to rectify. The DVD is presented as having closed-captions in english but it is not true. My TV has closed-captions capabilities and I have many DVDs with closed-captions and Ivanhoe does not have them! So if you are buying this TV series be aware of this misinformation. The sound is good, the actors speak very well, their pronounciation is very good and if you have patience you will understand all the dialogues, but it is a misinformation that must be corrected. NO CLOSED-CAPTIONS in this DVD!Movie Review: Excellent miniseries
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never read Sir Walter Scott's book so I cannot speak to the faithfulness of this adaptation to his work. I can say that this is a compelling, well-acted, and relatively historically faithful miniseries. All of the characters have depth and their fates are of interest to the viewer. This includes the tertiary characters and the villians.
The basic story is about Lord Ivanhoe, who is wrongly accused of betraying the king, and what happens to him and those close to him as he struggles to prove his innocence of the crime he's accused of. His actions and fate are linked to those of his father, his childhood sweetheart, his servants, King Richard, and a Jewish father and daughter.
The story is complex and moves along at a good pace. It is also gritty and violent at times so it's not for those who are keen on a highly polished knight epic with theatrical acting and lofty drama (a la the knight movies of the 50's). The suffering the characters have to endure is almost painful to watch at times. Perhaps this means it all feels a little too real but that is part of the essence of good drama.
Movie Review: Best script, best casting I have ever seen of Ivanhoe
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my all time favorite production of Ivanhoe. In this version, you do not encounter stick figures masquerading as characters. Ivanhoe is carefully delineated as is Cedric, the swineherd and for once the fool was not Ivanhoe's Squire! the usual collective "bad guys" of Hollywood productions gives way to three distinct personalities, and one of them has it in for Ivanhoe. Hollywood deserves to have their nose rubbed in their productions of previous Ivanhoes, like a naughty puppy. You can even understand the whys and wherefores of their motivation. It looks remarkably like a cast that is performing "De Bracy of the Knights Templar", or "Fool from Ivanhoe", or "Rebbecca and Ivanhoe", so clearly are they not just spear carriers in yet another tedious version of Ivanhoe. Glorious! The star of this production is the script, which is the most faithful to Sir Walter Scott's novel I have yet seen. You can see it all on screen.
If you have to do a report on Ivanhoe, as yet another novel for English Lit, you could do far worse than watch this film. Read the book after the film, and write a great report.