Brideshead Revisited - Complete Series

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Primary Contributor : Laurence Olivier
Primary Contributor : Claire Bloom

Product Details

Director : Charles Sturridge, Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Actor : Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, Stephane Audran, Mona Washbourne, John Le Mesurier
Format : Box set, PAL
Binding : DVD
EAN : 5037115091833
Product Group : DVD
Region Code : 2
Release Date : 2005-09-19
Running Time : 663minutes
Studio : ITV DVD

ASIN : B000A2U5HG

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Customer Reviews

Don't get carried away by all this hyperbole (2008-09-15)

Goodness me, people do get their knickers in a twist about this series. Although there is plenty that is excellent about it (namely the performances) there is one crashing great problem with it and that's the screenplay which is just plain lazy to the point of excess (if that isn't some kind of oxymoron).This must have been an easy ride for John Mortimer. All he did was take the dialogue from the novel and stick it in screenplay form, voila. Don't believe me? Read a chapter of the novel, watch an episode, keep going to the end and you'll see what I mean. And any other gaps are just plugged with long tracts of voiceover which is always an indication that a writer doesn't have the creativity to do something more filmic.If you are familiar with the novel you'll know that it really isn't a high-point of Waugh's career (unsurprising given the circumstances in which it was written) which should free up an adaptor into doing something more thoughtful rather than just copying over verbatim dialogue. This is most notable in the series near the end of the film where we get Julia, Cordelia and Lord Marchmain all with expounding at length which works neither on the page nor on the screen. Let's be honest these sections are crucifyingly dull and horribly stilted.Good adaptors need to be brave and bold in the choices they make and be prepared to upset the belly-aching "purists". Mortimer was clearly terrified of them.The turgid screenplay does make the actors seem even better though. They cope brilliantly with its excesses and all bring to life some fairly uneven characters. My personal favourite is John Gielgud as Edward Ryder, a total scene-stealer. Special honours should also go to Jeremy Irons who somehow manages to make Charles Ryder seem feasible as a human being. Lord knows, neither Waugh nor Mortimer give him an iota of help in this department.Other reviewers are right about the quality of this so-called digital restoration as well. It's pretty ropey in parts, very murky looking.And as for the best TV series every? Really? Not by a long shot. If you're looking for a contemporary comparison which is probably the best-ever literary adaptation on TV then look no further than Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Read in conjunction with the novel and you'll see how TV can actually improve on an excellent novel.Brideshead is worth watching just don't get carried away with all the nonsense.

Excellent film, terrible quality of DVD (2008-09-12)

This excellent film is completely spoilt by the DVD quality! I do not know the technical reasons for this but the resolution of this film is awful. When watching it one gets an impression of watching a badly ripped DivX - terribly pixelated. I cannot believe that it was actually digitally re-mastered despite it says so on the box.

TV drama the like you will not see again (2008-06-17)

Reading of the new film due out of Brideshead this autumn, of the book Madresfield and it's influence on Waugh, and the issue over whether John Mortimer wrote this script or not, the conclusion I came to is 'who cares?'. This is one of the finest TV dramas made, and it's like we will never see again.It's 13 hours, impeccable casting and boasts a script that is second to none. Iron's laconic narration is perfect and the whole production simply outstanding.'My theme is...' well I don't want to spoil it. As a novel it's regarded as one of Waugh's lesser achievements, but as a TV production it's one of our finest.Buy it. It's vintage television. A compelling and classic drama.

The Ultimate British TV-series (2008-06-05)

I saw Brideshead Revisited for the first time on TV in the early 1980s and I remember it well for its nostalgia for what we today call old-fashioned values. After having watched all the episodes on the DVD some 25 years later, I must say that the series still manage to hold its grip on me who have always admired British cinema and the reserve of excellent British actors like Jeremy Irons and John Gielgud. I still think the series is one of the most outstanding ever produced by a British television company. For the excellent bargain of about 17 pound you can still witness the doomed relation of Charles Ryder with the Marchmain family - a human drama set in grand locations in England and Venice in the recent past. Brilliant!

There is no better adaptation ever (2008-04-21)

This is the most perfect series ever - end of story. Don't bother with the rubbish on the box today...just sit back and watch it again and again...i still find gems on my fifth viewing.

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