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The Buccaneers [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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Sheer bliss
Review date: 2008-06-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you like period drama this represents 5 hours of sheer bliss. In my book its up there with the best including "Brideshead Revisited" and "Dance to the Music of Time". Fine acting, superb locations,( including Castle Howard) and highest production values. I had to watch it on my computer though. If it was made by the BBC with our licence money how come its only available as a Region 1 DVD?

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Reviews


Beautiful, but why not available in the UK?
Review date: 2007-09-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

I saw this film on an old VHS tape which I borrowed from a library and have been trying to get it ever since. Tired of waiting for the BBC to release it as a Region 2 DVD, I bought it from amazon.com ... and it will not play on my machine. Just a word of warning then for all those who have a similar idea - it is not a multiregion edition and you will need a new player.
The film itself is absolutely beautiful. Why don't the BBC release it in the UK I do not know.

When is an adaptation a travesty?
Review date: 2007-09-01 Rating: 6 out of 10

This is a visually ravishing, well-paced and faultlessly acted production. The American girls are every bit as beautiful, charming and captivating as they ought to be. The costumes are gorgeous, the country houses are sumptuous, the landscapes are delightful. There are enough stars in the cast to form a veritable constellation, and every one of them gives a fine performance, most notably perhaps in the supporting roles - Sian Phillips, Rosemary Leach, the late and deeply lamented Dinsdale Landen, Cherie Lunghi, Greg Wise, the magnificent Jenny Agutter and the incomparable Michael Kitchen, to name only those that spring immediately to mind. Altogether a most enjoyable production.
But Edith Wharton would have turned in her grave. It is true that she died before completing the Buccaneers, and that she merely sketched out a conclusion, which (given the revisions her other work underwent before publication) might or might not have been used, had she lived. But anyone familiar with her other work would know that there could be no 'happy ending'. Wharton was concerned to explore the human capacity for heroic self-sacrifice and for stoical acceptance of Life's disappointments and blows (eg. The Children, Age of Innocence). It would have been on Laura Testvalley's deliberate abandonment of her one chance of happiness, in order to help the lovers elope, that Wharton would have focussed. There would have been nothing so grossly sensational (or convenient) as Adina's suicide, the Duke was not homosexual (this is explicitly made clear in the original fragment), and as for Conchita's urgent need for a loan from the young Duchess, it was in fact for an embarrassing debt; indeed it is clear from Wharton's novel 'Summer' that she viewed abortion with abhorrence.
It is a pity that a production team who have obviously been at such pains and expense to ensure the accuracy of the period detail in such matters as costume, carriages, furnishings and the like, are content to treat the substance of the work and the essential views of the author in so cavalier a manner.


Amazing!!!
Review date: 2007-03-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

I first saw it in 1994 (I was 12). When it was first broadcast on the BBC. I automatically fell in love with it. I was devastated not to be able to buy it on VHS. I did get hold of a copy of the booklet to accompany the series. Which the BBC now say they never did? Strange...
So I bought and read the book. Which in some places quite different. Extra characters and Trevenick is Tintagel (which is a true place in Cornwall with castle ruins). So some changes have been made to put the story on the TV. I don't know why they felt they had to make the changes but it hasn't ruined it.
I just wish it was longer than 288 minutes. But it's brilliant.
In about 1998 I suppose I was in Woolworths and accidentally came across a copy of the series on double VHS. I couldn't believe my luck.
I played it so much in the first year that I couldn't play the second tape and the first is a bit dodgy as the tape is damaged through over playing it.
I have spent the last 2 years trying to get hold of another VHS copy. Until recently the only ones I have found are over [...]! So I have waited and two days ago I purchased one on ebay for £10. Excellent!
I'm going to buy a copy on DVD but I am very disappointed that they only do it on Region 1. It's a BBC production and they only do it on DVD for USA and Canada. I'm going to buy a copy anyway and probably end up buying a multiregion DVD player I love it that much and it's got extras as well.

I really felt for all the characters in "The Buccaneers". If you have ever been in love with anyone your heart will go out to all the main characters.

After you have seen this you will be hooked on Edith Wharton forever. The Age of Innocence is wonderful with Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis. Also The House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson.

Enjoy!

My favourite ever period drama!
Review date: 2006-05-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

This adaptation is fantastic! I have loved it since I was a girl and saw the first episode on BBC1. I spent years obtaining the video (at much cost!) and am delighted it is FINALLY available on DVD. Recommended to all period drama enthusiasts. Tragic but brilliant and heart-warming with an amazing soundtrack - if only I could get the sheet music!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Carla Gugino
Rya Kihlstedt
Mira Sorvino
Alison Elliott
Mark Tandy

Creators:
Carla Gugino (Primary Contributor)
Alison Elliott (Primary Contributor)
Philip Saville (Producer)
Nigel Taylor (Producer)
Phillippa Giles (Producer)
Rebecca Eaton (Producer)
Rosalind Wolfes (Producer)
Edith Wharton (Writer)
Maggie Wadey (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
EAN: 0794051249425
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2006-04-18
Universal product code (UPC): 794051249425
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 302 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1995-10-08
Language: English (Original Language)

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