A great cast (as usual with BBC productions) also includes Bernard Hill as Abel Magwitch, Clive Russell and Lesley Sharp (as Mr and Mrs Joe Gargery) and David Horovitch as Matthew Pocket.
It is a Netherlands release DVD, and has no English subtitles (Dutch or no subtitles are the only options), the audio is in the original English of course. The menus are in English, but there isn't much in the way of extras, just scene selection, but with 200 minutes of drama on a single disc, there probably isn't room for much more. The presentation is in 4:3 full screen format.
Our Price: £11.00 (subject to change)
Editorial
Product Description
The BBC's 1999 production of Dickens' 'Great Expectations' directed by Julian Jarrold, and starring Ioan Gruffudd as Pip with Justine Waddell as Estella and Charlotte Rampling in the role of Miss Haversham.
Very grainy mastering but......the content wins!
Review date: 2008-08-20 Rating: 8 out of 10
Technical flaws aside owing to the very grainy resolution, this is Great Expectations as it ought to be... arresting and deeply evocative.This is very,very good. Having admired David Lean's rather compressed version of Dickens' superb novel for many years and having endured the complete annihilation of the said novel in the abhorrent farrago starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke, it is an absolute joy to witness the sheer quality of realisation in this production. It vastly outclasses the other productions on every level although the Lean has great nostalgic charm and appeal. Relatively faithful to the novel, this is profoundly engaging. The acting is superb.Charlotte Rampling inhabits the character of Miss Havisham at a stellar level, evoking a sympathetic response to the personal tragedy that is her reality. Bernard Hill as Magwitch is clearly as noteworthy as the the two leading actors Ioan Gruffudd and Justine Waddell. All are first class.I recommend this very highly indeed as it conveys the spirit of Charles Dickens' novel in a finely observed and engaging manner, with evident intelligence and creativity.Only the snippiest of reviewers could find any minor fault with this. In my opinion, to date, this is, by a cinematic/dramatic mile, the definitive version of Dickens' Great Expectations.I have dropped this one star only because of the poor dvd mastering. As for the content? Well done BBC!!!