Customer Reviews
Transcending the dreadful dvd mastering - By: Mcfabb's Emporium, 20 Aug 2008 
This edition is technicallly not great. The DVD mastering is quite awful & is very grainy indeed. However....
This is so good. Having admired David Lean's rather compressed version of Dickens' superb novel for many years & having endured the complete annihilation of the said novel in the abhorrent farrago starring Gwyneth Paltrow & 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 & 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 & 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 & engaging manner, with evident intelligence & 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. Well done BBC!!!
Your Tags: charles dickens, drama, costume drama, english literature, television, ioan gruffudd, charlotte rampling, bbc, justine waddell
The Production is Good......But dont Buy this DVD - By: vessie@oz, 14 Sep 2007 
Even though I have never read the book I found this Production very good.
I would recommend this to any one who is a Dickens Fan but do youself a favour & dont buy this DVD release.
As a British review on Amazon uk site indicated this DVD looks as if it was copied straight off the TV & also the commentary in the beginning & end of the movie telling us about the Great Expectations novel made the DVD worse.
Masterpiece Theatre has spoiled this Great BBC Production of Dickens Great Expectations with it's Commentary (even though they think they are being helpful- but are not) & poor DVD.
Four Stars for the Production itself but giving this Two stars because of the DVD quaility.
Wait until BBC Release a DVD of the Production & the DVD quaility will be much, much better.
As for me copy I will be selling this DVD.
great as i expected - By: J. A. Cadman, 27 Aug 2007 this is one of the better tv adaptations of dickens work-the acting is spot on,there is no major omissions/alterations from the original story & strangely,the scenery/locations are how i imagined them to be when i read the novel,dickens originallly wrote two endings to great expectations & i liked the way this production only hinted to rather than embraced one over the other-why has the bbc not released this in britain,where it was based & written by the best of british authors?
Great Dramatisation, Awful DVD - By: Mr. R. Lamb, 02 Dec 2005 The official American DVD is a direct rip from American TV complete with cheesy intros & annoying pop-ups on screen informing me that if i wish i can view it in widescreen (which is not available on this 4:3 DVD). There is even a nice advert for the video at the end of each part. The picture quality isn't great either; a little grainy. It looks like a DVD that somebody recorded off the telly, & if I'd done that i would have saved £20... At least the British broadcast didn't have annoying on-screen messages & unnescesary introductions.
Take my advice & wait for the BBC to release a DVD of it - It's on the Dickens boxset, so it can't be far off...
The content, however, is superb. This is one of the best dramatisations of a dickens novel I've seen for a while, & despite the poor disc it was nice to see it again after its TV showing.
The best Great Expectation movie i've seen - By: , 07 Oct 2004 
The film is wonderful!The film represent exactly the world of Charles Dickens including the characters & the places. Although it is the best movie, i think it has some "mistakes".
I have already read the novel twice & i saw that in two important scenes in the movie, when Estella & Pip seperate, & at the end of the film when Pip meets Estella again, i think that the film should represent more strictly the strory of Dickens. Everyone who has read the book will understand! However it is a great film & it is worth to buy & see it!
