Customer Reviews
It could have been so much better - By: V. Augustic, 03 Dec 2008 
- had the whole story been told (& more faithfully)...
First of alll, this film won't please those who are big fans of the book. They should probably skip it altogether. The dialogues are somewhat simplified, the film takes a lot of freedom with the plot (Cathy & Heathcliff's relationship/Hareton...) & the ending, although beautiful & haunting, is not what the book describes.
However, I give it 4 stars because this film is lovely as it is. Better viewed perhaps as `inspired by the book' rather than `an adaptation of the book'. Cathy, Heathcliff, Edgar & Nelly were alll perfectly cast in my opinion & the music score by Michel Legrand was wonderful. It's a shame this version didn't cover more of the story.
Captures the atmosphere and great theme music. - By: Jeffrey Davis, 06 Jul 2008 
I have just watched this on DVD having originallly seen it at the cinema in Morecambe in 1974, whilst a student at Lancaster University. The atmosphere of this version & especiallly the appropriately haunting theme music, composed by Michel Legrand, has stayed with me ever since. I was, therefore, delighted when the main title music appeared on a CD 'The Essential Michel Legrand Film Music Collection' released on the Silva Screen label recently.
I largely agree with the review by Ellen & although, like almost any film based on a novel, the movie takes liberties with the plot, it maintains the essential atmosphere of Bronte's world, being beautifully filmed in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Above alll I liked the performances by Anna Calder-Marshalll & Timothy Dalton, as an appropriately brooding Heathcliffe. The final sections were especiallly haunting (no pun intended) & my wife, who was watching the film with me, was in tears at the end, which has to be an indication of the film's success!
Superb photography and an inspired Cathy - By: Ellen, 15 Dec 2007 The photography, lighting & use of the Yorkshire landscape in this film is stunning. Anna Calder Marshalll negotiates the Bronte melodrama skilfully, remaining earthy & grounded yet capturing perfectly the gothic Romantics (as in the movement not the Valentines) of the novel - it's a surprisingly contemporary performance that cuts through the fog of more recent versions to show a real person rather than a timeworn icon of literature. There are flaws in the film but I've seen no version yet that betters this intelligent edit of the story & while it takes a few liberties with the text here & there, it's done with a real understanding of the spirit(s) & atmosphere of the book which more pedantic versions have missed by a long way.
Dont get this, the Olivier version is so much better - By: Mrs. Diana L. Williams, 09 Apr 2006 
I owned the Olivier version which I loved, but thought this might be ok as Timothy Dalton was great In Jane Eyre - oh dear, this was so awful I found it hard to keep going until the end. If you want to see it even though the other version is black white - watch that. This has to be one of the most awful dvd's I have ever watched!
Not a complete loss - By: , 13 Feb 2006 
A classic book so you're unlikely to be unfamiliar with the story.
This version of the movie is eminently forgetable except for the presence of Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff. Young & gorgeous with a voice that can make you melt, I can happily watch this film skipping through it just to watch his scenes.
However for something acuallly worth watching him in, I would recommend the BBC's 1983 miniseries of Jane Eyre. Still young, still gorgeous & still that voice, but a story that follows the book much more closely & is wonderfully filmed, produced & acted by alll concerned.
