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Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Not faithful to the book and overacted
Although this version gets great reviews I found it seriously lacking in its faithfulness to the original Jane Austen novel. I didn't like it. There are far too many 'innovations' most especially the scenes of Darcy in his bath and worse Darcy diving into the lake and meeting Elizabeth half dressed and soaking (!). Ridiculous - and not in the original novel. In the novel Darcy and Elizabeth meet at Pemberley and the shock to both is real, but they are both fully clothed. The action is in their mutual surprise/embarrassment at meeting. Obviously the producers did not, for some reason, like the original Austen scene and thus this ludicrous innovation.
Mrs Bennett is way overacted - her voice is loud and harsh and grates for most of the movie. Her frantic and real concern over her daughters' plight should their father die first is completely lost in this bizarre over the top acting. The younger Miss Bennetts are also overdone. In the novel they are silly, mindless girls but in this movie they are wildly dashing about the place in a loud, boisterous manner. Mr Collins in the novel is a quasi-comic character but here he is depicted as a predatory, creepy character. I found his scenes to be particularity disturbing rather than comic.
Maybe the object of this production was to make Pride and Prejudice accessible to a wide audience and it seems to have succeeded in doing this.but it sadly left Jane Austen back at the starting gate. I recommend reading the novel for a fascinating look at the Regency Period and the manners and norms of that day. Sadly, this version will not do that.
Upstairs Downstairs (2010)
Seriously lacks a true sense of time and place...
I agree with the reviewers who were disappointed with the new series. It has little of the charm or true sense of time or place of the original series - who needs a monkey sitting on the dining room table? Supposed to be funny or culturally inclusive? Didn't work for me.
The new series lacks a true historical perspective - instead we are being fed a 21st century version of how things 'ought' to have been or might have been if 21st century people were alive back then. There's blood and violence - splattered blood no less -, rebellious servants, the lady of the house eating fish and chips bought by a servant - give me a break! And then, as someone else pointed out the damn music is all over the place, even when the 'rebellious' girl servant is taking off her gloves to reveal her nail polish we are fed dramatic cords . Silly...I give this a fail.
Hostile Witness (1969)
Really bad movie -
This movie makes no sense at all to me. It is incredibly badly written with a really bad plot.
The guilty party turns out to be a guy who worked quietly and faithfully for the barrister for 15 YEARS before he attempts his revenge - and it all happens 25 years after he makes his initial threat? Yeah, right. And the crime actually only comes about because the barrister's daughter just 'happened' to be hit by a hit and run driver - a person who is never in fact revealed.
As a lover of crime/mystery stories I rank this to be one of the worst I have ever seen.
Wuthering Heights (1998)
Lead Actors Too Old
The storyline sticks pretty much to the book but the lead actors are all way too old and consequently appear ridiculous in some of the scenes. Heathcliff and Cathy are supposed to be young - as young as 12 years old when they go out at night to the Lintons and peek into their house. It looks laughable to see these middle aged actors out at play in the night. The Linton "children" are equally too old - a silly squabble between two grown adults plays all wrong.
Orla Brady must have been close to 40 years old at the time she played Cathy. Daft! The actor playing Heathcliff looks equally out of place running around the moors at his age. Didn't anyone read the book before they cast the production?
The miscasting of way too old actors in the leads destroyed this production for me.