Product Details

• Actors: Lindsay Wagner, Anthony Hopkins, Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Cazenove, Stuart Wilson
• Directors: Tony Wharmby
• Writers: Barbara Taylor Bradford, Elliott Baker
• Producers: Aida Young, Robert Bradford
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: April 16, 2002
• Run Time: 187 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000639EN
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,650 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "To Be the Best" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For those who have relished the first two installments of Barbara Taylor Bradford's beloved Emma Harte trilogy, To Be the Best offers a satisfying close to the story. Viewers should begin with A Woman of Substance, in which Emma, determined to ruin the upper-class family who wronged her, achieves her dream of becoming one of the richest women in the world. Next is Hold the Dream, in which Emma's granddaughter Paula inherits her retail empire and struggles to find balance between her high-powered business dealings and her longing for romance. Finally, in the close of the trilogy, To Be the Best, Paula (Lindsay Wagner) comes into her own as a woman, mother, wife, and businesswoman.

While not as captivating as the first parts of the trilogy, To Be the Best has its strengths, including a standout performance from Academy Award® winner Anthony Hopkins, who plays Paula's chief of security. Thanks to Hopkins's performance, what might otherwise have seemed like a long-lost episode of Dynasty is also part espionage thriller. As Paula gets inveigled into a series of compromising business situations in Hong Kong, it is her dapper and debonair chief of security who repeatedly saves the day. --Tara Chace

Product Description

Stories of love, power and determination surrounding the lives of a family of women who rise from poverty to positions of power.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 9-APR-2002
Media Type: DVD

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A poor follow-on to a Woman of Substance, July 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: To Be the Best (DVD)

Being a great fan of the Woman of Substance, I was sorely disappointed in this 3rd entry in a trilogy about the Emma Harte legacy written by Barbara Taylor Bradford.

This is soap opera trash at its worst. The plot devices are weak and quite distasteful: drugs, a prostitute turned shy wife, an over-the-top vindictive cousin/villain. The fight seens are choreographed so badly that I had to laugh. Lindsay Wagner is neither British nor convincing as the Harte CEO, Paula O'Neill, granddaughter of Emma Harte. David Robb as the disappointed husband Shane O'Neill comes across whiney and helpless - a far cry from the supportive, driven and romantic character played by Stephen Collins in Hold the Dream. I cannot figure out why Stephanie Beacham would consent to play such an awful 1-dimensional character as Arabella - the french whore who marries the vindictive cousin at the request of his "loyal" Chinese side-kick. There are a few good moments of activing from Anthony Hopkins as chief of Harte's security. But the plot just doesn't make sense - the robbery at the beginning of the movie is never solved or explained; and why would Paula risk losing the stores by selling her stock knowing that her cousin is out to ruin her?

A Woman of Substance was a magnificent book and its mini-series is very well done. This third entry in the Harte trilogy is rubbish. Don't waste your time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst I have ever seen!, May 27, 2005

By 

Cecilia (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Be the Best (DVD)

When I watched this movie I kept asking myself, what the hell is this? I found it poorly acted, ridiculous and stupid.
What a shame after the other two, those were so good, please do not waste money buying this piece of rubbish!!
It leaves you with a very sour taste in your mouth!

5.0 out of 5 stars strenth ,passion and character, July 31, 2009

By 

Nydia Rodriguez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Be the Best (DVD)

I love all of Barbara Teylor Bradford novels
I love the passion the emotion and the strenth she puts into her characters
I have the first 2 DVD ( A wouman of substance,Hold the dream and now To Be The Best ( I have in audio CD Emmas'sSecreat great novel )I needed the 3rd on the triology and I knew it had to be just as good as all her other books , and it was .I recommend all to any woman who likes Love stories with a Back bone