Customer Reviews

The Charles Dickens Collection, Vol. 1 (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This DVD set is a great entertainment value. Unfortunately, the set advertises closed captions but my new JVC television with closed caption ability shows no closed captions for any of the titles. The BBC productions really need subtitles for the hearing impaired. For some reason they don't have a policy of adding this enhancement to their DVDs'.

I don't know about Oliver Twist, Great Expectations or Bleak House but I have been waiting a long time for Martin Chuzzlewitt, Our Mutual Friend and Hard Times. Starting with MC: unless you watch alot of Masterpiece Theater you may not recognize any of the actors but that won't hurt the story which is well and clearly told about money, greed, family (relatives near and distant rather than loved ones), kindness, friendship, love and forgiveness. The villians are especially well portrayed - you just have to hate them. I picked up the VHS of OMF on a whim because I like Dickens and was absolutely delighted. The well told themes are similar to MC but without as much of the family connection. Again you're not likely to recognize many of the actors but who cares, the love story is every bit as good as the one in Great Expectations and with far fewer impediments to fulfillment. As for HT - on Masterpiece Theater it was introduced as Dickens Darkest story and it truly is. Don't watch this if you want a happy ending - there isn't one unless it is what happens to the school master's not to wise son and to the girl from the circus. I've never seen BH so have no opinion except I think I remember vaguely that Diana Rigg starred in it. On the whole a collection well worth the money. I haven't actually seen these in their dvd format but have purchase other dvd collections from this source and found the production values to be excellent for picture and sound quality. I only gave 4 stars because I couldn't tell from the picture if OT and GE are dvd's that have been previously released or older renditions of these classic stories that I somehow missed when they were originally broadcast.

All these titles-with the exception of "Hard Times"-are in episode form,previouly shown weekly by the BBC.The advantage of this format is the inclusion of many more characters and side-stories than the 2 to 3 hours a movie can possibly include.Throw in superb acting and directing plus intelligent editing and each title becomes an epic in its own right.
"Hard Times", being Dickens shortest novel, is covered in one complete movie.As a bonus the set includes no less than three half hour features:[1]Simon Callow reads to a live audience from "Oliver Twist".The scene is possibly the most famous in all Dickens literature; the murder of Nancy by Sykes.[2]A dramatisation of one of Dickens ghost stories,"The Signalman".[3]A background documentary to "Our Mutual Friend",which among other things explains the origins and purposes of "dust heaps"without which parts of the story become unclear.All in all this set provides many hours[32 plus]of pleasure for a miniscule purchase price.
Graeme Yardley[Christchurch,New Zealand]

This collection is an embarassment of riches. Each story is divided into several episodes which take time to view and absorb. So far we have only viewed "Bleak House" and "Our Mutual Friend". Both are excellent and capture the steamy world of Dicken's London. I think I am constantly amazed at the attention to detail that the Brits recreate in historical drama. And of course there is the wealth of character playing for which Britain has always been famous. A really excellent series.

I am a big fan of the classics English literature and especially Dickens. He is simply the genius. In my humble opinion no other English writer can be even compared with him.
And to watch this BBC dramatization is a great pleasure too - it is true Dickens - bright and sparkling on the screen as he does in every one of his books.
If you are the newcomer to the world of his books - watch the movies and be encouraged to go for reading then. You will never regret.

I've just bought the collection, I've seen 3 movies so far, they're great, faithful to the books I've read. They come with cc(closed caption)so it helps the understanding. I watch a film and read the book. They're perfect for those who are really into literature. I highly recommend them.

The dark stories about the impossible lives of the unfortunate makes it a kind of films that will glue anyone to the chair. BBC serieses are not like any other film, and I simply escape to anothr world every time I watch.
Had to watch it in my computer though, since it was not my region( not even after I changed the region in my "region free" DVD player ) which also means I had no subtitles either. A good computer screen is needed for that purpose.

My husband and I are major fanatics when it comes to literary
pieces brought to film. We have been renting some of these classic BBC films from an online rental business. We finally decided to buy the set. My husband, being a english teacher, loved several of these films. The best two out of the set is Martin Chuzzlewit and Our Mutual Friend. It is a shame that Hard Times did not live up to the book and was only roughly based off of it. We just finished Oliver Twist, not knowing the story at all, we were on the of our seats just waiting to hear the big twist and to see how the plot works itself out. Highly recommended, even with Hard Times being not faithful to the book.

If you're looking for "count the celebs" MTV-style Dickens adaptations, you won't like this set. However, if you like *literature* and tingle with delight at seeing even obscure Dickens characters brought to jaw-droppingly masterful life by seriously talented, clasically trained actors who make you wish Brad Pitt and his ilk would just retire already, then this is the set for you. I've only watched the Great Expectations and Oliver Twist films, but - my goodness - are they fantastic. I actually find the faster-paced, more condensed takes to be more confusing than the more faithful ones, since half of the detail is missing. The older films in this set, at least, were done with a level of care and attention to detail that will wrap you up in these stories and haunt you forever. Not to be missed!

I am certainly glad that the BBC didn't give us "high paced" cut-down versions of Dickens' novels--as one Amazon reviewer suggested would have improved these. In fact, the films follow the novels closely, with all of Dickens' quirky characters, such as Jaggers and Wemmick from "Great Expectations."

Dickens had his faults, to be sure, but they are faults of the period in which they were written, e.g., the over-use of coincidences to tighten the plots, being the greatest fault to a 21st century reader/viewer. However, Dickens' sense of time and place and his creation of memorable characters far overshadow this and make his works delightful.

The production values, the acting, the sets are first-rate in these productions. But if you want car chases and sex scenes, you may want to look elsewhere. Try the James Bond films.