Product Details

• Actors: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Gabriel Byrne
• Directors: Gillian Armstrong
• Writers: Robin Swicord, Louisa May Alcott
• Producers: Denise Di Novi, Robin Swicord, Warren Carr
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Portuguese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 25, 2000
• Run Time: 118 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767851013
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Little Women (Collector's Series)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

The flaws are easily forgiven in this beautiful version of Louisa May Alcott's novel. A stirring look at life in New England during the Civil War, Little Women is a triumph for all involved. We follow one family as they split into the world, ending up with the most independent, the outspoken Jo (Winona Ryder). This time around, the dramatics and conclusions fall into place a little too well, instead of finding life's little accidents along the way. Everyone now looks a bit too cute and oh, so nice. As the matron, Marmee, Susan Sarandon kicks the film into a modern tone, creating a movie alive with a great feminine sprit. Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire) has another showy role. The young ensemble cast cannot be faulted, with Ryder beginning the movie in a role akin to light comedy and crescendoing to a triumphant end worthy of an Oscar. --Doug Thomas

Product Description

Winona Ryder (in an Oscar(r) nominated role) and Academy Award(r) winner Susan Sarandon (1995 Best Actress, Dead Man Walking) star in this "affectionate, superbly acted" (Los Angeles Times) family favorite. With her husband off at war, Marmee (Sarandon) is left alone to raise their four daughters, her Little Women. There is the spirited Jo (Ryder); conservative Meg (Trini Alvarado, Paulie); fragile Beth (Claire Danes, William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet); and romantic Amy (played at different ages by Kristen Dunst, Wag the Dog and Samantha Mathis, Broken Arrow). As the years pass, the sisters share some of the most cherished and painful memories of self-discovery, as Marmee and Aunt March (Mary Wickes, The Man Who Came to Dinner) guide them through issues of independence, romance and virtue. Gabriel Byrne (End of Days), Eric Stoltz (TV's Chicago Hope) and Christian Bale (The Portrait of a Lady) co-star in this "handcrafted valentine" (Newsweek) of a film.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great movie and a great remake!!!, October 23, 2002

By 

"kat519" (Bolton, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Women [VHS] (VHS Tape)

To start out, this is one of my favorite books. So I of course started out with an additude to begin with, muttering that the book was always better. In this case, I was so wrong. The characters portrayed in this film are the same ones I met in 5th grade when I first read "Little Women". The actors shine in their roles and truly embody everyone one of the literary creations they represents.
Playing the March matriarch, Susan Sarandon is great! She is able to maintain the feel of the period while bringing to Marmee an empowering bout of women's rights thoughts. Sarandon gives off warmth and knowledge wiht the apparent ease of someone completely familiar with the material.
Wynona Ryder is another standout here. She is the raging bundle of emotion that we have all come to know as Jo March. Playing down her usually unique features, Ryder plays the part with spunk and earnestness.
My favorite here is Christian Bale as the oft put uopn Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence. Quite a jump from his "Newsies" days, Bale is the best Laurie I have seen on screen to date. He has the mannerisms and lines down to perfection, while still maintaining the spontanaity that really is a huge part of Laurie's character. He also handles the age jump incredibly well.
Not until my most recent viewing of the movie did I realize Gabriel Byrne was Professor Bhaer. The native irishman does a great job of bringing Frerdrick to life, right down to his physical bumbling and poetic heart.
In my opinion, this movie was a complete triumph and a complete success from novel to film. All actors are fine in their roles, most exceptional, and it is such a joy to see an old favorite and all-time classic brought to life which such enthusiasm and talent. This is a must-see for any fan of the novel~although it will leave you yearning for "Little Men" and Jo's Boys" featuring this cast-which has yet to be done!!

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Version of the Classic Story, November 16, 2004

By 

DonMac "butchm" (Lynn, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Little Women (Collector's Series) (DVD)

This version of Little Women is a classic in its own right. Armstrong did an amazing job here capturing the period and coaxing beautiful performances from her cast. Ryder, Dunst, Alvarado, Mathis, Sarandon, Byrne, Bale and a heartbreaking Danes are all in top form. Visually, the movie is just beautiful and the soundtrack is mesmerizing. A must see.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart Warming Superb Classic, August 17, 2006

By 

Erika Borsos "pepper flower" (Gulf Coast of FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Little Women (Collector's Series) (DVD)

Louisa May Alcott's book has come to life in vivid detail and beauty. The casting is superb. The four sisters are a pleasure to watch and view as they develop into young ladies who experience both the pleasures and pains of growing into adulthood. The film depicts the changes in each character from adolescence and the growing pains associated with making independent decisions based on their personalities and values. As young ladies with education who grew up in a household where their opinions were heard and mattered, they stand in direct contrast with the majority of girls growing up at that time ...

In the attic, the sisters enact all the parts of a play which Jo had written ... it was a great moment when they invited Theodore Lawrence into their circle of friends. The individuality of each sister is quite evident. The film does a fine job of presenting each character, Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy as unique individuals who blossom, each into her own personality, when they are forced to make choices and deal with building their own lives. The film shows the flow of everyday life around the time of the Civil War, when their father was serving as a soldier. The film does a wonderful job of showing the social structure and class differences of the era. The language, speech and manners of the times are well acted ...

The close bonds of sisterhood are threatened by Beth's illness, and eventual death. The film presents Jo, Meg and Amy as they develop into responsible adults with independent lives and interests apart from the cocoon of the family. Meg's courtship and eventual marriage to a school teacher/tutor is done well, especially the birth of their twins. Amy's ambitions of marrying into wealth and becoming a lady, and the value conflicts associated with this desire when she meets Theodore Lawrence in Paris is superbly done. Jo's move to live in New York at a boarding house, broadens her life experiences as she is challenged by Frederick, a German professor she bumps into by chance. Her wings are spread as she learns to fly solo within this new and challenging environment. Despite their differences, the sisters are forever connected by the bonds of family and love which makes the book and film an enduring classic. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]