Customer Reviews

Lorna Doone

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lorna Doone is the story of the banished"Doone" clan, and it is a period film that Sean Bean does very well. Sean plays Carver Doone a man who must live by his wits after he and his clan are banished. Its the story of the love also between John Ridd and Lorna Doone, who was married to Carver. Sean's character is masterfully played, he is a man who is a product of his environment, who must hunt, hurt and yes steal in order to have his family survive! Its Sean Bean at his best, and it also stars his castmates from "Patriot Games" Polly Walker and Hugh Fraser, its a period film that should be seen! Its Sean Bean with the walk and the language of a man who is forced to become an outlaw so that he can survive, its a man who does what he hates to do in order to live, and its the story of Carver's love for Lorna as well as John Ridd's love for her. Enjoy the film! Sean Bean does wonderful work for the BBC and English TV.

To appreciate this video you must have an intrest in old England and the period around the 'Monmouth Rebellion' It is a tale of Love overcoming barriers in the West of England in the Counties of Devon and Somerset. Realistic shooting captures the era well and avoids Holywood 'glitz'. Worth watching.

I own the other Lorna Doone Movie and this one was not in the same league. It was too short, first of all. It was like they were in a hurry to tell the story. It was not romantic at all. Beside the handsome Clive Owen and Sean Bean, the other characters were not good at all. It was a bad movie!!! I recommend the other Lorna Doone - DVD starring Richard Coyle and Amelia Warner. This was bad, not worth buying, just renting!

Plenty of action, scenic period visuals, believable dialogue, feuding clans and forbidden love. Spring, 1600s England, with early looks at a couple of British stars in their budding careers. Clive Owen as John Ridd, and Polly Walker ('Emma''Rome''Patriot Games') as Lorna Doone (eyes of an angel), make an entertaining time of love, war, romance, adventure, and classic happy endings. Lorna saves John, John tried to save Lorna as a child. In the end, a surprise discovery leads to romance and more. This is an adaptation, and some fail to recognize that as a limitation for TV. The converting of a full classic novel into 87 minutes of film requires limiting the story. The writer & director made decisions well to make this a beautiful "ADAPTATION" for TV, now a DVD. It would take a full series to depict the entire story of "Lorna Doone," 1869 book by Richard Doddridge (R.D.) Blackmore.

Carver Doone (Sean Bean-'Lord of the Rings''Troy''Lady Chatterley') is the villain father-killer. Sarah Ridd (Billie Whitelaw-'A Dinner of Herbs';Quills') is mother. Miles Anderson ('House of Cards') plays a Ridd cousin who is wanted, and loves Annie Ridd (Jane Gurnett).

The musical score is as good as the scenery. The Doones of Bagworthy Forest have rustic thatch-roof stone cottages; while the Ridds of Oare live in a 2-story, slate-roof, stone home. A quick film mistake in the action during the Doone attack on the Ridd home is made by a torch being thrown on a thatch roof. It was slate, not thatch. But what a battle.

THE DVD BONUS includes:
SUBTITLES
4 text cast fimographies, and text bio of author R. D. Blackmore.

MY WIFE AND I LIKE IT. It's such a good novel there is plenty of room for all of the film adaptations to date. This one is a keeper. I'll watch it again, it's that good.

Although this film features three very fine actors, it is far too short to do justice to the story. There wasn't enough urgency in the script to bring interesting action to the screen. Granted it was filmed in 1990, early in the careers of the three actors, and did have strong, established actors in the supporting roles, it did not deliver. Best thing about it is Sean Bean in his "bad guy" guise.

I like period drama, I like British drama, and I like Sean Bean. That makes this a perfect triple header. And Mr. Bean delivers. While I would have liked the characters fleshed out a bit more, and WHY Lorna would prefer that dry stick John Ridd I don't know. That is never understood. He looks and acts like a Puritan. What makes the movie interesting is the character of Carver Doone, the illegitimate son and supposed heir to the Doones. The Doones are a clan of reivers, for all intents and purposes, disenfranchised and having to make their way outside the law, and Carver does all he can to hold them together, doing whatever it takes, usually under his father's orders. He has lost his wife and lives for his young son. But in a fit of charity, he rescued and brought to the Doones to raise, young Lorna, and that is his downfall. While Carver never seems to feel much romantic connection to Lorna, he is protective, and the character of Carver, as Mr. Bean plays it, is protective of those he cares about. Lorna comes off as a bit silly and willful. Her attraction to John Ridd seems inexplicable and more in line of a Romeo and Juliet forbidden fruit combined with teenage rebellion scenario, except she and John are not teenagers. The look Carver gives his father when, after all he has done for the Doones, his father proposes to set Carver, as a bastard, aside in favor of Lorna and her lover, Carver's enemy, is pure pathos. And it sparks all that comes after and costs Carver all he has cared about and protected, and the ultimate betrayal. If you're a fan of Sean Bean, watch this for his performance alone. But don't expect it to be like the book. (But then so few movies are).

This version does not have the authentic, I-feel-like-I'm-there aspect of the A&E movie. The actors are, for the most part, wooden (with Sean Bean the exception) and the "romance" seems forced and contrived. In fact, there is no kissing until the end of the movie!!!! The triangle between John Ridd, Lorna Doone (or Lady Lorna Dugal, whichever you prefer)and the evil Carver Doone isn't mentioned or expanded upon. We don't get much insight into Carver here, or as to why he has some (if any) romantic feelings for Lorna. This movie cuts out many of the key and interesting characters of the novel, such as Counsellor Doone, and John's sharp-tongued youngest sister Lizzie which were crucial to the plot. The screenplay itself is lacking in conviction. The political intrigue also doesn't figure in the script. The way Lorna came into being with the Doones isn't true to the original story. Now, don't get me wrong, Clive Owen is a handsome and accomplished actor (watch Gosford Park and King Arthur for confirmation) but he comes across as bland and stoic throughout, and long hair (it may have been a bad wig) just doesn't suit him!!!! Polly Walker is a lovely and accomplished actress (see Enchanted April and Patriot Games, in which she also costarred with Sean Bean), but she appears colorless and lackluster. She has a cold sore on her lip that make-up can't hide, and the costumes don't seem authentic. The late Robert Stephens does a respectable turn as Sir Ensor Doone, although he only refers to Lorna as his favorite rather than his granddaughter, which she was reputed to be in the book. Also, it seems to me that Owen and Walker are too old for their roles (maybe it's the make-up) and the scenery is brown, cold, gray and barren, without so much of a hint of a sunny sky. I understand that it is set in Southwest England, but it is green there and they do get their sunshine!!! The portrayal of Tom Faggus' character and his "death", which doesn't happen in the novel, depresses the film even more. The one positive note is Sean Bean's performance as Carver. Although it doesn't even come close to matching Aidan Gillen's portrayal in the A&E movie, Bean does make one mean villain. In short, watch this only if you've got a few hours to kill, but don't expect anything exciting or for it to be true to the novel. See any other version ( but I highly recommend A&E's film) over this tired adaptation.

When I first went to rent this movie, I was expecting a wonderfully portayed old-english love story with one of my favorite actors, Sean Bean. However, after watching it, I feel it falls short of a romance movie and instead makes its way toward a low-budget comedy movie. This movie was entertaining in that it had comical value in one of the main characters, John Ridd and it had some rather funny action scenes. It lost its potential as a romance when the production crew spent all its money on mediocre actors and gave little attention to sound effects and the screenplay itself.

This movie is centered around a doomed love between two young people from bickering families. The movie is extremely slow with the first five minutes showing two people on horseback. There doesn't seem to be anything pulling the movie together to make you want to watch the ending. The basic theme and plot is an excellent storyline, but there is something lacking. Overall, I was expecting a romantic love story and instead found a dull way to spend 2 hours.