Product Details

• Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: April 8, 2008
• Run Time: 267 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012Q3T6I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,168 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Sense & Sensibility / Persuasion Collector's Set (Includes Miss Austen Regrets)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/08/2008 Run time: 269 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two well-done adaptations and an insightful biopic of Jane Austen, April 13, 2008

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sense & Sensibility / Persuasion Collector's Set (Includes Miss Austen Regrets) (DVD)

For the purposes of my review here, I shall review Ms Austen Regrets, followed by Sense and Sensibility and lastly, Persuasion.

MS AUSTEN REGRETS

This perceptive and insightful new biopic focuses on the latter years of the famous author's life, and it makes for riveting viewing, though it is quite sad. Ms Austen's works continue to garner generations of new fans, yet she died at the age of 41 in 1817, unmarried and relatively poor [despite the positive reviews her works garnered].

I had often wondered if Mr Darcy of P&P had been modeled on a real-life character - here, that thought is put to rest as Ms Austen [played by a well-cast Olivia Williams] tells her niece Fanny Austen Knight "The only way to get a Mr Darcy is to make him up."

I much preferred this biopic to the movie "Becoming Jane" as in that movie, we are led to assume that Tom LeFroy was the great love of Jane's life and it all seems a bit melodramatic - here, the portrayal of Ms Austen's private life and thoughts on love is given a more realistic treatment. Tom LeFroy is viewed here as someone she was attracted to but once out of her life 'she didn't spend more than five minutes thinking about."

This has a ring of truth to it in my opinion as so little is really known about Jane Austen's love life - due in part to the fact that much of her personal letters were destroyed by her sister Cassandra after Jane's death. What is portrayed in this biopic [by screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes] is based on the surviving personal correspondence and family recollections.

The greatest mystery about Jane Austen is the question of how a writer who remained single all her life, with no known love affair, could write with such depth of insight about human relationships, in particular love affairs? I felt this biopic with Ms Austen ruminating in asides, managed to answer some of those puzzlements to a degree of credibility. It does not rely on some fantastical theory of a great love, but is based on careful research and a very stark level of frankness.

In the biopic, Jane advises her niece Fanny never to marry without affection - lending credence to the theme in her novels, where her heroines marry for love.

The casting for this biopic was well-done: Olivia Williams is credible in a difficult role. She portrays Jane with a level of honesty, acerbic wit,and moments of humorous insights that prove revelatory in understanding Ms Austen. I felt this did justice to painting a realistic picture of the author as opposed to the idea of a quiet, unassuming spinster author. Imogen Poots is lovely as Jane's niece Fanny, reflecting a young girl on the cusp of adulthood with a certain naivete in matters of love, still relying on her famous aunt for advice in matters of love, though ultimately following her own heart. Greta Sacchi as Jane's sister Cassandra did not really make an impression on me. Among the male actors, I felt Hugh Bonneville [as Rev Bridges] portrayed the part of one of Jane's ex-suitors [who still seems to hold a torch for her] with a great level of depth and poignancy.

In all, I felt this biopic did justice to portraying the latter life of Jane Austen - an author who is pictured here as having given up a comfortable life that she would have had if she had married the wealthy Harris Bigg-Wither [the only known proposal] 15 yrs prior to her death, and instead chose freedom, to write and find her own bearings, to be her 'own husband' so to speak. Frank and poignant, this biopic has a ring of truth to it.





SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
This latest adaptation of Sense and Sensibility [2007] is a fine version indeed, with lush cinematography, a beguiling score, and credible, above average performances by the cast in general. I find that each adaptation of Austen's novel has something special to offer, and this latest is no different. Adapted by Andrew Davies, this is a first rate adaptation that is bound to be a beloved adaptation, up there with Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility [for which Emma Thompson received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay].

For those unfamiliar with the story - Sense and Sensibility revolves around two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who find themselves together with their mother and younger sister cast out of their family home, Norland, upon the death of Mr Henry Dashwood. As is the custom of the times, the estate passes on to his only son, John who is married to a real sly, snobbish, malicious woman, Fanny [ Claire Skinner in a truly wicked role].

Fanny's brother Edward Ferrars [Dan Stevens] comes to visit and forms a close friendship with Elinor [Hattie Morahan] to the chagrin of his sister who makes it plain to Mrs Dashwood that such an alliance would be beneath Edward's station.

The widow Dashwood and her daughters move to a little cottage let by a relative, Sir John Middleton, a kind yet gossipy man. Here, Marianne [Charity Wakefield] finds herself pursued by two men, the staid and noble Colonel Brandon [David Morissey] and the charming Romeo, Willoughby [Dominic Cooper]. Elinor and Marianne are two very different people, with Elinor being more in control of her emotions whereas Marianne is impulsive, utterly transparent in her emotions and wilful. The rest of the story deals with how these two sisters' romances play out.

This adaptation is beautifully filmed, and there are some highlight performances. Hattie Morahan's Elinor is not only credible in her role age-wise, but also very nuanced as the quiet sister who feels just as much but is not as revealing in her emotions as her younger sister Marianne. As for Marianne, Charity Wakefield makes for a sweet, and wilful Marianne, but I found her performance less compelling than Kate Winslet's luminous and passionate portrayal of Marianne.

David Morissey's Colonel Brandon is well done indeed, and though Alan Rickman's portrayal of the same role in the earlier version was wonderful, David Morissey's Brandon is no less compelling. Willoughby as played by Dominic Cooper didn't do anything for me - he just wasn't very credible, and at times came across as plain unpalatable, appearance-wise.

Dan Steven's Edward Ferrars is very charming [though in the book he is not really outstanding in appearance] and I liked his portrayal better than Hugh Grant's in the 1995 version - Dan Steven's makes an amiable Edward and his chemistry with Hattie Morahan's Elinor is more credible than the Thompson-Grant pairing. Another character that I though was very well-done was Lucy Boyd's Margaret Dashwood - she is so adorable and her comments are always spot on "Women just sit around and wait for things to happen...". I love her performance in this adaptation, and understand that she is also in Ballet Shoes a British production that also stars Emma Watson.

All in all, this is a well-made adaptation that stays as faithful as it can to Austen's novel, and is sure to attract fans of Jane Austen's novels as well as those who love period dramas. It is a quality show that is sure to please most Janeites.

PERSUASION
As with all adaptations of Jane Austen's works, this recent version of Persuasion is by no means perfect, and purists may revile it for the liberties it takes with the novel, yet it has its strengths.

Firstly, the storyline [for those unfamiliar with the plot] - Persuasion is a story of love lost & regained, of waiting [8 yrs in this case], and of constancy in feelings. Sally Hawkins plays Anne Elliott, who is at present a 27 year old spinster living with her father and oldest sister, with fond and poignant recollection of a long-ago romantic attachment that went sour. 8 years earlier, Anne had rejected a young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth [played by a very delectable Rupert Penry-Jones] under pressure from her disapproving family and godmother, Lady Russell [Alice Krige]. She finds herself at present having to leave her home, Kellynch due to the spendthrift nature of her father and sister, and learns that the family home is to be leased to none other than Wentworth's sister and brother-in-law. Soon, Anne's and Frederick's paths cross, and his improved fortunes make him a good catch causing Anne much anguish as she realises that society's conventions prevent her from declaring her true feelings for him, whilst watching other women fawn over him. The rest of the story deals with what happens to Anne and Frederick.

As for the adaptation - the casting is very credibly done. In the 1995[?] version starring Amanda Roots [as Anne Elliott] and Ciaran Hinds [as Frederick Wentworth], I felt the two leads were too old for their roles, though well-played. In the latest version, Sally Hawkins not only looks the part age-wise but reveals the depth of her emotions very well, portraying with a glance or a look what she cannot say with words. Similarly, Penry-Jones makes a dashing Naval Captain, and his eyes convey so very much! One of the scenes that have stayed with me is the scene where he watches intently whilst Anne plays the piano -his eyes are absolutely riveted upon Anne and you wonder at the depth of his feelings [whilst also pondering -is he reviled by her for her past rejection of him, or as in love with her as he was 8 years ago?].

The other actors do a credible job with their roles as well - Alice Krige as the meddlesome Lady Russell, Anthony Head as the vain and snobbish Sir Walter etc.

The music and cinematography aptly evoke the sense of the time and places. Scenes of Bath, Lyme etc are beautifully portrayed, as is the countryside.

However, my one real grouse with this adaptation is the last couple of minutes of this version - poor Anne Elliott is shown throwing... Read more ›

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Miss Austen Regrets..., February 4, 2008

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sense & Sensibility / Persuasion Collector's Set (Includes Miss Austen Regrets) (DVD)

This three DVD set captures the latest and very adequate BBC versions of "Sense and Sensibility" (adapted by veteran Austen screenwriter Andrew Davies) and "Persuasion". It includes "Miss Austen Regrets", only just aired in February 2008, a nicely done biopic of romance writer Jane Austen.

Jane Austen left very little behind for her future biographers. Her family destroyed much of her correspondence at her death. This film is faithful to the known details of her life, and fills in some of the gaps with cautious but respectful speculation.

In "Miss Austen Regrets", a 40-ish but still feisty and flirtatious Jane Austen (in a sympathetic performance by Olivia Williams) is called upon to advise her young niece on a possible marriage. Jane enjoys a quiet notoriety for her romantic novels, which are a guilty pleasure of Regency England. She lives with an aging mother and loving older sister (nicely played by Greta Sacchi) in a rural cottage. Writing novels was not quite a respectable occupation in that day; Jane writes because she must and because she needs the money.

The conundrum for Jane's niece, as we discover was once true for a younger Jane, is whether to marry for love or money and safety. In Jane's fiction, her patient heroines all eventually managed to marry for both. In her own life, we learn that a younger Jane Austen was deterred by her parents from one agreeable but penniless suitor, then turned down a wealthier one whom she did not love.

The movie is studiously ambiguous about the impact of Jane's choices on her life. The straitened financial circumstances of her family are clearly a burden for her. A rather shocking fit of jealousy over a handsome doctor who favors her niece, and her mixed feelings upon meeting an old suitor, indicate she has not lost her interest in men. However, the movie takes pains to show that Jane values the life she has made for herself, and suggests that Jane understood that had she married in the conventional way, she might never have found the inspiration or freedom to write her novels.

"Miss Austen Regrets" is a very nicely done and sympathetic portrayal that places Jane in the context of her time without overrunning the limited biographical material available. It is an excellent addition to this DVD collection that Jane Austen fans are likely to enjoy.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Persuasion: film vs book=apples vs oranges, March 19, 2009

By 

Michael N. Landis (Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sense & Sensibility / Persuasion Collector's Set (Includes Miss Austen Regrets) (DVD)

The 2007 BBC version of Persuasion is pure soap opera. Then again, if the video Persuasion were true to Miss Austen's book, it would have to be 12 hours long! Still, real violence was done to the book at end of the video; instead of the leisurely tete-a-tete with her semi-invalided friend, Mrs Smith, in which all the devious and sinister machinations of her cousin are gradually revealed, in the film version Mrs Smith miraculously arrises from her sickbed and breathlessly meets Anne Elliott on the street, where she tells all--IN TEN SECONDS(!), after which Anne does a lot of running, hither and yon. I guess the director wanted to wind things up IN A HURRY, and didn't want the film to drag on for 4+ hours, like the earlier, 1970's BBC version. The 2007 BBC DVD version was good for the costumes and settings, a real "costumer," but for those who haven't read the novel, I hope it will at least pique your interest enough to read it.