Cheap Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996) (DVD) (Simon Langton) Price

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Customer Reviews of Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996)

Oh, Mr. Darcy . . .
Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite of Jane Austen's books ever since I first read it in high school. When the A & E miniseries came out in 1996, I had high hopes because I had read about the producer's devotion to the book. I was not disappointed; I loved everything about it! The costumes are correct, the setting is ideal with amazing Regency details in every shot, and the acting is spot on. The Bennett family and all the other characters are exactly as I imagined them, due to the tremendous performances by the whole cast. <
>Benjamin Whitrow is perfect as the long-suffering Mr. Bennett; his dry sense of humor really comes through. Alison Steadman is hilarious as Mrs. Bennett (all fluff and histrionics), and Crispin Bonham-Carter makes a very sweet Bingley. Julia Sawalha is sassy as the irrepressible (and irresponsible) Lydia. David Bamber (also plays Cicero in HBO's Rome) is tremendous fun as Mr. Collins, and Barbara Leigh-Hunt steals every scene as Lady Catherine deBourgh. <
> But of course, the two best performances come from Jennifer Ehle as Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Colin Firth as (sigh) Mr. Darcy. There is so much chemistry between them, and it is a joy to watch their verbal parrying. Both of these actors have very expressive eyes, and when Lizzie comes to the rescue of Darcy's sister Georgiana, the look that passes between Lizzie and Darcy is unmistakable: there is now no doubt that they are meant to be together. Colin Firth makes Darcy look so totally and completely in love at this point, it makes me swoon every time I see it! ;-) <
>Which brings me to my final point: my husband and I have watched this DVD many times and we seem to enjoy it more with every viewing. This is a classic and by far the best interpretation of Pride and Prejudice that I have ever seen. (Okay, I know the pond scene isn't in the book, but it's so fun I thought it was a nice addition). Love it, love it, love it!

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Best Pride and Prejudice
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>I have seen the "movie" version of Pride and Predjudice and read the book but nothing compares to this production - It is wonderful. There are two discs and the running time is long so you may want to watch Part I and Part II on different days. <
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>You will love this version...It is one of my all time favorites!

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Longest and closest to the book
This is the third version of the book a have seen so I know I'm probably tainted from the first two which I loved including mostly the casting of the characters. Your first version of a character tends to be the one that becomes the benchmark in your mind. (I.e. Try to picture anyone else in these roles: Brando in The Godfather, Hanks in Forest Gump, Gable and Leigh in Gone with the Wind, Bogart and Bergman in Casablanca, etc) The Kiera Knightley version is excellent and well cast. Rosamond Pike as the eldest daughter and Keira Knightly (perhaps even too pretty if you know the book) were PERFECT in the version as was Matthew Macfayen as MR. Darcy and the rest of the cast. The third sister Mary is not quite the "outcast" as in the two TV versions and is perhaps to nice looking but they didn't have time in the Motion Picture version to get into all the characters, like some of the faults the Mr. Bennet has, although I enjoyed Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett very much. But for true fans of the book you may want more of the great story so I happened upon a BBC TV version which was much longer and therefore told the story more completely and it was also very well cast (Except the even too already ridiculous Mr. Collins). The second version I saw delved more deeply into the characters and the story and the cast although not Ms. Pike and Ms. Knightly in looks were excellent and so was Mr. Darcy. I actually liked the actresses who played Lady Catherine de Bourg and especially Mrs. Gardiner (who took her to Mr. Darcy's home) even better than the motion picture castings, but again having more time for the character helps. Having said all this, although the 1996 version is the most extensive for fans of the story and IS well acted I just did not like the casting of Lizzy, Jane, and Mr. Darcy very much and the whole I did not enjoy it as much as the first two. However if you have no preconceived ideas of the characters beyond the book you may like it more than I. As far a production it did exceed the BBC version which almost felt like you were watching a true English live play especially in the indoor scenes shot with very few cameras. (Which actually once you got used to it had it's charm as well).