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 enlarge | Directors: Cyril Coke, Fay Weldon
Actors: Elizabeth Garvie, David Rintoul
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: Video
Buy New: £24.99
New (3) Used (5) Collectible (1) from £5.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 853
Format: Closed-captioned, Dolby, Pal, Surround Sound
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 301
EAN: 5014503496029
ASIN: B00004CJRS
Release Date: June 3, 1996
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: ***PLEASE NOTE*** BBC DOUBLE VIDEO is NEW and SEALED of Fay Weldon's "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" starring Elizabeth Garvie, please note this is the 259 min version with different artwork on cover - UK SELLER - Fast Next Day Dispatch
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| Customer Reviews:
 Available on DVD September 2, 2004
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I watched this 1980 version the first time round when I was just a kid, and the first episode (and the Bennett parents in particular who are absolutely brilliant) sent me running to the local library to read everything that Austen had ever written. Been a huge fan ever since. The 1996 version was played as more of a sitcom than a satire, and as for Alison Steadman .... her rendition of Mrs B was ridiculous. Anyway, just wanted to let all the 1980 version fans out there know that this has just become available on DVD on the US Amazon website (amazon.com)- NTSC format of course, but fine if you have a multi-region DVD player. They are also selling a DVD box set of all the 1970's/1980's BBC Austen productions. They love our old period dramas in the US - shame we can't show the same appreciation. TV and movie moguls these days always seem to turn the subtle satire of Austen into silly rom-com, replete with ribaldry and slapstick, simply concealing lack of substance and poor scripts with lush sets and pretty costumes (Emma with Paltrow, the 1999 Mansfield Park with Frances O'Connor anyone?) Come on BBC, give us Brits some quality Austen on DVD.
Pride and Prejudice with David Rintoul July 29, 2004
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
DVD PLEASE!!!!
This version is so much better than the 1995. Somehow, the latter version's actors playing Mr Bingley and his sister did not impress me and seemed not to be in character with the book.
As for Mrs Bennet, I thought that her character was drowned by the clothes that she wore.
 I hadn't seen this version since the original screening! March 28, 2004
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I managed to get hold at last of this BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. I had last seen it when it was first screened, I still had a black and white tv! It had left an impression though, and on wathching it again (and this time in colour) I can see why. The screenplay, so faithful to the original, is a delight,the cast is very good, and the scenery and locations, delightful. The only reason I don't give it a 5 star rating is because it feels too much like a theatrical work compared to today's movies, and that diminishes both it's credibility and it's enjoyment. In particular, the scenes inside the Collinses house, with the cut out cardboard decor, seem straight out of a low budget theatre production. I've now ordered the 1995 BBC version to see how it compares, though I remember thinking that Colin Firth (scrumptious as he is) could not fill the shoes of David Rintoul, who was simply born to play Mr Darcy.
A Classic in every sense March 24, 2004
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
This version by Fay Weldon is simply the best Pride & Prejudice I have ever watched. I saw the three available versions and this one tops it all because of the casting. All the actors and actresses were superb in their roles from the silly Mrs Bennett and Mr Collins to the proud Mr. Darcy and the weak willed Mr. Bingley. David Rintoul is the perfect Mr. Darcy as he could switch from being haughty in the first half to being tender at the end. Elizabeth Garvie's facial expressions are always a joy to watch. I watched it for the first time almost 20 years ago and since then I have watched it once in three months. My children, who are 14 and 8, are beginning to enjoy the irony and hypocrisy in P & P after watching this version. To those who think that Jane Austen's works are boring, I beg to differ and this version of P & P proves my point. I sincerely hope that BBC would put this on DVD as I have almost worn out both copies of this title on video tape. To all who made this version of P & P what it is, a BIG thank you.
A Pride & Prejudice for those who appreciate Jane Austen March 20, 2004
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is undoubtedly the best dramatized version so far of Pride and Prejudice. In offering a review of this adaptation, I feel that it is also necessary to compare the two BBC versions, to demonstrate the need for both to be available on permanent format.Whilst the 1995 version may be more sumptuously filmed, Fay Weldon's adaption contains far more passages of Jane Austen's prose. The importance of using Miss Austen's words wherever possible (apart from the literary courtesy due to the original by the adaptation), is that Miss Austen is one of the wittiest writers in the English Language. Unfortunately, as evinced by "Game On", Andrew Davies is not able to prove an acceptable subtitute. Both portrayals of Elizabeth Bennet are fine overall but Elizabeth Garvie gives a better characterisation. In particular, in the final stages, she manages to express the realisation that her views have been in error, which realisation is one of the fundamentals of the book. To my mind this is never achieved by Jennifer Ehle, whose expression of different moods is too often achieved by alternating between a frown and a simper. She also seems to lack clear enunciation at times. As to the portayal of Mr Darcy, although David Rintoul gives a good performance, I have to say that Colin Firth is a more rounded portrayal. The famous "lake scene" is however too far out of character to be anything but an embarrassment. Mr Collins is supposed to be ridiculous and in this version is given a fine comic performance by Malcolm Rennie. He is not supposed to be played as Dud (from Pete & Dud), as in the 1995 version. Speaking of comic performances, one can only wonder at the inspiration that gave Alison Steadman the idea to play Mrs Bennet as a pantomime dame (1995); by contrast the Mrs Bennet portrayed by Priscilla Morgan is a believably empty-headed but not farcical character. In defence of the 1995 version, it is good in many respects and is acceptable as a reasonable rendering of the book. Nevertheless, in terms of being definitive, it is fatally flawed in several ways, which takes off the shine. We desperately need a DVD of the Fay Weldon production, so that fans of each particular version are equally well served.
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