simply delightful 2010-07-28

Reviewer: ronnie b

I have seen all the versions of Emma, but the 2009 version is simply delightful. (my least favourite is the first). Visually beautiful, and the acting far superior than any of the others. This is surely the best Emma yet. The langugage a little more modern, but does explain the true nature of the characters far better than any other adaption of the book by Jane Austen. It is quite a happy affair to watch.

THIS IS JUST A WONDERFUL MOVIE 2010-07-21

Reviewer: ANGELA

THIS IS JUST A WONDERFUL MOVIE, WE WATCHED THIS DOWN AT THE LAKE AND EVEN MY HUSBAND ENJOYED THIS MOVIE.

my review 2010-07-12

Reviewer: nini

all in all was a pretty good adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. Like the characters of Emma and John Knightley pretty nice. Also in total Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchhill have also been shown in good progress here.

not a faithful adaptation 2010-07-11

Reviewer: A. Lim

I scanned some of the good reviews of this adaptation, saw the 4.5 star rating, and borrowed a copy, having watched most of Jane Austen's adaptations and still wanting more. Excited with what I thought would be 4 episodes of Emma and much of the book covered, since the last two I saw were movie-length.

Unfortunately, this was very much a disappointment. Emma and Mr Knightley as played by the leads in this adaptation are not what Ms Austen described in her book. Nor are the smaller roles true to the book. Emma here is so not elegant and so not charming and capable. Mr Knightley lacks command. Jane Fairfax fails to appear reserved and beautiful and accomplished. Miss Bates is too subdued. Mr Woodhouse's funny eccentricities are not coming across.

And so much liberty was taken with the dialogue and story that from the first scene of this adaptation I was open-mouthed at what they had done to it. Sometimes certain scenes or plotlines have to be adapted to suit the screen, but here the changes and additions were numerous, made no sense nor improved the original story. Also, the language in the book may not be modern, but this is a period drama, was there a need to do away with Ms Austen's charming dialogue? I wonder if the screenwriter is familiar with Jane Austen at all??

If you don't care about all that, this is a pretty series, the scenery and colours are nice to look at, the soundtrack is pleasing, some may even think Emma looks pretty (not me though). But if you are a Jane Austen or Emma fan, don't just glance at the top reviews, read the one and two-star reviews first before purchasing this. I infinitely prefer elegant Gwyneth Paltrow's or spirited Kate Beckinsale's Emma.

To finally have a new BBC series of Emma and have this as a result... I hate to think how many years more I have to wait for a good version to be produced. I am glad I managed to watch this before purchasing a copy. I would not want this in my collection.

Charming adaptation 2010-07-07

Reviewer: Opera fan

Maybe it is not by the letter but this adaptation is simply charming. All characters, All the locations, Emma's house really takes you to another time in the past. The cloths are very pretty. The additional material is not very good or interesting. I would like to see more subtitle options even this is a reg. 1...