The Charles Dickens Collection, Vol. 2 (David Copperfield / The Pickwick Papers / The Old Curiosity Shop / Dombey and Son / Barnaby Rudge) (Slim Case) |  | Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, Sebastian Shaw, Julian Glover, Nigel Stock
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $49.98
Buy New: $35.20
as of 2/9/2010 20:05 EST details
You Save: $14.78 (30%)
New (15) Used (2) from $35.20
Seller: Supermart
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 26223
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Closed-captioned, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 5
Running Time: 1440 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.4 x 1.5
MPN: 1000095725
UPC: 883929068722
EAN: 0883929068722
ASIN: B001PU8O5W
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: May 5, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | This collection includes six Charles Dickens masterpieces in 32 hours ofic television. The grotesque comedy and dark tragedy of Victorian London's streets comes to vivid life in these original productions from the BBC, remastered for DVD.Running Time: 1454 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 883929068722 UPC: 883929068722 Manufacturer No: 10000 |
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/05/2009 Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
For Dickens aficionados who own the first DVD Collection, but still want some more, this set collects five sterling BBC productions of some of the author's essential masterworks. (A rerelease of a 2006 set, the 2009 edition comes in five slimpaks and adds one program: 1960's Barnaby Rudge, starring Nigel Arkwright, Newton Blick, and, in the title role, John Wood.) The best of the lot is David Copperfield, starring a pre-Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe as the tragically put-upon young Copperfield. Shot on film, this impeccable 1999 production is an embarrassment of riches, with a cast that includes Academy Award-winner Maggie Smith, who earned an Emmy nomination as the formidable Aunt Betsey, Oscar-nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings) as the cruel and sadistic teacher Mr. Creakle, a wonderful Bob Hoskins as the debt-ridden Micawber, Trevor Eve as David's loathsome stepfather Mr. Murdstone, and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the dastardly clerk Uriah Heap. Holding his own with this formidable ensemble is Ciaran McMenamin as the adult David, whose ultimate triumph is particularly hard earned. Rich with incident and populated by some of literature's most memorable characters, this production does satisfying justice to one of Dickens's most beloved and oft-told sagas. When it comes to a series of unfortunate events, Lemony Snicket has nothing on Dickens. The Old Curiosity Shop, from 1979, stars Sebastian Shaw as the grandfather determined to provide a better life for his beloved and beautiful granddaughter, Nell (the winning Natalie Ogle). But his gambling leaves them at the mercy to the bent and malignant Quilp (Trevor Peacock). The lesser-known Dombey and Son, from 1983, is a tale of foolish pride, comeuppance, and redemption starring Julian Glover as Mr. Dombey, so determined that his son take over his business that he cruelly neglects his daughter, Florence (the heartbreaking Lysette Anthony). The Pickwick Papers, from 1985, is a welcome comic change of pace that follows the misadventures of "the immortal" (and comically rotund) Mr. Pickwick (Nigel Stock) and his three friends as they embark on the first expedition of "the corresponding society of the Pickwick Club." Shot on video, the latter three miniseries are somewhat stodgy in appearance. The adaptations are faithful to a fault, but Dickens' masterful tales provide inspiration enough for the casts who grandly rise to the occasion. --Donald Liebenson
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Splendid BBC Productions January 8, 2010
T. Davis (Seattle, WA)
The American television network TNT proclaims in its advertisements, "We know drama," but it can't hold a candle to the BBC. Since the sixties, the Beeb has been producing exquisite adaptations of the plays of Shakepeare, Shaw, and Wilde, the novels of Eliot, Austen, and Trollope, and the works of many other treasures of British and Irish literature, not to mention those of other European nations: Ibsen, Checkhov, Dostoeivsky, and so on.
These productions tend to be simple, elegantly-appointed affairs. There's very little flash, and some viewers may be disappointed by their talky, set-bound nature, but they are quite faithful to their sources. Performances are uniformly top-notch, often by the most talented and justly famous of British actors: Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart, John Hurt, Diana Rigg, Rex Harrison, John Gielgud, Joan Plowright, and many more.
While this series of Dickens adaptations and its parter, Volume 1, do not utilize thespians especially well-known to Americans (though Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, and Daniel Radcliffe do star in "David Copperfield" on Volume 2), the acting and direction are excellent.
If you love British literature and history, particularly the Victorian period, you will find these DVD sets to be thoroughgoing treats. They will expose you to dramas both familiar and obscure, and they will encourage you to delve more deeply into the delight that is Dickens.
Both 2009 sets use slim rather than standard DVD cases, so they are more compact versions of the sets issued in 2005 and 2006, but their contents are identical. They are highly recommended in either form.
 What Dickens BBC Productions This Set Contains.... February 22, 2009
Andrew Raker (PA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Note:
I have not yet viewed the remastered / repackaged / pan & scan collection of Charles Dickens: volume 2. The biggest change, however, (from the original BBC Dickens volume 2: ASIN: B000FQIRYK) is the addition of Barnaby Rudge (1960) starring John Wood, Barbara Hicks, and Newton Blick. The film is approximately 400 minutes.
In my opinion, if you have already purchased Charles Dickens: volume 2, I would wait and hope the BBC issues "Barnaby Rudge" separately. (Note: I have also never viewed "Barnaby Rudge.") However, if you are planning on buying Charles Dickens: Volume 2, KNOW THAT THIS CONTAINS BARNABY RUDGE.
In this collection:
Barnaby Rudge (1960)
David Copperfield (1999)
The Old Curiosity Shop (1979)
Dombey and Son (1983)
The Pickwick Papers (1985)
To see an image of the new collection (since Amazon does not yet have an image), go to B&N com and copy code: 883929068722.
************************************************************************************************************ For your information, this was my review for the ORIGINAL Charles Dickens: volume 2. (Amazon made me delete the review below before I could publish the above review.)
I loved viewing the four films in this collection. "The Pickwick Papers", "Dombey and Son", and "David Copperfield" were all very enjoyable to watch, while "The Old Curiosity Shop" was tolerable.
Overall, I wouldn't spend more than $[...] for the set, yet I do believe that they are worth at least thirty dollars, if just for "The Pickwick Papers" and "David Copperfield (2000)", which were my personal two favorites.
The acting in these films was excellent and the plot, characters, and flow progressived well. The only negative was that I just thought "The Old Curiosity Shop" was poorly made with unbelievable characters and an inconclusive, poor done ending.
|
|
|
