Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Iseerphia
All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.
httpmom
This particular version of Lorna Doone begins on a grand and exciting historical scale and quickly spirals downward into an average star crossed lovers tale in which a pretty boy...who can't speak or act...for reasons not be known in the script... falls in love with a pretty girl...who can't speak or act. They meet by accident and then in secret without any of the intensity that such a love would usually entail. They smile at each other a lot and run around a spectacular Whales country side while epic music plays in the background. There are a few good battle scenes...some rather beautiful but astonishing costuming...some off the wall wonderful but inaccurate hair styles for men...think Samurai warrior meets Middle Earth...some great acting from a few minor characters and Peter Vaughan...who unfortunately...for the viewer...but happily for him...dies about half way into the story. This movie won awards for photography and visual effects which is the reason I wanted to see it but the script lacked grit and believability. Not up to the usual BBC standards...did they collaborate with Touchstone or something?
jscrump-1
I first saw this movie one day at the library. I had never read the book. I knew next to nothing about it. When I watched it, I couldn't get enough of it. It felt like a roller coaster ride. I loved the love triangle and that you faced one thing after another. Amelia Warner was wonderful as Lorna. I was extremely thankful she played Lorna as a girl who could stand up for herself and as someone you're not always really sure you can trust. Aidan Warner (Carver) was extremely evil,but you can see how much he loves Lorna. However, I hated that Carver really didn't age from the beginning to when you see him all those years later. Richard Coyle was unbelievable as John. I loved how much he frought to keep Lorna. Still, I felt that John's and Lorna's courtship was much too rushed.
Lavrinenkov Igor
Lorna Doone is a BBC film of the novel by Richard Blackmore. It shows the beautiful relations between two young lovers in the middle of a feud. It takes place in the 1600s when there was much fighting between the catholics and protestants in England. The Doones were murderers and thieves and attacked and killed John's father. He decides to get revenge. John meets a girl that he saw in his childhood. She is a Doone hiding from a man named Carver who wants to make her his wife. He was the man that killed John's father. Despite the dirty tricks of the Doones and the temporary bewilderment of the divided royal authorities, the two sweethearts live happily together in the end.
Hans C. Frederick
There are times when a story should contain more than just the plot,and the facts.There are things such as mood,tone,and symbolism that add up to make a story more than just a rousing tale.And,due to the lack of an appropriate villain,that's what this adaptation is missing. "Lorna Doone"is moe than just a story about valorous English rurals fighting an oppressive gang of outlaws.It's also a nostalgic look,seen from the perspective of the Industrial Revolution,at a rustic way of life which has vanished.It's also a positive affirmation of what was referred to,during the Victorian period,as"muscular Christianity."And,it's also the sotry of a gallant,but inarticulate and lonely man's struggle,to find love,and romance with an attractive woman,consumating in a sharing sexual union. John Ridd,the hero of this work,is a bright,physically strong,but unguided and silent man,whose struggle is at least as much within himself as it is with others.And to symbolize this arduous and difficult journey,her requires a worthy opponent. Carver Doone,therefore,is John's alter-ego,and must provide a dark,Satanic antagonist,of formidable nature and significant evil.John MUST conquer his own shadow personality,as personified by Carver.And,on a more realistic level,Carver must be strong,virile,and physically attractive,as a worthy contender for Lorna's love. The actor playing Carver,in this production,is certainly evil,vicious,rodent like,and psychopathic.But he lacks grandeur,authority,presence,and that elemental quality to provide a characterization accurate with the book.Sean Bean did a much better job.