Rating: 
Summary: One of the best
Review: All the Jeremy Brett renditions of Sherlock Holmes are good. This particular story of a treasure that brings death from a one legged man and a pygmy is more interesting. We follow Holmes as he meets a young woman that catches Dr. Watsons eye but has a odd story to tell of her fathers death. We then find that the meeting of an acquaintance of her father has the police arresting the wrong man. Holmes with the aid of the Baker Street Boys searching the Thames leads to the capture and confession of the true culprit but an incredible telling of the whole history of the treasures change of hands through theft and murder. The DVD copy has a clean picture and the sound is good. It is well worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: Great! The atmosphere of this piece fires the imagination!
Review: I think that this is one of the best of the Sherlock Holmes movies. Jeremy Brett seems to capture the character of Holmes better than many an actor. The atmosphere of this film is dark, and mysterious -- it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The movie's plot is engaging, and even if you have read the story, you can't be sure how it will end. Brett is still fresh in the role of Holmes, and seems to absorb the character's personality. This piece remains true to Conan Doyle's style, and preserves the mystery of a foggy London street. This is, thus far, the best of the Jeremy Brett classics I have seen.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun
Review: The earlier Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes films were masterpieces of film style and literary adaption. This fine version of a rather strange novel includes many quirky, almost Dickensian characters and keeps you hanging on throughout the twisted plot.
Rating: 
Summary: The incomparable Jeremy Brett
Review: The late Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is so real, so vital, and so thoroughly mesmerizing that I can never imagine another actor playing the part. The man literally oozes charisma, and his aristocratic, finely chiselled looks perfectly match the Holmes I've always envisioned. Brett also captures the nuances that make Holmes such a memorable creation: the moodiness, the nervous bursts of energy, the unexpected moments of humour, and all his other maddening (but wonderful) eccentricities. Brett also has the perfect speaking voice for Holmes - a perfectly enunciated, slightly fruity, upper class Etonian accent. The death of Jeremy Brett in 1995 robbed us of Holmes' finest interpreter and a fascinating actor.Happily, however, Brett has left us with a large legacy of performances as the great detective. The British Granada television series, filmed between 1984 and 1994, is now available on video (and occasionally on DVD) and includes many stand-out episodes. The present video is one of several feature-length episodes filmed for the series, and was made in 1987. This was around the period in which Brett's health started to decline (he suffered from a combination of heart disease and depression), but personally I have always felt that he transcended the effects of his illness, and in some ways his performances as Holmes were even more compelling because of it. At times he would have to husband his vocal resources as breath control became a problem, but his portrayal remained compelling right up until the end. Here he looks fine for the most part, and if anything, his slightly red-rimmed eyes and sallow complexion suit the character of Holmes, who was hardly the picture of robust good health himself. Brett is ably supported by Edward Hardwicke as a sympathetic and intelligent Watson. This is the confidante whom Conan Doyle always envisioned, not the bumbling twit that one remembers from the Nigel Bruce caricature of the 1930s and 1940s. The rest of the cast is uniformly good, with John Thaw excellent as the nominal villain, Jonathan Small, and Ronald Lacey hilarious in the dual roles of the eccentric (and appallingly hair-styled!) Sholto brothers. As always in this ten-year series, the direction is top-notch, and the period atmosphere is beautifully evoked. There is also some clever use of shadow and mirrors that add a touch of class to the visual effects. With great performances and direction to match, why, then, have I not given this adaptation five stars? My reservations lie with the story itself. The Sign of Four lacks the suspense of say, The Hound of the Baskervilles or the darkly compelling Dying Detective. To be sure, it is a very interesting story with all the usual Conan Doyle flourishes (exotic background, eccentric personalities and a hint of romance), but it all comes to a conclusion much too soon with the anti-climactic narrative from Jonathan Small that occupies the last ten minutes or so of the episode. Nevertheless, there is still much to enjoy along the way in this witty evocation of Doyle's novel. In short, I recommend this episode with the proviso that dedicated Sherlockians also check out many of the other programmes in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent....!
Review: The Sign of Four is it self is a very fantastic and bizare case from Sherlock holmes series. The film is well directed by Mr. Peter Hammond. He successfully created the necessary surroundings. Especially in the room and palace like house of Sholto and sons company, as per the story much more expected.
The film is giving full 100% justice to Sir Doyale's writing including dialogs. Brett and Edward Hardwicke with as usual doing well in the film. Tongo character is well makeuped and is as per storyline. Other characters are good. When you first look to Mary Morstan character you feel that it is the appropriate actress for that. It has given me the satisfaction at my best. Worth to purchase and see. If and If not the fans of Brett/Holmes. Thanks for Granada TV.
Rating:
Summary: Some miss the point
Review: This is a teriffic movie, and I find it intriguing that people who claim to have read the book rate this so poorly. Strangely, they complain that Jeremy Brett's illness partly ruins his performance as Holmes. Anyone who has read the original canon knows that illness and Holmes went hand in hand: even though Watson describes him as having an "iron constitution," the man was frequently sick from overwork, drug and tobacco abuse, lack of sleep, and simply from not eating. Brett's illness actually works well with the series - almost as if his real life was mirroring that of the fictional detective - with one exception: Brett gained weight whereas Holmes, when ill, became very, very thin. This iteration of Sign of Four is a beautifully crafted piece. The period detail can still alarm me with its quality, even after repeated viewings. Viewers are absolutely immersed in the Baker Street of the late Victorian period. The scenes of Sherlock's physical investigation of crime scenes are well rendered, faithfully presented the "real" Holmes in action, as described by Doyle. We even get to hear some of Sherlock's more quotable aphorisms which seem to be lifted from the actual text. Also, we see a bit of the detective's less pleasant social habits and misogyny - a bit of his darker side. The only thing that makes this interpretation of the book suffer is that it is **TOO** faithful to the original work. The long passage near the end of Johnathan Small's monologue has always dragged this story a bit and makes screen representations difficult. It's not that the film interpreted it poorly - it's that this passage simply violates the traditional climactic structure of a standard two hour film. This was typical of the Holmes novels, where Sherlock would be "off-screen" for long periods.
Rating:
Summary: Some miss the point
Review: This is a teriffic movie, and I find it intriguing that people who claim to have read the book rate this so poorly. Strangely, they complain that Jeremy Brett's illness partly ruins his performance as Holmes. Anyone who has read the original canon knows that illness and Holmes went hand in hand: even though Watson describes him as having an "iron constitution," the man was frequently sick from overwork, drug and tobacco abuse, lack of sleep, and simply from not eating. Brett's illness actually works well with the series - almost as if his real life was mirroring that of the fictional detective - with one exception: Brett gained weight whereas Holmes, when ill, became very, very thin. This iteration of Sign of Four is a beautifully crafted piece. The period detail can still alarm me with its quality, even after repeated viewings. Viewers are absolutely immersed in the Baker Street of the late Victorian period. The scenes of Sherlock's physical investigation of crime scenes are well rendered, faithfully presented the "real" Holmes in action, as described by Doyle. We even get to hear some of Sherlock's more quotable aphorisms which seem to be lifted from the actual text. Also, we see a bit of the detective's less pleasant social habits and misogyny - a bit of his darker side. The only thing that makes this interpretation of the book suffer is that it is **TOO** faithful to the original work. The long passage near the end of Johnathan Small's monologue has always dragged this story a bit and makes screen representations difficult. It's not that the film interpreted it poorly - it's that this passage simply violates the traditional climactic structure of a standard two hour film. This was typical of the Holmes novels, where Sherlock would be "off-screen" for long periods.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: This is baed on one of 4 Novels that Sir Conan Doyle wrote in his Sherlock Holmes series. Since the book has a lot of details and a lot of exposition that can really go wrong in a feature film length movie, I had expected that a reasonable change & corresponding adaptation were made to translate this into a movie. Alas! The constant mediocre suspense throughout the movie added on by Sherlock Holmes' very rude attitude toward Miss. Morstan were appalling. The book says that Sherlock Holmes said "state your case" in a brisk manner. "Brisk" is nothing close to being rude in its meaning of the word. Dr. Watson in numerous accounts describes Sherlock Holmes as having a gentleness towards women. He may not express any fondness for women but was chivalrous nonetheless. Granted the character of Sherlock Holmes is not an easy one to portray for any actors, and so far Jeremy Brett captures it the best. However, this one was surely disappointing. Holmes' keen nature and energy was well demonstrated but his good professional mannerism was surely lacking & compromised. I blame the script more than the actors really. This adapation just doesn't capture the tone & flow of the original book. I highly recommend short story adaptations like Adventures of Sherlock Holmes & the Return of Sherlock Holmes series in Granada Series intead of any feature length installment. Short story adaptations were much better than feature length ones.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful adaptation
Review: This may be my favourite of the magnificent Granada series starring Jeremy Brett, most of which I love; it's definitely the best of the two-hour versions. Watson doesn't get the girl, but the sentimental look on his face when he comments "What a very attractive woman!" at the end is a nice touch, considering that marriage for Watson wasn't really an option in a TV series. Jeremy Brett is brilliant as always; I love the way he speaks to Toby, the dog, and the expression on his face as he comments "It was I who opened it" to the weird Athelney Jones. The chase down the Thames is classic. Holmes is possibly a bit more arrogant and inconsiderate in this adaptation than he was in the book, but Brett was able to do that; sometimes his Holmes shows unexpected flashes of compassion, sometimes he's wonderfully intolerable! This is a good introduction to the series, though one of the shorter classics like "The Red-Headed League" or "The Second Stain" might be even better to whet the appetite.
Rating:
Summary: Pointless
Review: This second Sherlock Holmes novel, in which Watson falls in love with the client but still attempts to reunite her with the fortune that will separate them forever, has been rather unlucky in its screen adaptations. The first, in 1932, was a hyped-up vehicle for Arthur Wontner featuring fistfights, motorboat chases, and a peroxide Mary Morstan. This one was made in the middle of the Granada TV series and has two crippling problems. The first is Jeremy Brett, at the beginning of the illness that would take his life, and consequently losing his looks, voice, and presence. The second problem is that the central romance has been eliminated -- and without it, the whole point of the story (Watson's chivalry) is entirely lost. Stick with the pre-1987 titles in this series.
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