Rating: 
Summary: Colin Firth Almost Ruins It
Review: This miniseries stays very close to the plot of the famous Jane Austen novel without ever managing to really catch its spirit. The book is much funnier and livelier than this version leads you to believe.The sets and costumes are very nice and very well photographed, and most of the cast is very good. Colin Firth is an exception. He is nothing like Mr. Darcy in the book and he can't act his way out of a paper bag. I have to deduct two stars due to his performance alone.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite series ever!
Review: This production of Pride and Prejudice is incredibly well done. The scenery, the mansions, the costumes all are spectacular. The actors are all perfect in their roles, especially Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. The miniseries truly lives up to the book.
Rating:
Summary: If You've Not Read The Book You'll Likely Enjoy It
Review: Jane Austen (1775-1817) was among the early English novelists--and so exceptional was her talent that today her reputation as a great artist remains largely unsurpassed and her novels are among the most critically praised and most beloved in world literature. Many, myself among them, consider PRIDE AND PREJUDICE her single finest work, and when I heard this 1995 BBC miniseries praised as a flawless adaptation I was eager to see it. The story, of course, concerns the verbal and emotional duel between the sharp-witted and incisive Elizabeth Bennet and the formidable Darcy as they negotiate their era's highly restrictive code of conduct--first despising each other and then gradually and often grudgingly falling in love. But where Austen presents us with a brilliant comedy of manners told with tremendous speed, grace, irony, and brilliant bursts of satire and wit, here we have something much more akin to your run of the mill period melodrama. Basically, producer Sue Birtwistle, director Simon Langton, and screenwriter Andrew Davies seem to have confused Austen's Elizabeth and Darcy with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Jennifer Ehle certainly looks the part of Elizabeth Bennet and gives every evidence of being able to play Austen's creation to tremendous effect--but her sharpness is repeatedly blunted by the direction, and far from being spirited she seems to vacillate between bemused humor and fits of hysteria. Even so, this corruption of the original character pales beside Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy, which is completely unlike anything Austen ever wrote in any novel, much less in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Firth is horrifically miscast, and instead of seeming to be a gentleman of high birth, tremendous wealth, and a great estate he seems considerably more like a bootblack trying to pass for gentry. Moreover, he plays the role in exactly two notes, alternating sullen glances with loving looks; it has all the depth of a pancake, and a very thin one at that. Nor is Firth the only horror among the cast; David Bamber (Mr. Collins), Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet), and Alison Steadman (Mrs. Bennet) do their level best to reduce their roles to pure character. Indeed, Bamber is so incredibly bad, Sawalha is so determined to play her role as if she were a Victorian streetcorner tart, and Steadman is so unbearably strident that I frequently found myself visiting the bathroom during their scenes. Even so, the film does have saving graces. There are a number of astonishingly good performances scattered throughout, including performances by Susannah Harker (Jane Bennet), Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet), and Lucy Briers (Mary Bennet)--the latter of whom neatly sidesteps the host of traps inherent to the role. Particularly fine is Barbara Leigh-Hunt, who gives an astonishingly inspired turn as the overbearing and utterly ridiculous Lady Catherine de Bourgh, bring Austen's character off the page and to the screen with true brilliance. The production values are also remarkably fine--it would seem as Austen herself ordered them, and it is a tremendous pity that the talents involved here paid considerably less attention to Austen's description of character than they did to her descriptions of gowns, furnishings, and a look of early 1800s rural England. The two disk set describes itself as "The Special Edition," but in truth there is very little "special" about it. The transfer is mediocre at best, often undercutting the impact of the visual elements, and the DVDs offer only truly minor information re Austen and a superficial "making of" documentary. But the documentary does offer one interesting point: producer Birtwistle flatly states that she set out to make a popular film of a popular novel. It is true that PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is one of the most popular novels of world literature, but it is a great deal more than just pop fiction, a point that Birtwistle seems to have missed entirely. All in all, if you've never read a word of Jane Austen's novel you'll very likely enjoy this film--and if that enjoyment leads you to actually read the book so much the better. But for all its fine feathers, this 1995 BBC production isn't a patch on the four hour 1985 BBC version starring Elizabeth Garvey, which is considerably truer in tone to Austen's brilliance. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: P&P
Review: The movie Pride and Prejudice is my personal favorite movie in the world. It is very close to the book. I have read the book over 10 times. The book and movie are beautifully written.The characters are so funny (Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, etc.) and you can't wait to see or read more. The movie brings out the best in the book. Because of the Pride and Prejudice movie I am officially obsessed!!
Rating:
Summary: Polite People Speaking With English Accents
Review: The BBC's production of "Pride & Prejudice," starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, is one of the finest television mini-series ever made. It was released during the Jane Austen adaptation craze of the early- to mid-nineties. In terms of quality and entertainment value, it bests most of the theatrically released Austen adaptations of the past decade, with the sole exception probably being Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility" (from Emma Thompson's screenplay). UNFORTUNATELY, this DVD edition is so poorly produced that first-time viewers may find this 5-star production anything but. "Enigma," another English production, was initially released in a similarly execrable DVD edition, then later re-released with a far, far superior transfer. One can only hope this will happen for "Pride & Prejudice." For one, the video appears to be converted from PAL, the European video standard. The colors are horrifically washed out; the series now looks like it was shot in 1963. There is also some very obvious video artifacting and compression; the series needed another disc to maximize picture quality. Quite disappointing. Despite the DVD's drawbacks, "Pride & Prejudice" is still a wonderful retelling of Austen's masterpiece, with consistently excellent performances from the entire cast. (Jennifer Ehle, interestingly, is not British.) On this DVD, however, it is now much less sumptuous -- hence the three stars.
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Summary: Sweetness and Love
Review: This is one of my most favorite movies. I normally am not a romance fan at all. However, Jane Austen has all ways been able to hold my interest. The characters are always so alive and vibrant.
This is an excellent movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
I highly recommend it to any one who wants a very sweet story. With not much depression attached to it.
Rating:
Summary: a great version
Review: This version of "Pride and Predjudice" with Colin Firth is one of the best. I highly recommend it. The costumes are great and it's romantic and has wonderful scenery. Its also pretty much true to the book also.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful version of Jane Austen's classic masterpiece
Review: It's really marvelous. The cast is outstanding, especially Mr. Colin Firth(he is such a handsome Mr. Darcy!). It's worth having it in your DVD collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Review by Ben
Review: I am a little bit disappointed they omitted several tiny but important details in the original book. It should have been put into the screenwriting.
1. In her first evening at Netherfield, Caroline Bingley was trying to get the attention of Darcy, to no avail. She finally asked Elizabeth to walk around the room, which prompted Darcy to unconsciously close the book he was reading, and looked up. This small detail is not in the movie.
2. During her visit to Pemberley, it is not shown in the movie that Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner was shocked that Darcy gave so much attention to Elizabeth. They knew Elizabeth hated Darcy and they were told how evil he is, yet they are not surprised or suspicious enough that Darcy is so kind, gracious, and pay so much attention to her.
I know this scene is very different from the book, because in the book it is what I will say a little bit unnatural. How can Elizabeth still managed to walk around the garden for a long time when Darcy suddenly appeared, is so unnatural. The movie version is much better and closer to real life.
3. In the movie, it is very disappointing they ignore how Elizabeth informed her mother about Darcy's proposal. In the book it was outlined in great detail, I mean it's very long and special. Yet, in the movie suddenly after Elizabeth being questioned by her father about Darcy's proposal, we were given the scene at the wedding. And they show us the face of her mother, cold, unhappy (it looks like that to me). W
What was her reaction? Did she realize that Darcy spent a fortune for her family without anyone knowing? That he was the one saving Lydia? All these details are ignored in the movie. Too bad.
4. Casting is difficult, and critical too. Although in general I am very happy with the choice of the actors, I am disappointed with Mr. Wickham. He was supposed to be 28 years old, but in the movie he looks like 40 to me, and not handsome enough. In the book, Wickham is more handsome than Darcy.
Even Colin Firth, playing Darcy, during shooting he was already 35, a little too old for a 28 years old. As for their acting, I cannot say anything but SUPERB. I love this movie.
Rating:
Summary: The best Jane austen adaption
Review: This is the best Jane austen adaption, book to film.
Colin Firth is perfectly cast as Mr.Darcy.
I recommend reading the book as well.
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