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A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

List Price: $14.97
Your Price: $10.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Miss the mark
Review: It's better than nothing, but Scrooge was not such an over-acting robust person, as Patrick Stewart. This marvelous book has never been done accurately. All someone has to do is just use the words from the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not Humbug!
Review: I have read Dicken's A Christmas Carol and this movie is the closest to the book that I have ever seen. Patrick Stewart is an awesome actor and brings power to every performance he does.I think that is why he's the only actor from the Star Trek worlds not type cast. When I see anything he's in I don't think Captain Picard but whatever role he's playing. Now I'm not saying other actors have never been as good as Scrooge, but Steward and Alister Sim in his version are the only two who could make me hate Scrooge but at the same time feel sorry for him, because he is a doomed man, doomed to spend his life in his own misery. Sterward's performance at the end warms your heart also as a man who realizes something wonderful has happened to him, he has a second chance to save himself. Because there are so many versions of this story on film I think people judge them all the same, especially the new ones, but don't pass this one by, it has become a new Christmas tradition in my home.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: By far the movie most compatable with the book!...
Review: This movie is great. It follows the book in almost every aspect. The casting is great and I especially enjoyed the terrific performance of Patrick Stewart. He did a great job and seemed to naturally fit the role of Scrooge. Some of the effects in the movie were rather poorly done for example the tornado that carries them to the lighthouse, but I honestly could care less because it is the only version of the movie that even has those scenes in it. This is by far the best version made! I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best one yet
Review: I thought this was the best of all of the "A Christmas Carol" movies. I thought it was very well done, and the spirits were great! I taped this movie off of ABC, and I think I need to purchase the DVD. Can't wait to see it in excellent quality.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Should have filmed the one-man show.
Review: Mr. Stewart's one man stage performance of "A Christmas Carol" is one of the best things I've seen, but this filmed, effects-heavy TV rendition lacks the magic of both the stage version and the 1984 TV version with George C. Scott. I give it an extra star for including scenes left out of most movie versions (like the lighthouse) and for making Christmas Past male like he was he the book.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great Actor / Wrong Movie
Review: I absolutely love Patrick Stewart but he was totally wrong for this film. He sounded like he was reading from a script instead of acting. I turned it off 1/2 way through.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another great movie by the best Actor.
Review: Patrick Stewart who acted out the Christmass Carol on broadway solo for years now brings you the best version out on video/dvd. If you appreciate great acting, great effects this is for you. This not is not the children's soiled down version but the version Dickens would be proud of. A must for any syewart fan.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not very convincing
Review: I saw only the DVD version of this most recent presentation of "A Christmas Carol", and must say that it was terribly disappointing. It completely lacks the heart and soul of two very superior versions done first by Alastair Sim, and then brilliantly by George C. Scott. There are good special effects, and if you are a Patrick Stewart fan, then you will probably greatly enjoy this movie. But Stewart's interpretation of Scrooge is almost one-note, and he changes his tune only very late in the game. His performance simply pales desperately in comparison to that of Sim or Scott. In addition, the supporting cast is very average (the Scott version has the strongest supporting cast of any version, in my opinion), the overall tone of the picture too bright throughout, and the liberties taken with the updated language is pointlessly disconcerting. This is no competition for past versions of "A Christmas Carol", and it hurts to have to be negative about Patrick Stewart's performance. There are not a lot of extra features on the DVD, although their are two interesting short features on the making of the movie. For what it's worth, my recommendation remains the 1984 George C. Scott version, which is exceptional in every way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dead as a Doornail---I don't think so
Review: After many years of performing A Christmas Carol in a one man Broadway show, Patrick Stewart is handed the mantle of the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge. He does so with style, grace, and a distinguished air which brings to light a new perspective to the character. The movie is stylistically wonderful; the writing shows transitions from scene to scene and depicts Dickens' story with clarity, elegance, and almost complete accuracy.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I am truly amazed at the great reviews this video received. I am a great fan of a Christmas Carol and watch the 1951 and 1984 version every year--several times! I was sure that a version starring Patrick Stewart had to be fantastic. Well, this is the poorest version I've seen. Stewart, who is a great actor, puts very little into this role. In fact, his English accent appears to have taken leave of him. All of the acting in this version is very mediocre, and the "modernized" language just doesn't work. If you want to modernize the language, then move it forward to the 20th century. Tiny Tim appears in just one brief scene, and you never get any sort of feel for him---and the closeness between him and his father. He is also very healthy looking--in fact, he looks like an ordinary child who injured his leg and needs a crutch to walk. So when Scrooge asks the spirit, if this seemingly healthy child will live, it seems almost comical.

Several of the most powerful scenes were also watered down--in particular, when the ghost of Christmas present (who was so lifeless and dull, and not a giant like he's supposed to be)opens his robe to show Ignorance and Want. In the other versions, I still feel jolted when he opens his robe, even though I've seen it so many times. In this version, it was so blah.

The special effects add nothing to it, and in fact, make it rather hokey. Especially the spirit of Christmas future--with those glowing eyes, it looks like something that Captain Picard would have met on the Enterprise (maybe Stewart got confused what century he's in).

Anyway, I do not plan on adding this version to my Christmas Carol repetoire. If you want to see a modernized version, I suggest you see the delightful "Scrooged" with Bill Murray. But if you want to see something that Dickens had anything to do with, I suggest the 1951 or 1984 versions, both of which are great. Several people have claimed that this version is the only one that follows Dickens work scene for scene--well, what's the point if the acting is so plastic and emotionless and the speech has been transformed to modern day American slang?


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