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Summary: What a wonderfully romantic movie!
Review: I remember seeing this when I was about 14 or 15 and I just had to go back and see it again and again. This is the story of Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter), a proper young lady who travels to Italy with her chaperon Charlotte (Maggie Smith). Once there, Lucy meets and falls in love with George (Julian Sands) who is everything poor Lucy, with her repressed upbringing, is not.However, when Charlotte catches them kissing (in a breathtaking scene) the spell is broken. BVack in England, Lucy is set to marry Cecil Vyse (an irrecognizable Daniel Day Lewis) who embodies the term "pompous prig". George makes his way back to Lucy's life but first Lucy must deal with Cecil and Charlotte in order to find happiness with George. Love the lovely movie, if you're looking for a love story to take you away, this is it. Watch also for a hilarious appearance by Judi Dench as an annoying writer who writes Lucy and George's kiss into her silly novel.
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Summary: The perfect film
Review: Is there any cinematic experience more perfectly pleasurable than A Room with a View? Many films induce a good scare, a good cry, a good laugh: this film induces the something much rarer -- pure, unadulterated joy. A Room with a View has become for me a sort of litmus test for new acquaintances: if the mention of this film produces a knowing smile, I know the person is worth talking to.
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Summary: Simply the most beautiful movie ever made
Review: This is, by far, the most beautiful movie ever made. E.M. Forster's masterpiece is lovingly brought to the screen by Merchant-Ivory and an impeccable cast. If you somehow fail to fall in love with this film, you have no soul. The writing is superb, sets and scenery divine, and casting dead-on.
Rating: 
Summary: Room With A View
Review: I watched this movie 8 years ago and loved it. The scenes taken in Florence, Italy were magnificent. The soundtrack was very good too. This movie got me started in watching the rest of the Ivory-Merchant productions. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Not just a period piece; wonderful cinema as well
Review: There is no doubt that the Merchant/Ivory/Jhabvala film, "A Room with a View," sets out to take a close look at English social mores around the turn of the century, but fortunately it also offers us a delightful scenario, with strong performances from an interesting cast. The English, it seems, are never happier than when they are playing at being themselves. Some may find the opening scenes rather tedious, since we are just being introduced to this stilted post-Victorian society and, for the first half-hour, the character of the chaperone has the upper hand. I thoroughly enjoyed this beginning; the social exchanges taking place at the Pensione Bertolini were full of subtleties and one could sense, from the presence of Miss Bonham-Carter, the leading lady, that the slowness wasn't going to last. Just as we were beginning to get exasperated, so was she. From then on, exit the chaperone, and enter the scalding beauty whose story this is. Set in bustling Florence and then the English countryside, the film gives us a privileged look into English society (was this the intention of E. M. Forster, the novelist, I wonder) as it carefully nurtures the last niceties of the age. Hints are broadly given that this is a film about breaking out of those very conventions into which the English seem to find themselves helplessly trapped; several of the characters are trying, but not very hard, to keep up appearances. As for the main character, she is obliged to break with convention as hard-headedly as she can, in order to find the happiness that, we the viewers, are led to suspect is but a mere heartbeat away. It is a movie that must have been wonderful on the big screen; the photography is sometimes epic in nature and the decor is invariably rich. Still, by turning the volume up so you don't miss some of the finer points of the dialogue, you will enjoy what is an entirely satisfying piece of cinema, on the television, I'm sure.
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Summary: Simply Stunning
Review: I fell in love with this movie the first time I rented it on video. After renting it several times, I bought my own copy and have watched it so many times the tape is getting worn. This movie has it all--humor,romance,a superb cast, breathtaking scenery and two of the most beautiful Puccini arias ever--exquisitely performed by the incomparable Kiri Te Kanawa. One of my favorite movies of all time and definitely worth purchasing on DVD!
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Summary: Nothing short of stunning
Review: This is on my Top 5 best movies of all time list. Words cannot begin to describe it. The acting (Helena Bonham Carter IS Lucy as Forster must have envisioned her), story, photography, music, direction, costumes and everything about it leaves me breathless. I've been to Florence and it makes me smile every time I watch the movie (which I've done hundreds of times) when I remember walking those same streets and piazzas and treading those same blossom covered hills. There are insufficient superlatives to describe it. Words fail me - the movie is simply sublime. One thing I have to ask is, why has this movie not been released on DVD. It is absolutely crying out to be seen in this format. I also have an old ex-rental copy which is almost worn out. It was already well watched when I bought it. Obviously a very popular movie. I'm told it ran for 18 straight months in cinemas in Sydney when it was released. I adore it. It makes me yearn to do the Victorian Grand Tour myself, not the rushed version I did in the 70s. Next year perhaps. Lastly, reviewers have criticised its pace. This is not True Lies - it is a movie whose every moment must be savoured. It deserves nothing less.
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Summary: Room With a View
Review: I have seen this movie a hundred times, and still can watch it over and over again. It's like a mini vacation from the real world, yet has real-world issues to think about. The scenes are beautifully crafted, especially of the swimming hole. The movie itself is beautiful to look at, but also wonderful to listen to. Of all the "British period pieces," it is the standard which I judge all others.
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Summary: A Splendid Film In It's Own Right
Review: Although I've seen "A Room with a View" several times over the past 15 years , I've only recently bought the video (to replace a used up "dubbed" videotape copy). I absolutely love period romantic films, and "A Room with a View" is among the best ever produced. Reading over the other reviews, I discovered that many have compared the film (almost always favorably) with the book. But after reading the book by E.M. Forster for the first time this past week, I found that there is really no comparison to be made - both Forster's and Merchant and Ivory's versions of the story are told splendidly, each offering its own take on romance and social mores of the early 20th century. I've long ago given up comparing book and film adaptation versions - most times, I find that each presents some wonderful insights and surprising twists to the same themes and scenes. The film, with its wonderful acting, dialogue, music and cinematography, highlights the most beautiful and clever portions of the book and melds them together to make a truly delightful cinematic masterpiece. For those who expressed disappointment over the film's "lack of depth", I grant that in many ways I agree, but that is only another indication of the success of this film adaptation. A truly successful "Hollywood" adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel makes the story accessible to all moviegoers and, hopefully, compels them to learn more about the original literary piece and its author. To discover the depth in the movie's deceptively simple plot, follow this formula - (1) Buy and watch the movie; (2) Buy and read E.M. Forster's novel; (3) Watch the movie again. Trust me, the time and energy in discovering the "beauty and joy" in both versions of "A Room with a View" will be well worth it!
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Summary: From Houston
Review: This is the best movie adaptation of any book that I have ever seen. It was made with a grace and accuracy that movies adapted after books today has not captured. I absolutly treasure this book, and this movie is one that I feel more and more satisfied with after each viewing. It also captures the Italian countryside and Florence with exceptional views.
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