Rating: 
Summary: Not bad at all despite compressed plot
Review: Admittedly, this is much less of a movie than Tai-Pan is of a book. But the book is a giant among books, and the show is still a good show. Those who have read the book, rather than savaging it for its divergence from the book (which, in any case, would require a mini-series to do its layering and complexity justice, not a 2-hour show) should treat it as a kind of visual accompaniment to the story - good casting, good handling of some powerful scenes. Alright, they were much more powerful in the book, but it's not all the time that readers of a splendid book get the opportunity to see a capable visual incarnation that does justice to the characters, at least, if not to the plot. Maybe if the show had been titled "Selected Scenes from Tai-Pan" rather than "Tai-Pan" it would have been better received by purists. What I'm trying to say is it did treat the subject material well, although obviously it couldn't pack everything which makes us love the book into just two hours. In an adaptation of a book, when you can recognise each character instantly before the character's name is mentioned it's always a good sign - where there's good casting, it's a sign that it's a sensitive adaptation, and this was the case with Tai-Pan. I thought Bryan Brown was very good as Dirk Struan; I'm not Scottish, so I couldn't tell that his accent was as fake as many others seem to think it. I can see how those who haven't read the book would find it laughable, though, because due to the compression of the plot you don't really get to know the characters and understand their motivations from scratch. Some of Clavell's magnificent dialogue from the book might sound weird in the show, or lacking in punch, for those without a prior acquaintance of the book, because of this lack of emotional set-up. That's why I think it's best for those who have read the book, who already know the characters and can watch them fully-fledged, so to speak, as the show doesn't spend time introducing the audience to the characters. Perhaps the reason that fans of James Clavell's books are so vociferous in their criticism of this show, sometimes, is because they are acclimatised to splendid, detailed and heartfelt adaptations of so many of his other books - the Shogun mini-series, the Noble House mini-series and the King Rat film. Why, Clavell fans are really so fortunate already when it comes to screen adaptations! :) If we lowered our expectations a little, we'd see that Tai-Pan, too, is not that bad a treatment of the book at all!
Rating: 
Summary: Lousy adaptation
Review: As a collector of Clavell novels, and an owner of King Rat and Shogun, I looked forward to having Tai-Pan in my collection. Then, I got the video. Oh, brother. The screenwriters seemed to only have skimmed the book and then took great liberties with the story. Characters were left out, continuity was thrown out the window, and if Bryan Brown gets near a Scotish accent, please let me know. Stay away from this movie. Stick with the book, one of Clavell's best, and hope someday it gets the Mini-series treatment.
Rating:
Summary: Lousy adaptation
Review: As a collector of Clavell novels, and an owner of King Rat and Shogun, I looked forward to having Tai-Pan in my collection. Then, I got the video. Oh, brother. The screenwriters seemed to only have skimmed the book and then took great liberties with the story. Characters were left out, continuity was thrown out the window, and if Bryan Brown gets near a Scotish accent, please let me know. Stay away from this movie. Stick with the book, one of Clavell's best, and hope someday it gets the Mini-series treatment.
Rating: 
Summary: Slick but watchable
Review: Fans of Clavel will want to watch this if only to satisfy an appetite for his work, however compromised. From Sho-gun to Noble House to Tai-Pan to King Rat, these books are some of the most entertaining adventure stories around. The Shogun DVD series, widely regarded as exceptional and the under-rated King Rat feature film are now joined by this slick adaptation of Tai-Pan. I watched it as a mini-series. Because I was familiar with the Book and Clavel, I suffered thru the superficialities and slick production for a time but then predictably allowed myself to become engrossed in the story line. As will you.
Add it to your collection but stick it behind the Shogun box set.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent condensed version of Clavell's masterpiece
Review: For the small price, I wasn't expecting much. I was happily surprised with a wonderful cast of characters and a beautifully created screenplay which nicely captures the essence of the novel Tai-Pan. If you enjoyed the book, I recommend picking up the video. It's definitely worth watching. The acting may not be the best, but it really does do justice to the story.
Rating: 
Summary: many great moments
Review: Having read the book, I wanted to see the movie no matter how bad it was. It was interesting to watch, but not because the story was captivating... The story was a little dry after reading the excellent book with all of its characters, scenes, plots and sub-plots. I enjoyed watching to see what the writers would include and exclude. How much of the book can you chop away and still get the general story across? Well, quite a bit! They butchered the daylights out of the story. And, in order to make things work, they would often have the same events take place, but in a different sequence and by different people. Because they chopped so much out, including sub-plots and complex character motivations, scenes that had a lot of internal conflict in the book were very shallow and meaningless in the movie. Where Clavell would bring several sub-plots to a head in a "scene" of the book, the movie would only bring the one sub-plot that survived the cut. It would then add something that wasn't in the book to make the scene more interesting... and to justify it's existence. So it's worse than an abridged version of the book. If you saw the movie first, you probably wondered what all the fuss was about the book. I would LOVE to see a mini-series like Shogun... Then we could see more and better developed characters, more of the sub-plots, more of the actual story!
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the [$$$] I paid for it
Review: Having read the book, I wanted to see the movie no matter how bad it was. It was interesting to watch, but not because the story was captivating... The story was a little dry after reading the excellent book with all of its characters, scenes, plots and sub-plots. I enjoyed watching to see what the writers would include and exclude. How much of the book can you chop away and still get the general story across? Well, quite a bit! They butchered the daylights out of the story. And, in order to make things work, they would often have the same events take place, but in a different sequence and by different people. Because they chopped so much out, including sub-plots and complex character motivations, scenes that had a lot of internal conflict in the book were very shallow and meaningless in the movie. Where Clavell would bring several sub-plots to a head in a "scene" of the book, the movie would only bring the one sub-plot that survived the cut. It would then add something that wasn't in the book to make the scene more interesting... and to justify it's existence. So it's worse than an abridged version of the book. If you saw the movie first, you probably wondered what all the fuss was about the book. I would LOVE to see a mini-series like Shogun... Then we could see more and better developed characters, more of the sub-plots, more of the actual story!
Rating:
Summary: many great moments
Review: I agree with most reviewers that too much was cut out of the story. I would love to see a much longer miniseries treatment, too. But, Brock and his son were almost exactly as I had pictured them. And, the scene where Dirk has his men remove the tent to reveal the taels of silver is priceless. And also, the moment when Culum returns Brock's gold sovereigns with the admonition to "buy yourself a coffin" is great. I liked Bryan Brown in the role of Dirk (to be perfectly honest, I don't come into contact with many real Scotsmen so, I wouldn't know a fake Scottish accent from a fake Irish one - it was believable for me).
Rating:
Summary: Lost without having read the book
Review: I am a big Clavell fan who never got to see the Tai-Pan movie, so I ordered the tape. To appreciate this movie at all you must have read the book because too much has been left out to preserve the 2-hour time limit for major theatrical releases. The acting is good. The casting is OK. (May-May is a babe.) However, it is just too scattered to be a coherent piece of work. Those of you who have read Shogun and then seen the full version of the mini-series and later the 2-hour version can get an idea of what Tai-Pan is like. The full version of Shogun wasn't perfect (especially because it had to be censored for TV) but was basically good. The 2-hour version of Shogun was almost impossible to follow, even after having read the book and having seen the full version of the mini-series. I do have to admit that Clavell fans will be disappointed, but I still recommend that you watch it. For those of you who haven't read the book, I think you should pass.
Rating:
Summary: More like no stars
Review: I have seen all of James Clavell's literary works that have been turned into movies, "Shogun," "Tai-Pan," "King Rat," and "Noble House." Out of all these, "Tai-Pan" was the worst. In fact, one person I spoke with doubted if it even made it to the silver screen and didn't go straight to video. If that did happen, I applaud the film makes for not wasting our time and cash on such an awful film. So much was cut out, key plot points such as the half-coins, and trying to condense such a work into 2 hours just is simply impossible. "King Rat" was excellent when it was done in 129 minutes, but "Tai-Pan" was much more complex and deserved at least a two part mini-series like "Noble House," and "Shogun" got. Don't waste your money. If you really want to see this, then go to Blockbuster or your local library and rent it.
|
