Rating: 
Summary: A dark depressing story
Review: As a major fan of Jane Austen I am seriously dissapointed by this movie. It looks like it was filmed in the dark, with dark and heavy music as it's backdrop. Not only that but there didn't seem to be any happiness at the ending. It was a brooding not very well acted movie. I was sorry I spent money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: a little weird, but enjoyable...
Review: if you can get past the strange 80's soundtrack (and the fact that Mrs. Allen's 'torn muslin' isn't actually muslin), you'll enjoy this film. Oh yes...and if you thoroughly dislike fantasy sequences, stay away. Penned by Maggie Wadey, author of a number of BBC literary screenplays, this version is sweet and entertaining. Peter Firth is a bit prissy, but he's good-looking, and delivers his lines with grace and skill - he makes a fine Henry Tilney. Ingrid Lacey, as his sister Eleanor, is sympathetic, likeable, and memorable. Katharine Schlessinger, as Catherine Morland, has wonderful, wide blue eyes that make her look every bit the ingenue she ought to be. and the people who play the Thorpes are creepy as heck. I was happily reminded of my time in Bath by the filming locations. And after awhile, i even liked the silly sountrack.
Rating: 
Summary: What a bummer!
Review: i give this film 1 star, because no star was not an option. it was boring, disjointed and senseless. in sum, totally disappointing. a major directing and editing disaster.
i find it hard to believe it was a bbc production, which are usualy top notch. with that, and the fact that i'm a jane austin groupie, i bought the film without checking the ratings. i actually watched it twice,because i was sure i had missed something. there was nothing to miss. northanger abbey is the only austin book i haven't read yet, but i am looking forward to reading it in order to find out how far off the film missed its mark. i'm sorry i can't return it--the used copies don't seem to be selling very well.
Rating:
Summary: Lousy and Boring
Review: I can't wait for this short 2-hour movie to end because it was so badly acted! Compare this to the 6-hour movie-thon I spent watching Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle in P&P and did not want it to end! I have read the book twice and found the movie too flippant - no justice to Jane Austen's writing. The portrayal of Catherine's nightmares were unecessary and silly and took away valuable minutes that should have been better spent building up the characters. Good thing I do not own this!
Rating:
Summary: Gee, do you think this was made in the eighties?
Review: Of course I understand that movies cannot help but be affected by the time period during which they were made but this movie is just too much. It is very clear that it was made at the height of the slasher flick craze and it shoehorned it into the plot of a Jane Austen novel. Horror novels of the late eighteenth, early nineteenth centuries were more about atmosphere and melodrama than fingers being sewn together (yuck) The fantasies of Catherine were completely out of place and gave no indicator of how a girl of her time period really felt. In fact, none of the preformances convinced me that these were regency people and not modern actors wandering around sets. This is also what I call a "staring" movie. That is, to build up suspense, the characters flash one another meaningful glances as though that is supposed to make us gasp at their emotional intensity. To me, it just looked like indigestion. I am not a stickler for historically accurate music (if I were, I would never enjoy ANY movie) but I found the soundtrack annoying in the extreme. With it's sax/guitar nonsense, it sounded as though it had been lifted from a daytime drama. I returned the movie and read the book, much more rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: I actually didn't like the movie at all. It is the only Jane Austen adaptation in which I found nothing appealing. I usually can find parts that are effective, however, this movie was disappointing in every way. (The last scene is somewhat redeeming.) I would definitely recommend watching this movie BEFORE purchasing it. I bought it without watching it and it will do nothing but collect dust. It is the only Austen movie that I will NEVER watch again.
Rating: 
Summary: The Soundtrack Diverts Attention from the Film
Review: While this movie is done well, the female and male leads are acted well, the soundtrack that follows this film is not in Jane Austen style. It is very gothic sounding in places, and jazzy sounding in others. It distracts from the movie to the point that I had to ignore it, and concentrate on the acting. I would like to see a more up to date version of this movie done, where the soundtrack is more in the line of Jane Austen's time and style.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Austen Fare
Review: First of all, I'm a guy, so I haven't read a single Austen book. But I did really like the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility, so I have purchased additional Austen videos so I can share them with my girlfriend. (Action movies aren't an option.) I did enjoy this movie quite a bit, even though the production values aren't as good as S&S; but they didn't have that kind of money to spend, and they didn't have Ang Lee to direct it. I really liked the female lead in the movie. She captured a young and innocent look better than most actresses I could imagine (Emma Thompson, for example, could have never done this role). I laughed out loud at Catherine's gothic fantasies. They seem to capture the mood of a young girl's longing for the prince on the white horse quite well.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful production of a good book....
Review: NORTHANGER ABBEY by Jane Austin was written when she was very young (late teens?) and I believe it was her first novel. My understanding from a college course I took on Austen was that NA was the least polished of her six novels (EMMA held first place). However, many of the artistic elements and themes found Austen's later novels can be found in incipient form in NA so for that reason alone it is important and worthwhile to view and read NORTHANGER ABBEY. It amazes me that the very young daughter of a country vicar in 18th Century England could have written such a thoughtful, clever, and provocative book. Catherine Moreland, Austen's heroine in NA is a very good and natural girl, without guile but not a fool either, probably somewhat like Jane Austen herself although we know Austen was a bit more sophisticated about Gothic novels than Catherine as she soundly criticizes them through the voice of Henry Tilney. However, like Fanny Price, the heroine of MANSEFIELD PARK, Catherine Morland can detect "ne'er do well" young men and their sisters when they attempt to subvert her. And, like Fanny, Catherine recognizes goodness when she sees it in Henry Tilney and his sister. As in Austen's other novels, civility, propriety, sense, sensiblity, honesty, and forthrightness are important themes. Austen had a strong distaste for 18th Century Bath with it's false manners and insinuating habits. Her dislike is evident in the depiction of Bath society apparent on young Catherine's visit. The aged widow of the French Marquis (guilliotined) reminds one of the Elliot's relatives in PERSUASION. Austen was fond of politics (albeit from a drawing room perspective in NA) and her political sympathies are somewhat revealed in refernces to Whigs (she probably sympathized with them), the French Revolution, neoclassical garden design and architecture, clothing, nature versus artifice, and the rational versus the irrational. NORTHANGER ABBEY is beautifully depicted in this DVD. The film was part of a set of BBC productions made in the late 1970s and 1980s and although many of the films based on Austen's other books have been reworked (some more than once) since then, NORHTHANGER ABBEY has not been redone. I own the VHS version, and am happy to say the DVD is much better. Although this film was originally made for tv viewing, my DVD copy is clear as a bell. The settings for the film are scrumptious and those who have visited Bath (and like it) will not be disappointed by the beautiful cinematography showing the city and the surrounding area. Shots include the Royal Cresent; the Cathedral and the old Roman baths which were still operational in the 1800s (shown in this film with folks in 18th Century regalia); and the Assembly rooms. As usual, the BBC costuming, artifacts and other apsects including the marvelous conveyences such as litters and carriages lend verismilitude to the film. If you're a Janie fan or an Anglophile you will love this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Cover your ears
Review: You forget how important sound is to a film until you've heard it done badly. The music is so horrible that it ruins the entire film.
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