Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre, But Cool
Review: I first saw "Gormenghast" on PBS over the summer. I loved the characters and the storyline, and I even cried at the end. During a few scenes, I was thinking, "What the freak is going on here?" but it was still cool. One thing that was odd was that Steerpike and Fuschia never seem to grow any older over a period of seventeen years. And Fuschia was too fickle with her affection for Steerpike. I liked it though. Oh, and one more thing: Who would want to name their kid Fuschia?
Rating: 
Summary: A dreamscape worth watching
Review: One night I was able to catch the first episode of Gormenghast on one of my local stations and I knew I just needed to see the rest of the movie. Now, after watching all four episodes and listening to the commentary about the books themselves and the movie, I can safely recommend this DVD to anyone who likes dreamy settings and unusual stories. The bright details of the land of Gormenghast lend a very surreal additive to the tale, and you may even find yourself siding with Steerpike! Intrigue, romance, adventure, comedy, and drama, this movie has everything anyone could want in a movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Gormenghastly
Review: For anyone who has actually read the powerful fantasy novels by Mervyn Peake from which this series was allegedly adapted, viewing it is excruciatingly painful. The books deeply and with eloquent writing depict the physical angst of adolesence, powerless and confusing childhood. The series on the other hand by the BBC is sheer tele-tubbies shallowness, drek, and utterly unconvincing travesty. The lack of motivation for Steerpike (portrayed by a totally over the top, manic without meaning Jonathan Rhys Meyer) echoed throughout the entire four part series. And what, one must ask, was the point of director Andy Wilson's idea in the concluding act that what he really wanted to do was recreate Broadway's Phantom of the Opera love story? Wilson's directing, throughout, must have consisted of "Fine, next scene, please," because everyone is chewing scenery, even those quite capable of nuanced, moving performances, such as Ian Richardson, June Brown, and Zoe Wanamaker. I'd prefer to give it NO stars, thank you very much. Don't waste your time or money. Buy the novels, read them, let your mind paint a far better version than this drek. Makes me wish to petition parliament for restoring public flogging for the director, screenwriter, and costume designer (I mean really....the soldiers wear WW I German helmets?! and the "poet laureate" wears something more appropriate to a an old Dutch Masters cigar commercial). Phah!
Rating: 
Summary: Not a very good adaption
Review: Although Gormenghast is a good movie in itself, and I enjoyed watching it very much, its actually not that great of an adaption of Peake's wonderful books. Alright, to put it bluntly, sometimes its just plain horrible. Heres a list of the horrible and the good things, horrible things first:
The Horrible things in this movie:
Steerpike's mask-what in the world were they thinking of, Phantom of the Opera? Ugh.
Steerpike's fake burn scars-Looked like they stuck cheap clay all over his face...not really all that, "White and Scarlett", was it?
Fuchsia-Neve McIntosh, the actress who played Fuchsia, was abominable. What the script done to Fuchsia was abominable. It took a wonderful,complex,artistic,loving,and fascinating character and made her into a spoiled,hysterical,slightly ditzy brat. And oh my god, Neve McIntosh is one of the worst actresses I have seen in years...
The Castle-Mervyn Peake describes the castle as being old and crumbling and gigantic. A large gothic castle. In the series it looks more like a small town, very pastel and pretty and small.
Useless and sometimes just plain horrible things they added in-The "why don't you take that mask off!" bedroom scene between Fuchsia and steerpike, and the scene near the end where Steerpike comes to Fuchsia for help when hes a fugitive, both scenes which make Fuchsia look bad.
Trying to make Steerpike more sympathetic and trying to turn him into a Hamlet like character.
Fuchsia's suicide-Gee, I guess next time I dive into the swimming pool I'll die on contact like Fuchsia did? Not only did they do a horrible thing in changing the manner of Fuchsia's death, but they also had to do it in a completely unrealistic and ridiculous way.
Turning an imaginative,dark,beautiful story into a light sometimes silly comedy.
Some very bad overacting(not going to name names here...besides Neve, and she was so terrible I just HAD to mention her)
The scene in the first episdoe with Steerpike clowning around for Fuchsia in her attic-This scene is so horrible and embarrassing I just had to mention it. JRM(who is usually an excellent actor)is very cringe worthy in this scene, and of course Neve is her usual talentless self. Its a very very very bad scene *shudders*
Now onto the good things about this movie:
Stephen Fry was in it and made a wonderful Bellgrove.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers-This is a purely shallow good thing. JRM is one of the most bloody gorgeous actors in the world. I would have *liked* to have seen Steerpike played by someone who resembled the Steerpike in the books but JRM is so goodlooking that I just can't bring myself to complain. His talented acting,good looks, and charisma is one of the best things about this movie and what keeps me watching it.
Celia Imrie, Fiona Shaw, Zoe Wannamaker, Lynsey Baxter-All fantastic and do really good jobs with their roles. Irma getting ready for her party always makes me chuckle.
The script has a nice light, surreal imaginative,fairytale feel to it. So if you are a great lover of the books and are expecting a good adaption, you're not going to find it here. But if you just feel like watching an original well done movie, well, here it is.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Normally I won't write these things but this movie takes my breath away. Visally it is amazing. There is nothing lacking in substance either. To many movies leave you with one level charaters, but not this. The people have moods and confusing feelings for each other! This is so pychologically scary, too. You know people like this. It's hard to describe so just watch it. Trust me. ;)
Rating:
Summary: Please read the books instead.
Review: For the [price] you pay for the DVD you could buy (at least) the first two, and most satisfying, books of the trilogy in hardback and own one of the finest pieces of literature ever written. As small screen entertainment, Ghormenghast fails to capture any of the scale and drama of the Peake masterpiece and you'll watch it once (if that) and wish you hadn't. This really is dross...
Rating:
Summary: "Strange and quite disorienting being here...
Review: ....recently awakened from a dream." Those are lyrics from the Broadway musical "Titanic", but they ring true for this innovative piece of storytelling. Thanks to great special effects, costuming, sets, and CGI it's baffling at times, awash in sounds, imagery, and a general existance of characters and objects that won't make sense if you don't completely give yourself up to the fact that this is another world and this is a modern fairy tale. The story is perfectly sane, and is just told in a very weird and colorful blend. I found this to be a bit extreme, but thouroughly entertaining. The story was a bit hard to follow once in a while, and I found it dragged now and then. I've never read the books so I don't know how close it stayed to the actual storyline. Neverthless, it got it's point across and I loved it. Great movie, PBS has truly outdone itself yet again.
Rating:
Summary: That was awful! Terrible! (I sat through the entire movie.)
Review: Gormenghast is one of the worst movies I've seen, excluding martial arts action films. Most of the characters were utterly without depth or interest, being overdramatic quota-filling morons. The cast consistently overacted. They were ridiculous, but not enough to be funny. The beginning was hard to follow because there wasn't proper explanation between scenes for those who haven't read the books. Some parts might have seemed profound in the book but were unnecessary extras in the movie, like the girl Titus decided he loved. Fuschia was a neurotic bimbo, and extremely annoying. Her drowning was instant. For the sake of accuracy, it should have been much longer and more excruciating. The only good character was Steerpike, who was evil and by the end very hard to sympathize with. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is simply beautiful, though, and it's very hard to dislike him in the role. Watching his face was the only reason I stayed to the end of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it! From a long-time Peake reader
Review: Having gone through three copies of the Gormenghast Trilogy since the '60s, I was a little wary of a film. BBC does it again, however - I found this a splendid adaption. I felt it captured the heart and pulse of this stifling, complex world even if all the detail of the novels could not be included. I wonder how Titus Alone would come out - it has always felt very 50's/post-modern to me. Wonderful whether you've read the books or not. Thanks BBC!
Rating:
Summary: Absorbing and relevant
Review: I watched this straight through without interruption. The very beginning, the introduction to the characters (with one exception) was tedious and fussy-funny in a slightly irritating way. Once the tale begins to unfold, I was hooked. The one exception is Steerpike's entry into the film: Jonathan Rhys-Myers takes over from his first appearance. The physicality and feline qualities he brings to his portrayal make his naturally elegant, distilled evil seductive and intelligently existential. Yet one never misses the rage underneath the grace. Quite a performance. The movie (really mini-series) is really about such things as honor, loyalty, self-knowledge and responsibility, ossification of institutions, renewal, all comprehensible in contemporary ways, thus quite relevant. Yet it revolves around the bad guy for whom we almost cheer. There is also a self-defeating love story which adds poignancy to the film's resolution. The settings and costumes are not fixed in time......anachronisms abound......but they are arresting, sumptuous, and contribute to the timelessness of the themes the story addresses. Some backdrops are obvious and make you wish they had done something with a computer.... the final ride into the sun is a bit cheesy. Put up with the slow start and some isolated instances of the not-very-funny-broad-English-humor (to me in America anyway). This film is worth it. I know I will watch it again. I've never read the novel.
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