Valmont

Rating:
Summary: Missing Scene
Review: This film is definitely the better of the two versions of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The Widescreen DVD would definitely be the best way to experience this movie. The color is glorious. However, BE WARNED! If you own a VHS copy of this movie, don't discard it yet! Every single copy I have viewed of this DVD release has the exact same, (approximately 3 minute long), scene missing. The missing minutes, which are critical to the plot as it explains Valmont's actions in the end, occur in the Scene Selection "The Return." (Sorry. Rating loses 2 stars due to missing footage.)

Rating:
Summary: Pale imitation
Review: Valmont came out after the superior Dangerous Liasons and it suffers badly by comparison. Colin Firth is cute but he comes off like a drunken frat boy instead of the cold hearted monster that John Malkovich played. When Malkovich's Valmont dies you know why and it's actually a tragedy. With Firth's Valmont dies it seems pointless.

Annette Benning is okay at the Countess but while watching her I kept thinking of Glenn Close. Her version of the Countess would've eaten Annette alive. Meg Tilly is terrible. The actors playing young Cecile and Daunceny are well cast, I must say. This wasn't a bad film, it's just weak in several areas.

Rating:
Summary: Valmont vs. Dangerous Liasons
Review: In the minority I preferred Valmont to the over produced DL on a number of levels. Annette Benning is an engaging if somewhat deranged scorpion poised on the point of a very Dangereuse needle while Glenn Close is cold, icy and somewhat removed from the whole situation. In the Malkevitch vs. Firth debate the former is unattractive and slimey while Firth is a man obcessed with his own sexuality and conflicted about love at the same time.
Handsome and carefully crafted his Valmont is multi dimensional and alluring. He says more with his dark eyes and body language than JM has ever done.
The rest of the cast is equally superior Faruza Balk vs Uma Thurman FB wins, Sian Phillips vs Swoozey Kurtz-take a guess.
Meg Tilly is convincingly conflicted while Michelle Pfeiffer (one of my favs) is out of charecter and out of period just as she is in other period films.
The scope of DL vs Valmont may be superior and the costumes a bit more striking but overall I prefer Valmont. An interesting excercise if to watch both back to back and decide for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Wicked, but not evil
Review: I know that this film is based on the same material as Dangerous Liasons, but it is a completely different movie. I saw Dangerous Liasons once, and while I enjoyed it, I've never had a desire to see it again. I've seen Valmont twice, and have decided to purchase it so that I can view it whenever I want. Where Dangerous Liasons is dark, mean spirited, and somewhat over the top for my taste, Valmont is witty, sexy, and charming. There is bad behavior aplenty in Valmont, but the characters are human and appealing. They are wicked without being completely evil. As for Colin Firth, this may have been the first role I ever saw him play, but I'm honestly not sure. Since first seeing Valmont, I've watched Firth in several movies, but never recognized him as the same actor who played Valmont until recently. He is such a rascal as Valmont, compared to the stiff and somewhat repressed character he usually plays. I enjoyed all of the performances, including Benning's. Some of my most favorite movies include Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Bridget Jones' Diary. If you like those, you will probably like Valmont as well.

Rating:
Summary: Runs out of steam by the end - Foreman disappoints
Review: Being a fan of Dangerous Liasons, but also of Colin Firth, I had hoped for something just as good as DL.

Unfortunately, this film has none of the wit of the Malkovich version, although I wouldn't blame the performers - they are uniformly excellent. Rather, either the screenwriter or the director ran out of steam at the end, and instead of the brilliant comeuppence due the Marquess which brought such satisfaction to Dangerous Liasons, we have what is simply a sad ending, and that's all. I needed and wanted to see Valmont triumph over the Marquess and it didn't happen. Disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful - Excellent cast but not good enough script
Review: I have watched both Valmont and Dangerous Liaisons DVDs and I definitely prefer Valmont. It¡¦s true that the script for Dangerous Liaisons is more complete but Valmont gives more depth to each character. In fact, every time when I watch Valmont, I like it better.

Colin Firth as Valmont is charming and you¡¦ll truly believe why women fall for him even they knew he¡¦s evil. This movie is not his best performance, but he¡¦s done it beautifully and very easily, he became the centre of the movie for every frame he¡¦s in. I think Annette Bening¡¦s not good enough to play Merteuil as she laughed so much that it¡¦s a bit annoying. Still, she¡¦s delighted to look at in the movie with the wonderful costume. Cecil played by Fairuza Balk is best cast in addition to Colin Firth. She¡¦s sweet, young, and energetic and is able to convey her emotions simply with her eyes. I just love to see her. For Meg Tilly, she¡¦s sweet too but her performance becomes not profession enough when the above three actors are present.

Back to the story, I have two comments to make. Firstly, it¡¦s really wrong to have two focuses in the same movie ¡V one is on the evil game between Valmont & Merteuil while another one is the grow-up of Cecil. This focus has to be the game between Valmont & Merteuil. But there is not even a line to explain the relationship between them which makes audience quite confused at the beginning if the audience didn¡¦t read the book. So, when Merteuil told Valmont she still loves him, I simply doubt it because it's not convincing.

Secondly, the ending is so bad. In particular, the duel scene between Valmont and Decenary happens so suddenly and I get lost why Valmont wanted to kill himself like this. He seems lost his mind after he found out Merteuil was in bed with Dacenary. But as I just mentioned, you won't believe Valmont is so in love with Merteuil that he wants to die instead.

I have also watched the big hit done by Milos Forman ¡V Amadeus. In terms of production quality, it's not worse than Amadeus. I think Valmont deserved a better rating as it¡¦s a delightful and sweet movie with specular scenary. It just came in bad timing.

Rating:
Summary: Just OK
Review: I must admit that the main and only reason that I purchased this movie is because I am so in love with Colin Firth. Anyway, while it is an ok movie (totally no re-watch value)....ALL COLIN FIRTH fans BEWARE!!! There is a specific icky scene in the movie where he seduces a young girl of 15(and she really looks fifteen if not younger!). Anyway, I now want to go bang my head up against a tree until I have amnesia so I can forget this part! So if your wanting this movie to see the charming Mr. Darcy, Mark Darcy, Earnest Worthing, or the newest... Henry Dashwood, Then DON'T waste your money!!! My best advice, if your supremely curious like me, is to rent it if you can find it.

Rating:
Summary: It's hard to say...
Review: This movie was an interesting version of the novel it is unfortunate that the timing had it come after the stronger Frears film.
When I first saw this film I liked it well enough but I watched it again recently and found myself laughing in too many places that I shouldn't have.
I do agree with the folks that say Cecile and Dauceny in this are better cast. While I liked Uma and Keanu they were both much to old to play the parts.
I've also read the book and the fact is that the book is actully a series of letters between the characters. (Many of the main charcters actually never even physicaly meet.)The end of the Forman version has nothing to do with the original plot. The Frears version doesn't complete the ending either but it is far more acurate.
It is hard to say why I now find this movie very funny but I do think there is some rather severe overacting being done by both Benning and Firth.
If you like Colin Firth I truly cannot recomend this film, watch Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones Diary or Circle of Friends to truly see his talents!
I've had some further thoughts about this film...I disagree with folks about the ages and "Prettiness" of the Colin v. John and Annette vs. Glenn and here is why, unlike DL the cast of Valmont is in fact too pretty. Why does a man have to be physically beuatiful to carry of Valmont? And the ages are not as far off as you think. John M. was 33-34 when DL was made and Glenn Close was 39-40. It should not matter since people of that era died much younger and looked far less atractive than we do now, ESPECIALLY the rich, who indulged themselves to grossness. Why do you think the Revolution happend soon after the events of this film? What is laughable to me is the comments that Frears film is more Hollywood than Formans, umm why? Frears used accomplished actors who were in the proper age range, with a couple of exceptions, who did not rely on great physical 20th century beauty but extremely strong character and personality. I realy like Colin Firth but JM exudes a confidence and strengh of character that Firth does not in this film. Valmont is an ACCOMPLISHED seducer, and it is far more convincing to me to see Malcovich, who doesn't look like a GQ model accomplish this than Firth. The same goes for Benning who did not convince me at all that she was capable of half the stuff Merteuil did as much as Glenn was capable of...

Rating:
Summary: What is WRONG with you people!!!
Review: I cannot believe that everyone who posted for Valmont thought it was so amazing... No offense guys, but you have no clue what you are talking about! Valmont was one of the Worst movies I have Ever seen! There was no plot development or character development, the whole movie was choppy and confusing, so many questions were left unanswered, Annette Benning was incredibly annoying, some of the characters had accents and some didn't (which was just careless and made the movie less beleiveable), And the worst thing was that the explaination on the back of the movie had nothing to do with what actually happened in the movie. The back of the DVD actually told the story of Dangerous Liasons... however, in Valmont, he does not fall in love with the girl who is part of the bet... instead he screws her over and leaves her in the rain! Every character in this movie was so unbearable that it was hard to watch. What is sad is that my mom and I bought this movie because we are so in love with Colin Firth. All I can say is that I hope he regrets being part of such a disaster of a movie. All you Colin fans out there BEWARE of Valmont... it sounds nice... until you spend [$$]on it only to find out that some movies are better off in the trash where they can't hurt anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Cast
Review: This version of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" was short changed by Stephen Frears "Dangerous Liaisons" (A decent movie in its own right). Milos Forman's direction was wonderful. In addition to the direction, the great success of this film is in its casting. As good as John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Uma Thurman are in Dangerous Liaisons, Colin Firth, Annette Bening (one her two greatest performances, along with "The Grifters", IMO), Meg Tily, and Fairuza Balk are far and away the better cast in the sense that they make the story feel far more authentic. "Dangerous Liaisons", on the other hand, feels fabricated and overblown (very hard to believe that Glenn Close is supposed to be in her mid 30's and that Uma Thurman is playing a 15 year old). "Valmont" gives you a much more accurate sense of how this plot would play out without the Hollywood fanfare.

Magnificent Film! I've been waiting for quite some time to finally see this one arrive on DVD! Enjoy!