Les Miserables

Rating:
Summary: It made me an instant Les Mis fan
Review: Exsquisitly masterful. Never has the Les Miserables story been told quite the same as it is here. Liam Neeson and Geoffery Rush were an exceptionally wonderful team in their roles as the arch-enemies Valjean and Javert. I was on the edge of my seat the entire length of the movie.. the 6th time I saw it! This is a rare treasure that I just cannot get enough of. A MUST see for anyone who loves the classics.

Rating:
Summary: It butchered the story
Review: There were too many flaws in this movie to name, so I'll stick with the two that stuck out to me the most: the absence of both Enjolras and Eponine. Though not main characters, they are central ones, crucial to both the plot and the theme of Les Miserables: Eponine was the main symbol of the misery that the social system inflicted on the poor; Enjolras was the idealistic leader willing to sacrifice everything in order to end that misery for all. These two are perhaps the most tragic figures in the book and musical, for they gave up everything--their own lives--out of unrequited love (Eponine for Marius, Enjolras for France and her people), and this selfless love, personified in the characters of Enjolras and Eponine as well as Valjean and Fantine, is one of the basic underlying themes of the story. Plotwise, Enjolras and Eponine are vital characters; Eponine, despite her feelings for Marius, brings Marius and Cosette together; and Enjolras is the one who makes the barricade--and thus Valjean's rescue of both Marius and Javert, acts which confirm his saintly nobility--possible. It was out of character for Marius to be the leader, for he did not have the unyielding idealism and self-sacrificing nature of Enjolras. The students wouldn't have followed someone more dedicated to a girl and his own feelings than to them and their cause. (And by the way, what happened to the Friends of the ABC?) Indeed, the entire movie is filled with faulty characterization: Valjean and Fantine were not in love, Valjean would not slap Cosette and would not have revealed his past to her so soon, and he definitely would not smile after watching Javert die. It would be extremely difficult for a film to do Les Miserables justice, but the three-and-a-half hour musical certainly does so, remaining true to the intent of the novel. Considering the talented acting this movie had, I expected better. But even great acting can't save a movie whose plot is faulty, ambiguous, and unfaithful to the original work. Taking artistic license is one thing, but destroying the story is another--and this movie is much closer to the latter than it is to the former.

Rating:
Summary: Good job of compressing massive book into a movie
Review: I prefer this version, with its flaws, to the classic March/Laughton version. Liam Neeson was a more believable Valjean, and I'm a big Laughton fan, but his performance in Les Miserables was one of his weakest, IMHO.

Rating:
Summary: Sexy
Review: This movie though completely different it seems from the play was still wonderful. I loved all the characters. Especially Marius. A wonderful must-see movie!!!

Rating:
Summary: Victor Hugo would be disappointed
Review: The movie did not carry the full message of Les Mis. It skips the details of Jean Valjean's death and leaves true Les Mis fans very discontented. Sadly, if you want to see a good version of Les Mis, see the older version.

Rating:
Summary: Exquisitly emotional flick!
Review: A brillianty performed movie! Liam Neeson and Geffory Rush miraculously capture their characters and their emotions. Even though I am a thirteen year old girl, I have read the Victor Hugo classic. The writers of this flick captured the detail and redemption as much as the book, and chose a fine Jean Valjean. Like another writer said, "I will cherish this movie for many years." As for the only viewer that gave one star, you are not able to see true emotion in what makes a movie, a very fine movie, or so I believe. As for the rest of you, you have classy taste in quality!

Rating:
Summary: A Welcome Change...
Review: Although it takes some liberties with the plot and locations, this is still an excellent film. The main characters all perform with passion and conviction, and the score is perfect and haunting. Unlike far too many movies, this is a film with a heart and soul which cannot easily be ignored. Definitely one of the best films of the year.

Rating:
Summary: my absolute favorite video so far.
Review: i love the way the cast worked and the chemestry between the actors. there has been no other movie that has captured my heart the way this one did. i also want to say that hans matheson is a very talented actor and should be stared in other movies.

Rating:
Summary: Les Miserables Lite
Review: The writers of this movie obviously had no clue as to the motivations of Hugo's characters. This was clearly a poor slapping-together of charicatures. Rush's Javert comes across as a cardboard villain, with utterly no nobility or honor. This isn't the Javert Hugo created. Neeson's Valjean is better crafted, but still lacks the greatness of the character in the book. This movie also ignores the social messages of the novel and seems to lack a clear focus. And where are Enjorlas, Eponine, the Thenardiers? For a much better-acted and better conceived version that covers the same ground as this one, see the Frederic March/Charles Laughton 1935 version. The 1998 version should be forgotten

Rating:
Summary: 10+ + + + + + + +
Review: Fabulous movie... One I will purchase and enjoy for years. The characters go deep... which in this day and age is rare. I'm not sure who wrote the Amazon.com review - I don't understand why they didn't enjoy it... Liam Neeson was great, as usual (have I seen anything he's in that he didn't do a great job?)... What a contrast between legalism and grace! ...and I don't agree the ending was weak, it was reality. Get it... you won't regret it!