Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, one of the better movies I have seen in some time
Review: Liam Neeson has to be one of the best actors around today. His rendition of Jean Valjean was superb. I remember having to force myself to stay awake when I had to read this book back in school but sat right at the edge of my chair while watching the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good
Review: Les Miserables was very good, and I would have to say the musical was better. However the movie had its strong points, namely Liam Neeson (Jean Valjean), and Geoffrey Rush (Javert). The only real thing that was lacking was that the finale wasn't as moving as in the book or the musical. Very good though.
Rating: 
Summary: Kab-h44 Les Miserables a hit
Review: One Of the good qualities of going to the theaters, is watching a wrenching,good performances in the movie. One of the most celebrated movies of the year. The movie itself did okey. This had some faliure in alot of parts but it still a truly masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Adequate adaptation just lacks spark of musical version.
Review: This is some of the best acting that Uma Thurman has ever done as she carries the first half of this film giving it a true sense of the suffering of the times. Why does Claire Danes try an English accent occaionally when the movie is set in France? Unfortunately, the energy is drained out of the movie in the last half where the student revolution just doesn't have enough passion to carry through a strong climax. Of course it is near impossible to live up to the live show that eveyone is so touched with of late.
Rating:
Summary: MY FAVORITE
Review: I WATCHED THIS MOVIE BEFORE READING OR WATCHING THE PLAY, OR EVEN SEEING IT IN ANY OTHER FORM. IT IS NOW ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES. THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS IS SHOWN THROUGHOUT THE MOVIE. IT IS SOMETHING EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE A LOOK INTO. THIS IS NOT JUST A MOVIE BUT A LESSON ON LIFE!
Rating:
Summary: It is NOT a musical!
Review: Don't expect the musical that has taken the world by storm during the past decade. This is the actual Victor Hugo story, as he conceived it. Very well edited, it is seldom allowed to drag, though everyone knows what a long epic it can turn out to be. Uma Thurman as Fantine is excellent, Claire Danes as Cosette too is v.good. Liam Neeson is, as usual, competent. No American Hollywood accents here - all clear British speech. The crowd scene (Barricade) is outstanding. Worth a watch.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Powerful - Loved its Message!
Review: The first scene with the priest and the police, and the last scene at the River was incredible!! Hugo's philosophy, as portrayed by this specific adaptation, is right on and filled with dignity, forgiveness and ultimate power to live life.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie
Review: I thought that Les Miserables was the best movie I've seen. The critics gave it a bad grade, but everyone who seen it including me loves it. It has a good plot of good and evil.
Rating:
Summary: New version of Les Miserables is pared down to essentials
Review: I really enjoyed this version of Les Miz because it's one of my favorite stories. I have four other video versions of the story, and will be happy to add this one to my collection. However, fans of the musical and of the book may be disappointed by what is left out of this screenplay: the reasons for the student revolution and almost all the members of the ABC, any further mention of the Thenardiers after Valjean takes Cosette from them, any mention at all of Eponine, and information about Marius--where he came from, what he does for a living, why he joined the revolution. (And I didn't like the idea that Valjean would slap Cosette because she had lied to him.) Still, I think paring the movie down to essentials allowed the actors to focus more on the primary relationships.
Rating:
Summary: Failed to stir the emotion or passion of the novel.
Review: The most engaging aspects of the film are the scenes focusing on the confrontation between the protaganist Valjean and the antagonist Javert. The opposing characters are played with conviction by Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. Especially interesting is to see Rush portraying a vindictive character that is a complete opposite from his Oscar winning role as the bumbling and loveable Helfgott in Shine. Otherwise, the rest of the story fails to stir up the emotion and passion that is evoked in Victor Hugo's novel or the Broadway musical. The daunting task of reducing a 1000 page novel for the screen will inevitably result in sacrificing the intricacies of characters development and the political setting. That is the case in this adaptation as much of the supporting characters are underdeveloped and the political atmosphere is less integral. Furthermore, the ending felt rushed and anti-climatic. Not the kind of reward I'd expected after sitting for nearly two and a half hours.The DVD picture is matted at 2.35:1 and exhibits excellent composition. Besides some minor shimmering, the picture contains no other artifacts. The color scheme consists of muted palettes from the surrounding grey structures to the formal black attires. The atmosphere reinforces the gloominess with constant overcast skies and drab lighting. Colors are well saturated and look great on the red and blue uniform of the guards. The interiors are low-lit by candles that reveal appropriate shadow details and deep blacks. My interest in this film grew after listening to Basil Poledouris' dramatic score on the CD soundtrack a few months back. There are a handful of composers that would automatically garner my interest in the movie and Poledouris is one of them. In a last minute decision, Poledouris was called in to compose a new score to replace the one already finished by Gabriel Yared (The English Patient). That decision worked out commendably as Poledouris' score is powerfully driven and flooded with emotions in an otherwise straightforward adaptation. On the DVD, the score is the dominant source of the sounding environment. Yet, I feel that the Dolby Digital recording sounds restrained comparing to the CD recording which has a richer fidelity. Other sound effects are limited in spatiality with an occassional discrete effects from the rear channels. Only toward the revolution stage in the end does the sound mix becomes more aggressive. Dialogue is too focused on the center channel and sounds ADR-produced. Fans of the Broadway musical might find this movie adaptation to be less than inspiring as a lot of the sentimental subplots in the play are missing. But then again, if you just can't get enough of Les Miserables or don't necessarily want to read the entire novel, the performances and the script are engaging enough to merit a night rental.
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