Rating: 
Summary: Fantasically Sexy Movie!
Review: My name is Tim from American Studies. I watch this movie everyday after our teacher, Mr. G and the rest of the class is gone after school. I watch it for some reasons because it makes me think about the conflict between the conscience telling you to do what is right, and your actual brain, telling you what really is best for your reputation, like Arthur Dimmesdale. (Bill Clinton can very much relate to Dimmesdale with Monica Lewinsky, however you must ignore the conscience part of the above statement, Clinton lost that years ago, as stated by another of our American Studies Teachers.) However, the most prominent reason that I watch this movie is due to the erotic scene at the beginning. I feel free to express my feelings about the nature of relationships to others as I watch the movie. It makes me think about where humans have been and where we are going in the world of boyfriend/girlfriend relations. I feel like myself, the way that I should always feel. My mind is free, and so is my body. That is how I feel about this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY?
Review: I realize that we know longer live in a culture that appreciates the richness of the English language. I understand that the average person does not spend his or her free time reading classic 19th century novels. I also understand that sensationalism sells. However, I do not understand how a movie as sexually charged and inane as this version of "The Scarlet Letter" made it past the cutting room. Demi Moore reduces Hawthorne's riveting and complex character of Hester Prynne to a 17th century sexpot. Gary Oldman changes the perpetually guilty milquetoast, Arthur Dimmesdale, to Mr. Right. The richness of the novel was completely disregarded to be replaced by a cheap thrill. Horrible!
Rating:
Summary: laughable
Review: Our English class watched this movie after reading the book--and laughed the entire time. The "sermon" with Demi Moore's lustful face fading onto Oldman's was hilarious (it brought to mind Grease's Summer Lovin', but worse). The addition of a slave girl named Mituba who does nothing but spy on Hester is unsettling. The sex scene (bed of dried beans? I don't think so) was not erotic, especially with Mituba's hilarious bathtub action. With Hester's anachronistic "spunky" attitude and Pearl's "touching" narration, this movie is one to miss.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is good but the book is more subtle and powerful.
Review: Reviewers of this movie seem polarized in two grouops. "Stick-to-book" conservatives pan it, more liberal movie goers love it, and give it five stars. The truth is in between and much more subtle. The movie departs radically from the book, but not in the choice of happy vs tragic ending for the minister and Hester's fulfillment in love. The book could have been written the way with movie ended with very little change in its message or story line. The radical change dreamed up by Hollywood that severely damages the subtlety and power of the book, was not the ending. It was the characterization of Roger Chillingworth (Prynne), played by Robert Duval. In the book Roger Chillingworth is a brilliant psychologist as well as a knowledgable herbalist and physician, and he would never even think of scalping anyone or jumping out of a tree to seek his petty physical revenge. Hawthorne's Chillingworth did not want a bloody physical revenge, and would have scorned the very idea. He wanted exactly what he got in the book, the total destruction of his enemy by psychological warfare alone. Dimmsdale however escapes at the end by coming clean on the scaffold, (just like in the movie), or so says Hawthorne as spokesman, and narrator. But does he? This question is left open ended for the reader to answer. One can almost see Hawthorne with a slightly bitter sarcastic smile on his face, writing the words of Dimmsdale's redemption and escape from devil Chillingworth. The book is a piece of powerful subtle drama with the tragic central heroine, Hester, flanked on the one side by a man who starts out as a snivelling coward, and grows through suffering to spiritual victory over himself, and on the other by a man who starts out as a good, strong, compassionate, and even forgiving physician, but who slowly becomes eaten alive by his desire for vengeance, thus destroying his own spiritual life. The book is a superbly crafted love triangle of magnificent symmetry and balance. The movie entirely misses all of this. Yet so powerful is the story, the movie does partially redeem itself by sticking very close to many of the details of the book, and it does deliver a good, if somewhat scattered and diluted message of its own, that is partially related to the abuses Hawthorne was attempting to depict in his book. Four stars. Theodore Pong
Rating:
Summary: BEST FILM I have ever seen in my life!
Review: This film must be seen! Demi Moore acts "Hester Prynne" very very well! I saw this film three times and it isn't noisy after the forth time, I guarantee this to you! (don't worry about my bad english, I'm from austria and not very good in english ...)
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN
Review: HI all those people who are beating down so harshly on the scarlet letter I thought the movie was wonderful maby it didn't follow the story lineexactly from the book but if you look at the opening credits it says freely adapted .The wonderful acting that gary oldman and demi moore put into this movie I think that they bolth deserved oscars and I would be happy to hear some of the rvews from some of you dis beleivers who don't beleive in that kind of love.I have read the book several times and the way that gary oldman portrays himself in this movie is soo close to the character in the book it was wonderfully matched I own the movie and I watch it alot I know every word .I am a huge fan of gary oldmans and ddemi mooresd and they rocked so I think all of you people who think it was a bad movie read the book again then watch the movie again and really look at it I am sure that you will see more of my meaning.,I mean come on if those steamy love scenes hadent been put in there do you think people would have figured out who the father was if they had started at the prison door the director is just provideing and introduction like the book does.so thats why I give this movie very large shineing 5 stars and I say to anyone who hasent seen it and likes good loves stories from the heart go see this one or rent it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Hawthorne...but not quite Hawthorne
Review: If you've never read The Scarlet Letter before, then by all means watch this film, but when you do eventually read the book, the ending will surprise you, but I won't spoil the surprise for either the book or the film. It is not a great film, which is a shame, because the book is! Watch for Gary Oldman's and Demi Moore's amusing accents if nothing else!! END
Rating: 
Summary: It is worth the trouble of getting through it.
Review: The Scarlet letter is a good book it can be somewhat hrd to understand. But the plot is exellent. Some of the charcters are well developed while others remain secritive and shy. Hester goes through many changes and becomes a stronger woman, while Dimmesdale becomes a weak soul lost in guilt. He feels that he should not let Hester sufer while he gains glory. The symbolism of the book is somewhat foggy but it can be figured out with some thought. This book can mean several things mattering on when you read it and what has happened to you in your life. END
Rating:
Summary: A Complete & Plesant Surprise
Review: To begin with, I have never thought Demi Moore anything but a pretty face & a great bod. I have always liked Gary Oldman, but never thought of him as a sexy leading man. When this movie came out, I avoided it, because I always considered it a waste of time to see Demi Moore movies. Recently, I caught this movie on cable around 3 in the morning, and I was totally blown away, by the chemistry of Moore & Oldman. It was so erotic! Sometimes a movie like this is wonderful because of all the guilty pleasures it offers.
Does everything have to be true to the mark all the time? I have always enjoyed Hawthorne's books, and when I read the Scarlet Letter in High School, I hated it, but then what can you expect from a 16 year old? A couple of years ago I reread the book and it's really great, however, that did not diminish one bit the enjoyment I derive from watching this "freely adapted" version.
I guess one could say, that there were lots & lots of inconsistencies regarding authencicity, like Hester's "Conciousness raising group" and the fact that she would go into town & buy soap instead making her own. Also, no Seventeenth Century woman in her right mind would think Arthur Dimmsdale was a "catch", in fact, I can't think of any Twenteith Century woman that would. But who cares? Reverend Dimmsdale was very sexy & so cute!!! If I was Hester, I would have been dragging him into the barn way before she did. The only criticism I have is that it would have added to the story to draw out the development of Hester & Arthur's relationship longer to give the story more romantic tension. Also, I would have liked to see more love scenes.
In closing let me say that The Scarlet Letter is like a really fattening snack that has no nutritional value. You know it's really no good, but you eat it anyway because it's delicious.
Rating:
Summary: Freely, very very freely, adapted from the novel
Review: There's a disclaimer which flashes on the screen at the beginning of this 1995 film. It says it is "freely adapted from the novel" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Then it goes on to tell the famous story through the eyes of twentieth century feminism, sexual freedom and politically correct happy endings. I must admit I never did read the book, but I've long been aware of the general plot, set in 1666, of an adulteress forced to wear the scarlet letter "A".Demi Moore is cast as Hester Pryne, the adulteress, and we all know what's going to happen to her. She's been sent to America to establish a home; her husband is supposed to be following soon. She shocks the good people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony when she insists on living alone, with the help of a couple of bondsmen and a female black slave. I doubt if Hawthorne's book then had the local minister, played by Gary Oldman, do a little nude swimming on Hester's property. I also doubt that Hawthorne had her peeking, getting excited and sensuously soaking in a bathtub, displaying her own nude body and thinking about the pastor. The couple declare their love for each other but it is only after they think her husband dead that they consummate their relationship. Her pregnancy is a crime and she spends the last six months of her confinement in a horrible prison. Then she is forced to wear the scarlet letter and is shunned by all. She refuses to name her lover, and so Oldman sulks around town, looking guilty but keeping his mouth shut. This is a great role for any actress, but Demi Moore just can't handle it. She might have a nice body but the expression on her face seems to be frozen, incapable of the subtleties, passion and despair that the role calls for. Gary Oldman is slightly better, but his portrayal of the weakling pastor is also one-dimensional. The film is saved, however, by the role of Robert Duvall, who appears late, but yet steals the show with his impassioned portrayal of the wronged husband bent on revenge. He dominates every scene he's in and a single expression on his face tells more about his character than the combined performances of the rest of the entire cast. The story is a good one, and it moved fast enough to hold my interest, especially since there were some action scenes added that Hawthorne had probably never intended. That's why I can't recommend it unless you're willing to just relax and watch a well-plotted historical romance with mediocre acting.
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