Rating: 
Summary: The most romantic movie ever!!
Review: This is my all time favorite romantic movie. I never get bored of watching it. This is one film where the film is actually as good as, if not better than, the book. Growing up I read E.M Forrester's novels and was always smitten with the romantic tendencies that flow through his works. When this movie came out in the 80's, I remember dragging all my high school friends to see it with me. They all balked because it was based on a classic book, but they fell in love with it too! When this film became available for purchase on vhs it was the first movie I ever bought. I brought it with me to college and made all my floor mates watch it, they too became smitten with it as much as me. I watched the first tape so much I had to replace it a few years ago with a new one. This movie never goes out of style. The cinematography is breath taking and the actors are all top notch. This is a must for any romantic movie lover.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful movie--flawed DVD!
Review: Tragically, those reviewers who criticize the quality of the DVD transfer are correct. Not only is the sound a problem, there are odd deletions in the film (and I don't believe they reflect any late decisions on the part of the filmmakers). The early scene where Charlotte (Maggie Smith) tells Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter)after her kiss with George that "we'll both be as silent as the grave" is oddly truncated. Compare it with the VHS and you'll see. This absolutely wonderful film deserves a first-class DVD edition. Of course, it's still worth watching, but it's the one time I'd say opt for the VHS.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful film...HORRIBLE SOUND
Review: Gorgeous film, wonderful but the sound on the DVD is impossible!
Rating: 
Summary: Sound out of sync with video track!
Review: WAIT!! Don't buy this version!! I did and promptly returned it. The vocal track is off -- and this is not a problem with my DVD player (never had this problem before, and have loaded it up with all kinds of DVDs). I just wish a better version could be released, with commentaries, outtakes, costume design info, all the fun stuff. This film is a gem, but don't sacrifice widescreen (which I do adore) for what looks like a dubbed Godzilla movie. -- RELUCTANTLY DISSING ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES FOR TECHNICAL REASONS. *RENT/BUY THE VIDEO* for now -- you'll thank me later.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the DVD anyway
Review: If you are looking into buying this movie in DVD, chances are you may already have seen the movie or someone (perhaps even yourself) told you "You must own this movie". The DVD is basic but buy it anyway, it will last longer than the VHS and the DVD still lets you select the chapters you may want to repeat over and over again. I've seen the VHS version of this movie in 1987 and I remember being mesmerized and ended up watching it over and over again. When I finally bought a DVD player, this was the first movie I wanted to be in my collection.This is a beautiful movie. Kiri Ti Kenawa's rendetion of "O mio babino caro' is brilliantly magnificent. I ended up being a fan of Puccini and memorized this beautiful aria. This movie introduced me to Helena Bonham Carter and she has since then been one of my favorite actresses. I have read lately that she wants to star in non-period movies (forget the Planet of the Apes...thank goodness, the DVD was a gift) but she cannot help it, her role as Lucy Honeychurch is delightfully splendid in this movie, it was worthy of an Oscar, a Cesar or the BAFTA award for Best Actress. Maggie Smith is equally splendid in her role as Aunt Charlotte. When I saw this movie again, I was delightfully surprised to see Judi Dench. She is magnificent as well (it will make you want to get 'Tea with Musollini'). This movie reminds me of the later movie 'Howard's End' where Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Vanessa Redgrave were all nominated for Best Actress awards. 'Room with A view' deserved the same nomination for Helena Bonham-Carter, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. This is a movie with frontal nudity that did not require the censor's cut. It is a delightful movie, well written, and it leaves the viewer with a sense of well being. This is an intelligent movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Would of bought the movie only if......
Review: Being a romantic and love old fashion movies I rented A ROOM WITH A VIEW after reading comments by other viewers. I watched the movie and it was a promising film. I had made my decision to buy the DVD before the end of the movie. That was until I saw the bathing scene. I'm not one to enjoy watching frontal nudity especially male frontal and I couldn't understand why it was added in the movie to beginn with. I'm still trying to understand it since it didn't seem important to the storyline. That scene destroyed the movie for me and I decided not to buy the movie after all. Should the scene not appear on the DVD or is removed from it in the future then I will consider watching the film again and probably buy it as well.
Rating:
Summary: Fails to capture the satire, characters of the book
Review: I am very loath to compare movies to the books they were based on. I am usually the first person to defend a movie that changed, modified or embellished on the book it was based on. But when I saw this movie, about two weeks after I read the book, I felt very under whelmed with the script, the acting and the overall feeling of the movie. Granted, I had very high expectations. The book was fantastic. It was romantic, funny, insightful and full of three-dimensional characters. Also I expected great things from the cast, with such fabulous actors as Judi Dench, my personal favorite Maggie Smith, and Helena Bonham-Carter, and from Merchant-Ivory. But I was let down by a script that misunderstood the tone and meaning of Forster's novel, actors that were ill-suited for their roles and a cut and paste plot. The emotional and romantic aspect of the novel was never really dealt with, and the comedy and satire that filled the book's pages was all but gone. I enjoyed the lovely scenery, costumes and the mostly sound performance of Bonham-Carter, but I would not call this a worthy adaptation. Skip the movie and read the book for more laughs, a more solid plot and sparkling, vivid characters. This movie is only a diversion for the curious... not an accurate representation of "A Room With A View" by E.M. Forster.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Period Movie
Review: If you like the works of Jane Austen you will love this story. It is about the struggles of a young woman trying to do what she is taught is correct while secretly being attracted to another. The costumes as well as the setting are reminiscent of the Jane Austen/Charlote Bronte era (but not as dark as the Bronte novels). Daniel Day-Lewis is adorable as ever in this. (And you get to see a bit more of him than I had expected)
Rating:
Summary: Great movie--disappointing DVD
Review: First of all, let me say this is a fabulous movie and the best adaptation of a novel I've ever seen. However, the DVD cut lines out. I know this because I have all the lines memorized--yes, yes, I DO have a life but it's something akin to those people who saw Titanic a freakish number of times. It's such a wonderful movie--the lines are worth memorizing: "I know I'm not artistic, nor literary, nor intellectual. But your father bought the drawing room furniture, and we must put up with it!" So, I can only give this DVD three stars because while this is my favorite movie of all time; they did a sloppy job with the DVD. Rent/buy the VHS version instead. Sad!
Rating:
Summary: Merchant/Ivory bursts onto the scene
Review: One of the most charming films of the last century was this chamber love story. Extremely literate and intelligent, this Victorian story is easily accessible as an extremely well versed John Hughes could easily write the simple boy-meets-girl storyline. Fortunately for us, he was unavailable and the resulting film, made outside the Hollywood Studio system, avoids many current clichés and uses smart character to propel the story. Well, this is a Merchant Ivory film so propel might be too big a word. There films are usually soft character driven stories with a lack of speeding cars, ricocheting bullets or clever profanity. If you can tolerate small, romantic character pieces, this is one of the best. Great performances by Denholm Elliot, Maggie Smith and Judy Dench sturdily support the love triangle of Daniel Day Lewis, Julian Sands and the phenomenal Helena Bonham Carter. With beautiful classical music and nice cinematography, this view is a pleasant one. The DVD has a shaky video transfer and sufficient audio. It offers no extra material.
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