Rating: 
Summary: exceedingly depressing...
Review: my review is for those who, like me, have neither read the book or seen the other film version. Basically I went into this with watching it, knowing only that it's a period piece.
That being said-puleeze! By the end I was wanting Kevorkian on my speed dial. Angst upon tragedy upon human suffering, parents who send you off to "catch" a husband, rape, infant death, hard labor, eviction, love but desertion when you are deemed "imperfect", and finally nothing like murder to bring a couple back together. Cripes!
If you are a fan of period dramas, here's a few I DO recommend-Persuasion, Lorna Doone, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibilty, Nicholas Nickelby. My advice-skip Tess. 1 star for costuming.
Rating: 
Summary: Tragic Story of an English Rose
Review: On the day of the May dance, Tess' father discovers he is a lineal descendant of the D'Urbervilles. While he celebrates his good fortune, his daughter dances in her creamy dress with her friends wearing lace shawls and bonnets. There is a sense of peace and happiness in a secluded part of the world. A place you never imagine could foster such exquisite pain. Tess (Justine Waddell) seems reticent and reluctant. She is torn between her responsibility to her family and finding her own happiness. In harsh times, she chooses to try her best at finding support for her family. In her reluctance, she casts a mysterious spell about herself and this seems to make her irresistible. Riding alone with a handsome man in a mysterious forest seems a fantasy at first. Then, when she draws the wrong man to her inner circle and he takes her by force, we doubt she will be able to love again. Once her mother releases her into this wolf's forest, she is never safe again. His love is damaging to her in all the worst ways. Not only does she become pregnant, her child dies and she must now carry this secret with her to her grave or be shunned by men who are more understanding of their own lusts, than of her forced submission after only a casual dalliance. Since she doesn't love Alec (Jason Flemying), she decides not to marry him. Although, if she did marry him, she could have lived in a beautiful Victorian mansion complete with wood floors and ferns in planters on pedestals. She is offered wealth again and again. I love this movie for so many reason. Not only can you escape to the English countryside, there are beautiful scenes of family life by fireplaces and country life on farms. Milk sloshes in wooden buckets and milkmaids are still innocent enough to cry when kissed. Just when we think Tess is safe, she falls in love with Angel Clare (Oliver Milburn). He sees her as a goddess, perhaps Demeter. Little does he know how true his words are, as Demeter was the goddess of fertility and was also raped. They played with this idea throughout the movie in subtle ways. Tess is seen holding grain, she is very fertile and she is raped. Through Tess' experiences with suffering and grief, she learns to empathize with others and eventually almost sacrifices her body for the love of her family. Then, her past comes back to haunt her in the worst ways. This is tragedy at its best, if there is such an idea. I loved this adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. However, I kept waiting for scenes I'd thought I'd seen before. Then, I realized I had mistaken this movie for Roman Polanski's 1980 adaptation. Both movies are excellent and will keep your attention right to the last second. Now I have a good excuse to watch "Tess." If you love comparing adaptations, it is well worth the extra time. Incredible acting, gorgeous scenery and a tragedy with so much irony and drama, you can't believe anyone could have luck this bad. Or was it just decisions the actors made in the direction of their own tragic ends? Should Tess have followed her heart to begin with and would that have made all the difference? Should you really tell your lover all your faults on your wedding night? This movie is not only stunning in its beauty, it also makes you think on a deeper level about a number of situations and how you would deal with them if you were Tess. One of the most compelling tragedies I've ever seen and I'm happy to say I enjoyed this adaptation as much as the 1980 version. Both are almost three hours in length. Not really movies you just watch on a whim. Movie Food: Strawberries!
Rating:
Summary: A visual masterpiece
Review: Regardless of the fact that as this film progresses it diverges more from Hardy's basic plot in the novel, it still maintains itself as a masterpiece, with brilliant performances from Tess, Angel and Alec. Jason Flemyng (Alec) plays a role somewhat different to his reknowned Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Justine Waddell certainly adds an edge to the complex Tess and Oliver Milburn portrays Angel's sincereness perfectly. The music adds to every mood the film enters into with a trully emotional score.
Rating: 
Summary: BRILLIANT LITERARY ADAPTATION
Review: Set in the bleak background of Victorian England, TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES is a brilliant BBC adaption of Thomas Hardy's 1881 novel about a teenager trapped between two men: one is an ordinary man who offers happiness, the other is a scheming aristocrat who offers wealth. Unlike Roman Polanski's fine 1980 feature film starring Natassja Kinski, this version adhere's closer to the substance of Hardy's text. Justine Waddell gives Tess a teen attitude that rings true. Violated by one man and forsaken by another, she refuses to remain a victim. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" captures the harsh realism and poignant beauty of a true literary masterpiece. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: soooooooo good
Review: such a great movie, i cried quite a few times while viewing it. Everything that Tess had to go through.... one bad event after the other. however, a compeling story with wonderful actors. I definetly recomend this movie to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful film
Review: Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a wonderful film full of breathtaking scenery and incredible acting. A&E did a terrific job (as always) of adapting this classic Thomas Hardy novel, staying very true to the text.
Justine Waddell gives an amazing performance as Tess, a young girl shattered by her cruel fate and circumstance. Oliver Milburn is equally great as Angel Clare, Tess' love interest, and Jason Flemying is the villian we all love to hate. All three give superb performances, but above all Tess and Angel's love is so believable that you hold your breath until the very end, just hoping that they will live happily ever after.
A&E's Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a fantastic adaptation of a fantastic novel, with brilliant acting, directing, and cinematography. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates a great love story that actually has some depth (unlike your typical Hollywood Fluff). Enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: A+++++
Review: TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES is an exceptional film full of beautiful scenery and superb acting.No one could play this role better than JUSTINE WADDELL,it just wouldn't be the same without her playing the role.But praise has to go out to IAN SHARP for having a good eye for filmmaking. A+++++
Rating: 
Summary: compared to the other one
Review: Tess of the d'Urbervilles starred by Nastassia Kinski and directed by Roman Polanski was my favorite film. I'm so sorry to see that you have no room for that one on this website! Even though this one is good, that one would always be better in my heart. I wish it would be sold and kept like a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Horribly Depressing
Review: That said, this is still a neat film with great acting. But seriously, I could never watch it again. I just prefer happier storylines and happy endings. Buy something Jane Austen.
Rating:
Summary: This is a story about major problems
Review: The A&E home video of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles captures the dynamics of a triangle involving two men and a young woman attempting to support herself in the world while it presents the triangle of wealth, religion and nobility in an English society in which the blue blood that was associated with wealth in previous centuries flows in the veins of people who are quite ordinary in their current circumstances. Even worse, Angel Claire, the man from the most religious family, has become a freethinker determined to make his living in the world as a farmer. Alec, the son of a capitalist family that has adopted an ancient noble name, is such a cad at first that when he is shown preaching to a crowd in a surprising scene in the middle of the story, he is using himself as an example of a despised form of existence, and Tess managed to break away from him by telling him she still felt the same way about him as before: she was the one who despised him even more than the others. Alec, however, was still rich and determined to have his way.
I appreciated the book more than the video for being so much more explicit about the spiritual conflicts which challenged Angel Claire to go search for land he could farm without being part of the social circumstances of small-town English country life in his own time and place. The video is perfectly clear about what motivates Tess, but it does not give Angel Claire the opportunity to observe how well her actions coincide with the activities of her royal ancestors. Alec is superb in admitting how much he lied in order to win Tess, and the steam engines that give the video such an authentic sense of breaking with the horse and buggy existence of prior centuries fit the confession that his family name was originally Stokes. Of course this is such an old story that sentimental modern viewers hoping for something uplifting ought to hate it like the plague, but I'm sure Thomas Hardy considered that part of its charm. Two ninety minute videos in which an old woman complains that it is always the young and beautiful who have such problems, never the plain ones, also make this seem like a time of great innocence.
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