Rating: 
Summary: BORING
Review: Boring drama, almost felt asleep. I can't stand no longer the great actress Emma THompson doing this lousy dramas, thinking they are masterpieces. It's plain boring.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING!
Review: Don't get me wrong. I love period pieces. I loved "Sense and Sensibility", "A Room With a View", "Remains of the Day", etc.... This one, however, escapes me. I keep telling myself I need to see it again because so many out there seem to love it. It almost put me to sleep. I've seen Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, as well as Vanessa Redgrave better in so many other films. I personally found Thompson's performance rather dull and Bonham Carter, I felt, was close to terrible. Oh well. I'll check it out one more time and if I was wrong I'll change my review. However, if I wasn't, I certainly will add to this pan. See ya.
Rating: 
Summary: Hope for people waiting for the DVD of this classic
Review: Finally there is hope for people waiting for the DVD of this outstanding adaptation of E.M.Forster's book. I am sure that enough people have been baffled that this DVD has not been released for so long. Criterion has finally released a one disc version of this movie available only through Costco, but do not get this unless you are impatient. They are going to release a two disc special edition in 2005 (for general release), if you are prepared to wait long enough. I wrote to Jon Mulvaney at Criterion and got this response. This is one of the best movies of James Ivory and a lot of fans were frustrated that it was not available. Featuring a stunning cast, it was nominated for 9 academy awards and won 3, including Emma Thompson's Best Actress and Ruth Prawer Jhabwala's second one for screenplay. I do not have to describe the quality of the movie, enough people have done it. Thoughtful, melancholic and imaginative, this movie is one of best movies of the 90s. Wait long enough and you can get the best transfer of the movie with all additional features.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best british movies of the 90's
Review: For those patient people who love 'Chariots Of Fire', 'Remains Of The Day' and 'The Golden Bowl', they will surely love 'Howards End', it's a great movie with good acting, an exciting story, enchanting music and idyllic background pictures.
Rating:
Summary: Flawless
Review: Howards End is a quiet yet powerful drama that tackles so many issues at so many levels. Every person that I have ever discussed the novel with has had a different interpretation of it; oddly enough, it has always seemed to me that we were all right. There is so much going on in the fully dimensional lives of these wonderful (and sometimes not-so wonderful) characters. I was beyond happy to find that the film managed to capture much of what was so important to us in the novel. I first saw the film in 1993 and have seen it many times since. It is one of those dramas that can leave you speechless at its end, despite a wonderful absence of anything sensational. It manages to capture so much of what happens in the novel. The piece is stunning to the eye from beginning to end. The soundtrack is equally wonderful and photography, music and art all fit, thanks to what I imagine must have been first-rate direction. Emma Thompson brings Margaret Schlegel to life so perfectly for me, right down to the body language and tone of voice. One has the impression that here is true concern for other people. There is something so subtle about the character as portrayed, especially the way in which she carries herself, often lulling her head to one side when seemingly deep in thought, mulling over possibilities. Helena Bonham Carter is equally perfect in the role of Helen...brave, tempestuous, kind, impulsive...these are to amazing women, especially considering their period in time. Anthony Hopkins is so easy to mistake for the character he plays that at times you may despise Henry Wilcox far more than you could ever hate Hannibal the Cannibal. This film has left me quite happy in its adaption from one medium to the other; It communicated what the book does and even what is most subtle for me in the novel....that Howards End is in many ways about a mystical little genus of justice, of people getting what is rightfully theirs and what has been promised to them. The fact that Howards End is the hub around which these characters dance and spin their respective lives, and is ultimately the prize to the most noble of character, seems only just enough. This adaption would have made Forster proud, of this I am sure.
Rating:
Summary: The new 2005 two-disc set
Review: I agree with J. Shands (below) that this new 2-disc set is now the definitive edition of this superb movie. This version was prepared with the help of the folks at Criterion (like most of the recent Merchant Ivory Collection DVDs), and the result is an excellent DVD on all counts: image, sound, extras, and packaging. I never owned the earlier DVD of Howards End, but I did rent it. My impression is that this version is superior in every way -- it's well worth the upgrade.
The extras: (1) The original theatrical trailer (standard issue and welcome); (2) The original 1992 5-minute featurette about the making of the movie (interesting mainly for the interviews of Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins); (3) A new 45-minute documentary about the making of the movie (detailed and informative, with some priceless bickering between director James Ivory and producer Isamail Merchant); (4) A more in-depth look at the costumes and award-winning set design (basically a 9-minute extension of the 45-minute documentary); (5) A 5-minute ad for Cinemax's March 1992 5-film celebration of Merchant Ivory's 30th anniversary (this is an easter egg that can be easily found on the main menu of disc 2); and (6) The 50-minute 1984 documentary The Wandering Company which covers the early history of the Merchant Ivory company (an unusual choice for inclusion in this set since it ends with 1984's The Bostonians, but welcome nonetheless).
Even if you don't consider Howards End one of the best films of the 1990s, as I do, it's still probably Merchant Ivory's crowning achievement, and this DVD treats it with the respect it deserves. Highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: E. M. FORSTER WOULD BE PLEASED!
Review: I believe anyone who has read Forster's, "Howard's End", would agree that this dramatic portrayal is the novel come to life. This brilliant interpretation hits squarely on Forster's central theme, "Only Connect!". The Merchant/Ivory/Jhabvala/Robbins collaboration is perfectly cast - all of the characters from the novel are portrayed just as Forster must have envisioned them ninety years ago. Emma Thompson is exquisitely awkward as Margaret Schlegel and Helena Bonham-Carter breaks her ingenue mold with this performance. Anthony Hopkins epitomizes the Ewardian, gentleman mogul in the role of Henry Wilcox while Vanessa Redgrave embodies the role of Ruth, his compliant, soulful wife. Samuel West evokes pity and scorn as the doomed Leonard Bast. I don't know the other actors names but they all performed as if they stepped out of the book. The locations, set decorations and costumes are luscious - while Robbins' haunting and melancholy score follows the drama perfectly. I love this film and it inspired me to read the novel - as well as Forster's five other novels (four of which have been made into marvelous films like this one). When you view "Howard's End" - let yourself get beyond the distance in time and place. These same people and situations are around us even now - I encounter Wilcoxes and Schlegels and Basts every day. However, my cast of characters is not presented by Merchant/Ivory - but I try to be imaginative!
Rating:
Summary: "A million square miles are almost the same as heaven."
Review: I loved E.M. Forester's book, HOWARD'S END, so I knew I'd love this film as well. Period pieces are my favorites and English period pieces have a special "something" about them. Maybe it's the lush cinematography or the brilliant acting. I suppose it's really a combination of many things. HOWARD'S END is set, for the most part, in London, and revolves around two families: the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes. The Schlegels and the Wilcoxes are separated by class; the Schlegels are a middle class family, comfortable, but definitely not "old money," while the Wilcoxes are far more "to the manor born." Society, at the time HOWARD'S END takes place, dictated that the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes definitely not mix. However, mix they do, with disastrous results. In the Schlegel family are two sisters, Margaret (Emma Thompson), the older and plainer, and Helen (Helena Bonham-Carter), the younger and more beautiful. We know trouble is brewing when Helen becomes involved, though briefly, with young Paul Wilcox. Of course, the Wilcoxes consider Helen (or any Schlegel, for that matter) to be beneath them, but the affair also distresses the Schlegels as well. The lives of the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes are destined to be intertwined, however, and Margaret befriends Ruth Wilcox (beautifully played by the always-ethereal Vanessa Redgrave), the mother of young Paul. The lives of the two families become further entwined when Ruth Wilcox dies and leaves her lovely country home, "Howard's End," to her good friend, Margaret. Of course, this doesn't sit at all well with the Wilcoxes, who are truly shocked, and Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins), Ruth's husband, tries to cover up Ruth's final wishes and keep Margaret away from "Howard's End." But that is far from the end of the story and far from the end of the intertwining of the lives of the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes. In a superb and tragic subplot, both Margaret and Helen attempt to befriend a poor clerk, Leonard Bast (Samuel West) and, without meaning to, cause him to lose his meager job and leave him with no hope for the future. The conclusion to this film is surprising and explosive, but the beautiful script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is quite understated and the film, like the book, never slips into melodrama. This is a period piece that is enhanced by flawless and understated acting from all. Emma Thompson as Margaret Schlegel is superb and she certainly deserved her Oscar for Best Actress for this film. Anthony Hopkins is, of course, flawless and Vanessa Redgrave's performance is subtle and beautifully nuanced. Samuel West, as the tragic Leonard Bast is wonderful as is Helena Bonham-Carter, though she is not the equal, at least in this film, of Thompson. HOWARD'S END isn't a particularly long book, but this is, at two and one-half hours, quite a long film. The pacing is rather slow and deliberate, but I never got the feeling that things should have been moving along any faster and, for me, at least, the two and one-half hours passed by very quickly. The film holds your interest at all times. HOWARD'S END is a film that contains a bit of everything. While it is tragic, there are times when you laugh or smile, there are times of unsurpassed beauty and there is melancholy and regret aplenty. I would definitely recommend HOWARD'S END to anyone even remotely interested in period pieces and even to those who aren't. Who knows, you just might find a new genre that you love.
Rating: 
Summary: DISCONNECTEDNESS
Review: I still don't know what to make of this film. In my heart I think it was average, although I am sure that somehow it was better than that. Or maybe because everyone else loved it so much, I am led to believe I should too. Despite the stellar performances of Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, I cannot really say that the plot made me jump for joy. I am not a big fan of these period dramas courtesy of the Merchant-Ivory team, so this may account for my bias. Maybe I should see it again, but in the meantime I can only say that the film went on too long for my liking (or at least seemed like it did) and never quite hit home for me.
Rating:
Summary: A strangely fascinating love story between British classes.
Review: I was prepared NOT to like this film, but it drew me in and won me over.If you are a fan of what I call, "People Movies", this is for you. The plot line is fascinating, in that you MUST pay attention to every detail to follow it. Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins are at their usual best as the couple from two different social classes in 19th century England. The central character is, though, the country cottage called, "Howard's End." You will either love this film or hate it. For me, it is in my top 20.Credit must be given to the score, which adds much to the film's ability to draw you in from the very beginning.
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