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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 17545
Released: November 13, 2007 |
| Our Price: $23.96 |
| Used Price: $19.39 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The greatest love story of all time lives on in the Pride & Prejudice 2-Disc Collector's Edition! The Academy Award®-nominated film based on Jane Austen's masterpiece novel has been repackaged and expanded to a 2-disc edition with all-new bonus features. Academy Award® nominee Keira Knightley stars as heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who upon meeting the handsome Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), believes him to be the last man on earth she could ever marry. But as their lives become intertwined, she finds herself captivated by the very man she swore to loathe for all eternity. And now, their romance shines brighter than ever before in this must-own collector's edition of the film critics said, "Makes you believe in true love and happily-ever-after" (Stephen Holden, The New York Times).
Description of Pride & Prejudice (Two-Disc Collector's Edition):
Literary adaptations just don't get any better than director Joe Wright's 2005 version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. The key word here is adaptation, because Wright and gifted screenwriter Deborah Moggach have taken liberties with Austen's classic novel that purists may find objectionable, but in this exquisite film their artistic decisions are entirely justified and exceptionally well executed. It's a more rural England that we see here, circa 1790 (as opposed to Austen's early 19th century), in which Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) is one of several sisters primed for marriage, with an anxious mother (Brenda Blethyn) only too desperate to see her daughters paired off with the finest, richest husbands available. Elizabeth is strong-willed and opinionated, but her head (not to mention her pride and prejudice) lead her heart astray when she meets the wealthy Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), whose own sense of decency and discretion (not to mention his pride and prejudice) prevent him from expressing his mutual affection. They're clearly meant for each other, and as Knightley's performance lights up the screen (still young enough to be girlishly impertinent, yet wise beyond her 20 years), Austen's timeless romance yields yet another timeless adaptation, easily on par with the beloved BBC miniseries that has been embraced by millions since originally broadcast in 1995. Individual tastes will vary as to which version should be considered "definitive," but with a stellar supporting cast including Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland, this impeccable production achieves its own kind of perfection. --Jeff Shannon
Pride & Prejudice (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) Reviews:
Pride & Prejudice 
2008-10-01 - This is a great version of the well known story. The movie is enchanting and takes you to another world. Love to stick this movie in while working around the house.
A fairly Poor Adaption of P&P 
2008-10-01 - I am kind of an Austen Purist.I watched this movie trying to be open minded, and if possible, to view it as a separate entity from the book. It didn't really work.
As a romantic comedy, it would pass, but as an adaption of Pride Prejudice, it falls rather flat. First of all, the casting is rather week in most areas. Keira Knightly does a tolerable job as Elizabeth, but one can't help but be disappointed in what seems like a lack of depth to her character. Mathew McFadyen doesn't really seem to be acting at all and merely looks morose a lot of the time. Lady Catherine Debourgh (sp) is well cast in Judie Dench, as is the actress who plays Charlotte Lucas. But that is about as far as it goes.
Nearly all of the priceless quotes and speeches that readers love so well are cut out, and by condensing the storyline to two hours, you have very little development of any relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth. The Pemberly scenes are very choppy and all of the beautiful scenes between Darcy and Elizabeth are non existent. The ending is quite week and is a total departure from the book. Add to all of this that her family is all portrayed as a listening behind the door, giggling all of the time group of idiots, without the exception of Jane, or her father, who are supposed to be a great deal more sensible than the rest of her family.
Finally, it just didn't really feel period accurate to me. The costumes seemed to vary, and looked as if they were assembled from more than one century,while the sets seemed incomplete and rather empty for the most part.
For anyone looking for a faithful adaption of the book, with tremendous actors and amazing quality, watch the BBC version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
Keira Knightley steals the show in wonderful adaptation
2008-09-28 - How does one steal a movie that sees both Donald Sutherland and Judi Dench hit high notes as supporting characters? Keira Knightley does it by (a) playing one of the best roles in Western literature in Elizabeth Bennett and (b) nailing it.
This adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved "Pride and Prejudice" is a bit more scruffy (and therefore realistic) than its natural complement, Emma Thompson's adaptation of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." Everyone looks gorgeous, or course, but they also don't look like they had Hollywood hair stylists, either. This helps the movie, as it underscores Austen's theme - England was a dangerous place for young ladies unable to get married.
Indeed, just as with "S&S," marriage is the peril and promise for all the characters in the story. Does a woman grab what she can and hope to make the best of it? Or does she hold out for true love? And what do two lovely parents (Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn) do when they are relatively poor and (gasp!) unconventional but have five daughters they need to send into wedlock?
One is to be delighted when a rich young man rents the nearby manor and brings along his dark friend, Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen of "MI-5" fame). Lizzie and Darcy fall for each other immediately, but are compelled by circumstance as well as Lizzie's pride and prejudice (you knew they'd turn up somewhere) to go through one of the greatest love stories of all time.
This is a gorgeous, funny movie with several thrilling ball and dance scenes, and the camera quietly does yeoman's work as it wanders through chambers and down hallways to keep the large cast in play and the viewer well-grounded in the story. Of course the camera also knew to linger often on Ms. Knightley's beauty just often enough! But she is no mere adornment - this is an excellent acting performance worthy of watching on its own merits. Watching Lizzie how head-to-head with the rich society dame who hates her (Dench) is worth the price of admission.
I have not read "P&P," so I cannot respond in detail to those who complain that the filmmakers have rewritten the story somewhat. All I would say is that there are plenty of other "purist" adaptations of this story as well as the book itself, and that judged on its own merits, this is one heck of a film.
Great Movie!!!!
2008-09-24 - A great story that both my husband and myself love. Very artisticly shot with beautiful and interesting scenes.
Pride & Prejudice Remake
2008-09-18 - Loved the actors and how they interpreted the story. Who's not to love another remake of Jane Austin's historic romance story.
Received the movie in a timely fashion in great shape. Thanks!
