ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

blumdeluxe "Notre-Dame de Paris" tells the story of Esmeralda, a beautiful Roma woman, whose beauty seduces countless men in the city of Paris. When a judge, out of jealousy, stabs the leader of the armed guards because Esmeralda falls in love with the man, she is sentenced to death and hides in the great cathedral under the protection of Quasimodo, who lives next to the bell and suffers from a disformed body.The longer I watched the movie, the more I got the feeling that this is a piece of literature that is nearly designated to be played on a stage instead of being forced into a movie. You find many classical elements of a theatre play, even the set design sometimes reminds of one. Otherwise this is of course a very famous piece of literature that delievers all the ups and downs you would expect, which makes for a decent plot. The end in this case wasn't explained very good, it is rather unclear why Quasimodo should stop listening to Esmeralda completely, even when she states that the men only want to save her. But otherwise there's not much to criticize here.All in all this is a classic adaption of a famous novel. I can imagine that in its time, it was a huge effort to film this, nowadays you're not really sitting on the edge of your chair but it still is a well-produced and well-played adaption of Hugo's script.

PWNYCNY This is a movie that has all the trappings of an epic, but isn't. But it is still a credible rendition of the Victor Hugo classic, with Gina Lollobrigida giving a strong performance as Esmeralda. The weak part of the movie is Anthony Quinn's performance as Quasimodo. Mr. Quinn's portrayal is not believable. Quasimodo is supposed to generate feelings of pathos; that does not happen in this movie. As a result, the plot becomes flat. The intensity of the relationship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda is lacking. Between Mr. Quinn's mumbling of his lines, and the treatment of the poet Gringoire as a buffoon, the movie teeters on the brink of cinematic collapse. Yet, it is saved by staying faithful to the original story and by good performances by some of the supporting cast, as well as by the essential power of the original story. The story of the hunchback and the gypsy girl is classic; read the book.

bkoganbing In this third version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame we get a story far closer to the truth of Victor Hugo's classic novel. Unlike the productions done starring Lon Chaney and Charles Laughton, this one was done in France by the French who took pains to remain faithful to the version Victor Hugo wrote. Note the title in the original French and note it's the cathedral not the hunchback who is the center of the story. That allowed Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida to be billed first and then Anthony Quinn as the hunchback. No doubt about it Lollobrigida is the sexiest Esmerelda going, she makes both Patsy Ruth Miller and Maureen O'Hara look like nuns. Then again she was who the movie going public was paying to see.This is not to take anything away from Anthony Quinn who seems to extend his role as the brutish strong man in La Strada into his portrayal of Quasimodo. Although Charles Laughton's performance is my favorite, this does not denigrate Quinn in any way. The rest of the cast is made up of players from the French cinema. I particularly liked Jean Tissier as the 'Spider King' Louis XI. It's a subtle piece of acting and you can see why this was no man to trifle with.The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a tale of innocence. Quasimodo's to be sure, but even the sexy and voluptuous Esmerelda. She may know all about sex, but she's pretty ignorant in the ways of the political world. Both protagonists are used by forces and people they cannot comprehend.This version of the Victor Hugo classic has its supporters and they should support this great retelling of a classic tale.

dac87 This version of Victor Hugo's TRAGIC tale of the poor deaf bell and deformed bell ringer's love for a kind and virginal gypsy is brought to life yet again. This adaptation suffers from poor acting and bad dubbing while keeping painfully faithful to the book. Now, don't get me wrong, I wish MORE adaptations of Notre Dame de Paris were closer to the book... but it's a shame a shabby film like this is the only one that even touches the book... Gina Lollabrigida (sp?) tries her darndest to capture the allure of the little dancing gypsy girl; she fails utterly... not saying she isn't sexy, but the allurement of Esmerelda is her innocence and youth (she was 16). Gina is far from being either innocent or 16; her whole performance cried "trollip". Antony Quinn (the retarded acting hunchback) is put on the back burner as Gina struts her stuff the whole movie. The guy who played the poet also contributed to the down fall of this movie. This film also has its own way of destroying my favorite scenes in all the other films. My favorite scene of all time is the rescue of Esmerelda from the gallows. In this version, there is no dramatic music, or near death escape, nor a dramatic swing from the bell tower. Esmerelda wasn't even at the gallows... she is knelling before the cathedral while the hunchback slides down a rope, clumsily swoops her up and carried her inside.SPOILER! Now the one area that this film succeeds is the ending... In the novel, Esmerelda is captured and hanged as the hunchback watches from the bell tower... Well, in this version she is shot, but the guards take her body to the gallows anyway. I think the fact that this film used the original ending as opposed to a happy ending was a clever idea and it is the only thing that saves it in my opinion.