Diagonaldi Very well executed

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

ehd_98 Must watch. So romantic. Acting and cinematography are superb

Rogermarksmen This 1981 adaptation of one of the finest 20th century novels is as perfect as any adaptation for television could ever be. Returning to it after some years, what is so moving and so eloquently conveyed is the wonderful, poetic and innocent early recall of Charles's romance with Oxford and Sebastian, and the gathering clouds of winter which Waugh tells us close around Sebastian's heart, as his mother's destructive piety and possessiveness destroy him, while Charles is unwittingly caught by her power. We see many Jungian archetypes at play. Also, revisiting it, one sees the homosexuality much more, so delicately described by Waugh merely by hints, yet which he says was high on the list of mortal "sins" between the two young men. Platonic? No, but the subtlety is what writers of Waugh's standing sought - it was after all based on an affair in his own life.Jeremy Irons is superb, conveying with great subtlety and often few words the poetry, the sadness, the regret, the loss of innocence, while Anthony Andrews is equally superb, haughty, childlike, trusting yet betrayed, aristocratic. Claire Bloom as Lady Marchmain is an ice queen of still, too controlled beauty, destroying all with her Catholic obsession, unable to see her own shadow. Gielgud - what can one say except superb? Anthony Blanche is deliciously camp and conveys the centrality to those early days that Waugh describes, and of course Olivier is unsurpassed, and Diana Quick beautiful and as tormented by her faith as was her mother. To watch this after the sorry movie version (just two hours against about twelve!) is a real lesson in how to adapt a great novel. One of thee truly great TV classics.

Afzal Shaikh It is hard for the younger viewer, like me, to appreciate the success of Brideshead Revisited. It is from a time when, in Britain, there were only three channels in Britain. Moreover, record players had not become widely available, and things were not often repeated. All this meant that the viewer had to tune in at the appointed time, or miss out. And in Brideshead's case most of Britain, from all sections of society, tuned in en masse, and it has been remarked that even dowager duchesses made sure to tune in, very apt for a series with a subject like Brideshead.Coming to see such a landmark of British Television over months on an ad hoc basis on DVD, as it spans over 600 minutes, did not detract from my own appreciation of the series. My jaw dropped at its expense and ambition, being an almost-complete filming of the famed wartime novel by Waugh, in the light of other TV productions from the late 1970's and early 1980's, with their cardboard sets and stagy (not to mention stodgy) direction.Charles Ryder is a single child from a small conservative, Anglican middle class family, consisting only of himself and his oddball father, the elder Ryder. Charles meets Lord Sebastian Flyte at Oxford in the late 1920's. Ryder, a serious-headed student, is seduced by Sebastian's louche, jazz age, unorthodoxly-catholic life, and becomes his close friend and lover. Sebastian gives him an entry into the higher echelons of English society and Ryder becomes closely involved over the next decade with the Flyte family, consisting of Sebastian's proper but thick older brother, Lord Bridy, and his two sisters, Julia and Cordelia, and their separated parents, the distant Lord Marchmain and the nearer Lady Marchmain. She is observant and graceful, yet distant in her own, more emotional, way.The quality of the characterisation is astounding and mirrored by the high-class acting. In amidst wonderful performances by the stellar cast (as well as younger actors such as Diana Quick, Phoebe Nicholls, Nickolas Grace, Simon Jones and Anthony Andrews) Jeremy Irons, in the central role, evinces a wonderful subtlety, perfectly suited to the restrained but passionate Ryder, and also narrates superbly, in character, the restrained but passionate story.Brideshead Revisited has a fey, conservative reputation that it does not wholly deserve. It is true that this TV adaptation does not correct the novel's middle class obsequiousness in its view of the decline of the English aristocracy, and at times it is too reserved in its view of the sexual relationship between Charles and Sebastian, which seems coy and a little elusive. But critics mistake its reserve. There is real depth in Brideshead Revisited- rather like large tectonic plates moving quietly but momentously beneath the surface- concerning issues like religion, sexuality and repression, alcoholism, the decline of the English aristocracy and the rise of the middle class, as well as the dehumanisation of war.It must be remembered that Ryder's journey into the upper echelons of English society via the Brideshead family- engaging and original in itself- is also a passionate and convincing allegory of the higher classes of English society between the two twentieth century world wars. Brideshead Revisited may owe a lot of this, and its general richness, to the fact that it is basically a filmed novel, but it has utilised the novel so well and filmed it with great care and dedication. It is for this reason that Brideshead Revisited arguably deserves its place at the top of British TV Adaptations.

Mattias Petersson I probably don't have what it takes to truly understand this series. Why? I'm not British! After everything i've read about this series i've understood that there is something here that just speaks to the British soul. I don't know quite what it is, but there is some nostalgia here that is probably lost on the rest of the world. In Swedish the title of this series can be translated to "A Lost World", and i guess that says it all.I didn't know quite what to expect when i popped the DVD into the player. I had bought this series for my mother on her birthday since she remembered seeing it on TV in the 1980's and loving it. After seeing it again on DVD she said it was difficult to sit through. But that might be for a lot of reasons. So i decided to listen to the reviews on the DVD-cover, they stated that this was Britains all-time favorite TV-series. And since i do enjoy British television expectations were quite high.I can start off by saying that Jeremy Irons is one of my favorite actors. There is some dignity and worthiness about him that just speaks to me. Although he picks his roles as a blind man throws dart, he still manages to come out at least decently unscathed most of the time. Here he is the main character as well as the narrator. And let me tell you, for all my warm feelings toward Jeremy Irons i couldn't stand him after watching "Brideshead Revisited"...My lasting memory of this TV-series will always be the droning voice of Jeremy Irons. Like a wet blanket over the whole story, covering it all like a tarp held down by lead weights. The acting is mostly great, and Irons is excellent as usual. The story itself is not exceptionally interesting but the environments and the sheer atmosphere makes it capturing nevertheless. Also there are location shots here that are excellent, from Egypt, Venice and a ship at sea. I don't know how much filming was actually done on these locations, but the ambiance is extraordinary. Also the slightly homo-erotic tendencies between the two main characters adds another layer to the story.But then we return to Irons and his narration. While i did enjoy the acting, the scenery, the story (mostly), the characters and so forth, Irons still drove me to sleep with his droning voice. I don't know, maybe the narration was what made this such a good adaptation of the novel? I don't know, i haven't read the novel and after this i don't care to. But for the pacing the narration is murder. It's as if the watch is moving at half pace when he speaks, as though i'm slowly drowning in a pool of hot fudge... It's like before an accident when you can suddenly see everything stopping for a moment before your car hits that tree... And imagine that Irons speaks for most of every episode. It was on the verge of unbearable.In the end i have mixed feelings about this series. I can understand why British people love it, i found a lot to like myself. But the pacing problems are just too much for me to take. The series doesn't exactly rush on as it is, and with Irons slowing everything to a crawl this became one of those viewing-experiences where i looked at the watch many times every episode. Perhaps i'm damaged by modern TV and it's cut-cut-cut pace (although i doubt it since i like many slow-paced things), maybe it's just my failure to appreciate the poetic beauty in Irons reading... Whatever it is, this became a sleeping pill for no good reason. I wanted to love it, now i just like it. Recommended, but load yourself up with caffeine...6/10.