Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bowofdeath I don't see the purpose of making this version. Apparently the BBC has more subsidy money that they can think of what to do with it.Frankly, the actor playing Pip is not that great and Estella is downright homely and I can't help but see Hercule Perot. Harry Lloyd wonderful as Herbert Pocket as others have said.Since others have covered many of these shortcomings I shall restrict my further comments to my disappointment in the production design and cinematography.Since the 1946 version won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black- and-White, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White the standard was set. Making the film in color did not alleviate them of a need to meet or exceed that standard. I know, it won Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Movie and Best Cinematography or a Miniseries or a Movie. but all I can say is how can that be? Apparently the judges know nothing about Victorian architecture, furniture or decorative arts and thus are unqualified to judge this film. As for the cinematography, they obviously chose to overlook some fairly frequent major flaws.Having been an antiques dealer and having a degree in Architecture and being a filmmaker and cinematographer I was hoping at least the production design and camera-work would be worth the effort. The production design is awful with mismatched furniture and decorative arts throughout, usually in the same room.The overdone areas in a severe state of decay throughout the Haversham mansion was ridiculous. First floor rooms will rarely show signs of decay from a leaking roof in a two story mansion, especially after only a couple decades of neglect. Having the wedding day dining table unchanged makes since but everything else is overkill and unbelievable. The contrast of the dining room with with the rest of the house in previous versions was missed.There was never any sign that any dust was ever disturbed even on the staircase handrails. Absurd. It is set in London and surrounds in the early to mid-1800s. The use of candles everywhere was totally wrong. It is the Victorian gaslight era and just before and candles went out of everyday use long before that due to their high cost. They were handmade, and were replaced by whale oil and then kerosene long before gaslight became available in the early 1800's in London. If you can't get that right you are doomed as lighting is the most noticeable thing in the rooms. They should have limited the use of candles to candelabras on the dining tables at formal dinner affairs, just like today. I hardly saw any furniture that didn't appear to be several decades out of fashion for the period. Not a sign of wealth to have old fashioned used furniture. Reminded me of the set for The Heiress which had a great set except for the furnishings which were also out of date despite belonging to a rich New York surgeon. Few people in London and New York with money at that time did not own out of fashion furniture yet everyone in this film does no matter what their own age. I think the spendthrift Pip would be buying the latest designs to impress Estella and his new friend, not used, out of style furniture.But for the color, the flocked wallpaper in the Haversham mansion was right out of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", an even worse production design disaster.Some of the weird camera angles and lenses had no purpose and distorted things and people's faces for no apparent reason. Even though much of the cinematography was nice, this so took me out of the scenes that I can't fathom how it was overlooked when awards were given to the DP. I also was annoyed by his sometimes misdirected rack focusing and blown out exposure on Pip's admittedly pancake makeup white face and other faces at times.

Charisse Brown I am amazed at the negative reviews about this series and how completely false they are. If nothing else, do not let those turn you away; watch it for yourself. For one thing, every time a book is turned into a film, little things must be changed. It is just the way it is in order to keep the audience interested and to fit an entire book into a few hour film. So to expect a word for word portrayal of the book is absurd and only amateurs should expect that. The filming and coloring of this series was excellent. The colors felt dark and dreary and complicated, just like much of the book. Everything I envision when I read Great Expectations was how this series felt. Especially Satis House. It is dark and molding and rotten and disgusting. The cast was perfect. Gillian Anderson played an outstanding Miss Havisham. She literally felt like the shell of a being. Completely lost and void of all feeling and life. Everyone said she was too young, but I thought she looked aged and distraught and perfect for her role. Estella was also a great cast. She is definitely not the prettiest actress in the world, however, she nailed her part. Cold and unfeeling, as she was trained to be. Yet toward the end, there isn't a lot said, but you can feel her change in her feelings towards Pip. Her realization that he was right all along and she is capable of loving him. And Pip was perfect in every way. Young Pip was excellent. And Douglas Booth was outstanding as an adult Pip. His transformation from "the boy from the forge" to a gentleman was well noticed. He looked and felt the part. You felt every emotion. I am excited to see where his future career in film takes him, because I thought he was excellent. He is going to play Romeo in the next adaption of Romeo and Juliet and I am quite thrilled for that! As for everyone else, I thought they cast was spot on. It was true to the story, with obvious little changes. If you are going to be a stickler about every little thing and expect every detail of the original book to be in the film, than yes, of course you'll be disappointed. That is a ridiculous notion and you should never watch any adaption of the book to film. But if you can appreciate art in every form, you will love this version. I will definitely be buying it on DVD and watching it over and over.

Jackson Booth-Millard I had seen the South Park spoof first, and then I had seen the original film from director Sir David Lean starring Sir John Mills and Sir Alec Guinness, so I was intrigued to see that the BBC were making a three part television version, based on the famous book by Charles Dickens. Basically young Phillip 'Pip' Pirrip (Oscar Kennedy) helps the seemingly dangerous escaped convict Abel Magwitch (Ray Winstone), on the moors, break his chains with a chisel, but also gave him some food, before the police catch him and take him back to prison. Pip is an orphan, but lives with his sister (Collision's Claire Rushbrook) and her blacksmith husband Joe Gargery (EastEnders' Shaun Dooley), and they are excited to hear from Pip's uncle Pumblechook (Mark Addy) that the wealthy and secluded Miss Havisham (Gillian Anderson) wants a young man to come round to her mansion a couple of times a week. Naturally Pip is sent round to enquire about the job, and Miss Havisham does find him a suitable candidate, the role is to play with her adopted daughter Estella (Izzy Meikle-Small), who looks down on his common and poor mannerisms and demeanour. Miss Havisham decides that Pip needs to get somewhere in life, so she grants him the money he needs to start an apprenticeship with Joe as a blacksmith, and this last for seven years until Pip (Douglas Booth) is older. The next thing Pip knows, lawyer Jaggers (David Suchet) tells him that a mystery benefactor, who he must not ask questions about until he or she reveals himself or herself, has given him an apprenticeship in London to learn the ways and mannerisms to become a gentleman. So the young man of great expectations go to the city, and he shares quarters Herbert Pocket (Harry Lloyd), who is there also to help him learn to be more like a gentleman and fit into a posh and higher class society. Pip has learnt a lot in his time, and lost the common accent, and he is looking forward to seeing the now also grown up Estella (Vanessa Kirby), and he gets his chance at a big ball that she is attending. She is reasonably impressed with his efforts to become more civilised in the higher class of people, but she does not seem to have any feelings for him like he does for her, and she confesses that her (step) mother makes her fall for men to create the misery she suffered from her fiancé. Eventually Pip does learn the identity of his benefactor, it is not Miss Havisham, it is in fact Abel Magwitch, because of the kindness he was shown on the moors, the young man is for a while appalled, but eventually this feeling fades. The end sees Pip return to see Joe and try and make well with the people he formally lived with, Miss Havisham ends her life by burning herself alive, and Estella does marry Bentley Drummle (Tom Burke), but she and Pip do share a tender moment seeing the wreckage from the fire. Also starring Jack Roth as Dolge Orlick and Paul Rhys as Compeyson. Booth plays the famous lead character very well, Anderson is somewhat more sympathetic than other versions of the old woman who secludes herself, Winstone gets his time as the first scary then interesting character, and the supporting cast members are all good too. Made for television, this film like mini series sticks to the Victorian setting and illustrates it very well, with some dark undertones and themes to fit the story, it feels like a completely experience in a Dickens tale, and a most watchable one, fantastic period drama. Very good!

TheLittleSongbird I've always liked Charles Dickens, both his writing and adaptations of his work. There are several fantastic Dickens adaptations, especially David Lean's Great Expectations(the 1999 version is also very impressive) and Oliver Twist, David Copperfield(1999), Bleak House and Little Dorrit. This Great Expectations I don't think is in the same league of the above adaptations, but it is a very solid adaptation on its own, not superb like RadioTimes said but not the piece of whatever I've read from some people on the message board.Great Expectations(2011) does I feel have its shortcomings. I do agree with some that say it was rather rushed, the details were there but while always interesting and never dull some of it does feel a bit too neat. Some scenes did jar, such as young Pip transforming suddenly into the older Pip, and the very end, which had a that's it feel to it. I also didn't like the decision to cut out Biddy and let Pip's sister live, it didn't add anything to the storytelling, and while harrowing in a sense Magwitch's recapture was rather drawn out.Unfortunately I also have to agree that Douglas Booth and Vanessa Kirby as the adult Pip and Estella were miscast. In some ways, it is a plus that they are closer in age to the characters in the novel than John Mills and Valerie Hobson were in the Lean film but actually I found Lean's leads more believable. Booth is very handsome, maybe too much so, but very wooden. Likewise Kirby came across as too plain, especially compared to Booth which was a little disconcerting, and awkward.Luckily their child counterparts were much better, young Estella was beautiful in looks and cold in manner, and Oscar Kennedy who is every bit as promising as he was in Toast is even better. The support cast are also wonderful, with honourable mentions going to Shaun Dooley, who came across as sympathetic and having a lot more steel, David Suchet's firm Jaggers, Jack Roth as Orlick, Ray Winstone whose acting in the first episode is quite terrifying and especially Gillian Anderson's haunting Miss Havisham.Visually it looks wonderful, it has some beautiful sets and locations while still keeping the evocative atmosphere and not looking too clean. The costumes and photography are also very good, especially Miss Havisham's. The music is often eerie while not ever sounding over-bearing or obvious. The script while not always having Dickens' wit and not following the novel's prose(in fact the language such as Magwitch's description of the second man seems to have been "simplified") is still good and flows well.On top of this, the story even with the rushed or jarring parts is compelling and makes you want to see the rest after the previous episode ends. The characterisation is mostly pleasing particularly at the start with Magwitch, though Pip's shrugging off of Joe seemed out of character. All in all, the series is mostly solid but maybe it was longer(4 or 5 episodes would've been better) and had two better adult leads it could have been even more than it turned out to be. 7/10 for the rest of the cast and the meticulous attention to detail. Bethany Cox