Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

IncaWelCar In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

julia2702 Ahh. Where should I begin? BBC is obviously my God :) Nobody can outdo them when it comes to English classics, this (certainly logical) fact has proved itself to me many times. But I did not expect this series would move me so much. Never read the book, but saw the previous adaptations and felt no particular emotion. So my surprise and delight after viewing this is inexpressible.. A gem, an absolute gem.I first saw Romola Garai in Daniel Deronda and thought - wow, there's really something special about this lady. She's both beautiful in a memorable way and extremely talented. Her Emma had a pretty much same effect on me as Lizzy Bennet delivered by Jennifer Ehle - you look at the character and feel as if it's a real person. You just want to get to know her, talk to her.. This twinkle in her eyes, the smile, the facial expressions telling a thousand words, the tone of her voice.. everything seemed perfect and endearing. I definitely join Ms Garai's fanclub!Johnny Lee Miller, thank you for this wonderful Mr Knightley you gave us. Now I have yet another romantic hero to fall in love with, not just Mr Darcy :) The tender and brotherly-protective way in which he treated Emma, while loving her passionately, and also their arguments each of them making Emma grow up a little bit.. The relationship between them is just soo beautiful, and the scene where the couple finally speak of their mutual feelings made me cry endless tears of joy.Apart from the leads, every actor came up with marvellous performance. Funny how I intended to get this movie play in the background, while I was doing housework. I was glued to the screen and couldn't miss even a single tiny bit of "Emma", sitting with a silly happy smile on my face.We get comedy, we get romance, we get brilliant acting and character development, enjoyable scenery and costumes. I give it 10 stars, and would give 11 if I could. For me, this series got everything right. The only drawback, as I can imagine, may be some liberties taken with the original book and proprieties of the era, as well as modernised dialogue - but there still seems to be an amazing harmony about the whole thing. After an adaptation like that, I can't wait to read the book.Previous versions were not bad, especially Paltrow and Northam movie which I enjoyed a lot. But 2009 series is superior by far. A huge respect and bravo!

thorinoakenshield1997 This is my favorite adaption of Emma (and trust me, I've seen them all)! I love the soundtrack, the scenery, and the characters.This miniseries is also family friendly (which is nice), so don't hesitate to watch it with your kids if they're interested. I watched it again with my thirteen year old sister (who claims she hates period dramas) and she sat through the whole thing and awkwardly admitted she liked it at the end. I found this adaption stayed true enough to Jane Austen's book to satisfy. There might have been a few minor tweaks, but nothing major that could ruin it.Mr. Woodhouse is hilarious without trying to be, and just like Mrs. Bennet from the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, I don't think anyone could out do his performance.Emma is meddlesome, spoiled, rich, and pretty. But the strange thing is, you can't help but love her! I found this Emma to be more spirited than the (what I thought) dull Gwyneth Paltrov. She laughs, smiles, and is a believable twenty-one year old girl. She's a matchmaker out of habit, and gets in all sorts of trouble because of it.Now onto Mr. Knightley! He's extremely sweet, and I love him for it. He is supposed to be sixteen years older than Emma, and in all fairness the actor doesn't look much older than she does; But I thought his manner was very mature in contrast to hers, so I thought it worked out really well.Overall I loved this miniseries, and I'm always up to rewatching it! If you like period dramas, Jane Austen, or happy endings, definitely give Emma a go! You won't regret it. :)

KurotsutaMurasaki 1996 brought us a bright and fun feature film adaptation of "Emma" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam which appealed to the romance-centered Austen-fan. In Frebruary of 1997 a more sober and text accurate adaptation with Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong appeared. Scripted by Andrew Davies (Of Pride and Prejudice 1995 Fame) it calmed the Austen- purists who burst into flames of rage at the Hollywood Travesty which they dared to christen "Emma".Frankly, I don't care for either of those adaptations. Even though much of the dialogue in both version was ripped straight from the page, Northam was to easy-going, Strong was too harsh, and neither Paltrow, or Beckinsale were able to make Emma likable. This is because her character was pulled from the page and never given any spirit.Then, in 2009, ITV gave us this version. ITV's adaptations of Austen novels have not, in the past, been received well by Janeites. And neither was Emma. Which I think is a shame. Romola Garai was a fantastic Emma. She succeeded where Paltrow and Beckinsale both failed in my opinion. She made Emma spirited and likable, in spite of her numerous faults. She was the "picture of health" as Mrs. Weston describes Emma in the book. As for Jonny Lee Miller, he is the only Knightley for me. He portrayed an ideal balance of Mr. Knightley's qualities. Knightly is one of my favorite Austen heroes (second only to Col. Brandon) because Miller's performance is exactly what I imagined as I was reading the book. And for those of you who complain about how Jonny Lee Miller looked too young for Knightley, I would remind you that Knightley is but seven or eight-and-thirty: the same age as Miller when he played the part in 2009.Laura Pyper might not be as fair skinned as some other Jane Fairfaxes, but I found her to be the only one of the three actresses I've seen in the role who really made me believe that Jane was exhausted from the emotional strain of keeping her engagement a secret. Rupert Evans played a most agreeable Frank Churchill - he had a charisma that drew me, as a viewer, in.I liked Michael Gambon as Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's charming (if ridiculous) hypochondriac father. Let me just clarify - I NEVER, but NEVER like Gambon in ANYTHING. Yet by some miracle, which I can only assume is the character transcending the actor, I find him the least annoying of the Mr. Woodhouse portrayals I've seen. Tamsin Grieg was an amazing Miss Bates, displaying a different visual model that Prunella Scales or Sophie Thompson, but still wittering on without a thought. And words do not describe what an amazing Weston Double-Team Robert Bathurst and Jhodi May were. Bathurst wasn't too old and he didn't over-act the part like other actors have done; and Jhodi was far more likable than Samantha Bond or Greta Scacchi ever could be.On the other hand, I do NOT care for how Blake Ritson played Mr. Elton - he was neither agreeable or pleasant. As soon as he slunk onto the screen, his true character was apparent. This detracted from his sub-plot with Harriet Smith. Harriet, in a truly great casting choice, was played by Louise Dylan who, though extremely pale in the part, was quite well suited to it. As for Mrs. Augusta Elton, I can only say that though I disapprove of too much editing, I count the removal of the Maple Grove references to be a blessing. I'm fine with reading it, but hearing that over and over again makes other versions vexing to watch. It works better on the page than it does on the screen; it didn't detract from the essence of the character - to say that would be over-reacting. Christina Cole was superb in the part. She was just as presumptuous in interfering with Jane Fairfax's affairs as she was in the book, and she was certainly as self-centered, desiring to be the focus of attention in any scene in which she appeared.I will not say that this adaptation gets EVERYTHING right. I do not smile upon reassignment of lines or breaches in historical accuracy (such as characters kissing in public or Frank resting his head in Emma's lap). I also do not approve of simplifying dialogue (but that is a wide subject, which this review has not the space for).I find this series to be the most accurate to the book, in tone if not in text. It has a depth of emotion that the other versions lack. Emma's loneliness upon Miss Taylor's leaving was shown in good detail - as it should be, since Austen devoted so much description to it in the novel - and yet that was barely shown in the 1997 Kate Beckinsale version. In the 2009 adaptation, Emma is shown imploring Harriet to exert herself and move on from Mr. Elton after he returns, married, to Highbury. (this was also deemed to trivial to include in the 97 version.) Another excellent example of acting on Garai's part is Emma's very affected reaction to Knightley's rebuking of her conduct on Box Hill. Whatever other's may say about the "egregious" kiss in the last episode, this proposal scene is one of my favorites in this series, and possibly in Period Drama history. Miller and Garai's performances are so much more comfortable than Strong and Beckinsale's because it's not so clichéd. Miller's delivery of the lines "You know I can't make speeches; If i loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more" was infinitely superior than Mark Strong's.I find this adaptation to be Most Agreeable. It has some first rate qualities and I therefore award it 87 points out of 100.

ian lee I can only assume the BBC wanted to poke fun at Jane Austen. Take for instance the sound track. It seems to be saying here is a bunch of silly people in fancy dress performing a very trivial story by some hack called Jane Austen whose language needs updating. Hey wait, maybe we could turn Emma into a feminist tract or a sort of up market East Enders.Then there is Romola Garai. Is this woman an actress ? Then why does she think that every passing moment in which she is on camera must give rise to a repertory of facial expressions, contortions and horrible grimaces ? She is supposed to be Emma Woodhouse not a character in pantomime. Did she read the book ? Has she understood that Austen's wit is in the language ? We do not need facial expressions to help us get the irony. If Garai did read the book or watch the Paltrow version she certainly learned nothing.