Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Mandemus I read some Mervyn Peake years ago, so I know a little of his penchant for the bizarre and his love of language. I was ready to like Gormenghast, which I had not read before. This didn't work for me at all, and now I have no desire to go back an read the original.Positive: good production values, typical of British period film-making. Good actors, many familiar faces again from other UK TV films.Review. I found no characters with enough redeeming qualities to relate to in any fashion. The message is negative, ugly, gruesome, grotesque and distasteful. Likely someone involved with the production would argue that that is just the point: this is an allegory of a brutal, hateful and inhumane society. That it is, but I don't want to watch it! For entertainment to work, you have to have something that the typical human viewers can latch on to, usually by being able to empathize with at least one character. I particularly found the incessant squealing, whining, aching, hurting, yelling, and hollering of just about every character in the production very grating after only a few minutes into the film. An unpleasant viewing experience altogether.

macpet49-1 OK, OK, I admit I enjoyed it! Now, that's out of the way. Yet somehow I feel manipulated by someone who put several plot outlines into a computer and came up with this combination of 'Hamlet' meets 'Phantom of the Opera' meets Grimm's Fairy Tales. The actors (being English) are terrific to watch go through the paces. My, we Americans can learn a lot from them. For me, Celia Imrie steals the show with her stone-faced portrayal of Mommie Queen Dearest. Second, are Zoe and Lynsey as the Siamese twins, Clarice and Cora, who are just mesmerizing to watch and fun on top. One has to root for them to the end. Mr. Meyers enjoys his evil a bit too much for me--although, I think such a part would be difficult to not become too hammy with. However, at times, I wanted nothing more than to slap him upside the head for his spoiled brat episodes when he doesn't get his way. It's all grim, grimy and gory darkness wrapped in Christmas colors, so enjoy and I guess forget about being too analytical as I am. I must say, in some ways it echoes the nightly news these days--most upsetting.

Iwannabeadwarftonight Not bad at all! The second episode is the highlight with Ian Richardson portraying the maddening lord Groan with stunning skill. Christopher Lee makes a very sympathetic Flay and John Sessions is terrific as dr. Prunesquallor. Jonathan Rhys Meyers makes a wildly energetic, charismatic and devious Steerpike, which strays from the cold and rational young man depicted in the books. Neve McIntosh is far too old to play the young Fuchia of the first two episodes, but otherwise its hard to fault her. The costumes and the indoors set design is marvelous. The outdoors scenery however is sometimes plain ugly and looks low budget.

Jan Kjellin I've read Mervyn Peake's books over and over again. To me, the story of Titus Groan, 77'th earl of Gormenghast, is one that can actually compete with Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings".So what do I think about the mini series? Well, obviously no one would dare do what Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema did with the aforementioned movie, so I guess a four part mini series was the next best thing. (Although I would have loved to see this in a cinema!) Good actors and an excitingly stylistic production makes this a worthwhile four hours. Some has been left out, of course, but there's still plenty of material left to build the characters of the story.This is not a fantasy movie. It has no or few classic fantasy elements at all in it. I would rather see it as a fantastic movie, where the laws of the "normal" world aren't broken - just a little bent out of shape...Gormenghast will provide a glimpse into our own world, and even though it's not always pretty, it's always done in beautiful colors.