Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

london777 This version keeps a lot more of the novel than most, but most of this material lacking in other versions covers the Maylie sub-plot, which is mawkish and conventional Victoriana.Many reviewers have commented that the series does not stint on the squalor of Hanoverian London (the action takes place in pre-Victorian times). I actually disagree and feel that it sanitizes things. Reviewers write of the "cramped" rooms when I thought they were were more spacious than many a million pound flat in today's London.The direction, camera-work and score were plodding TV quality only, and the actors in some parts unsubtle. Bill Sykes looked the part, and for once you could see why Nancy might have been attracted to him, but his acting skills were one-dimensional. I liked Eric Porter's Fagin. It was based on the Guinness version, but without the anti-semitic element which is embarrassing in the earlier movie.Too many of the children's roles suggested middle-class kids from drama school.I give the makers credit for faithfulness and not attempting smart-ass interpolations or anachronistic social comment, and maybe enjoyment would be enhanced by watching in the original 12 half-hour episodes, but viewing it purely as a "movie" it is fairly dull, especially compared to David Lean's masterpiece. Sharper editing would help to speed things along.

TheLittleSongbird Oliver Twist is one of Charles Dickens' most famous books and also one of his best. This adaptation is excellent, like most of the 70s-80s BBC Dickens serial adaptations, and ranks along with the 1948 David Lean film and the 1999 mini-series as one of the best adaptations of Oliver Twist as well as the most faithful. If there was anything that wasn't quite right(personal opinion of course) it was that Rose and Nancy could have been more affectionate with Oliver. Other than that, this is Dickens as it should be done. The costumes and sets are sumptuous as well as richly detailed, you can literally smell the grimy seediness which goes to show how strong the atmosphere is. The adaptation is also shot with natural skill and intricacy. The music is simple yet haunting, while the dialogue is very Dickenesian in spirit and thoughtfully written. The story is adapted faithfully, with Oliver being with Mr Sowerberry for five years and Monks being introduced earlier being the only really glaring liberties, and is told compellingly. Even with the long length and deliberate pacing, the adaptation never did feel tedious. The acting carries the production beautifully, Scott Funnell is an adorable younger Oliver, making an impression even when in just two of the twelve episodes, while Ben Rodska carries the rest of the adaptation in the same role- but older- with innocence and steel without falling into the sickly sweet category. Eric Porter's Fagin is wonderfully oily, vile and manipulative while Michael Attwell's Bill Sykes is both frightening and tormented. Amanda Harris is a vulnerable and sympathetic Nancy, and there's also the likable Rose Maylie of Lysette Anthony, Pip Donaghy's startling Monks and David Garlick's rascally Artful Dodger. There are fewer Mr Bumbles crueller and more grotesque than that of Godfrey James, Frank Middlemass is a kind and noble Mr Brownlow and Miriam Margoyles, Julian Firth and Gillian Martel also handle their roles adeptly. Overall, really excellent and will please any Dickens or literary fans. 9/10 Bethany Cox

maksquibs OLIVER TWIST films live or die by their Olivers and this ultra-faithful six-hour British mini, dies with two inadequate Olivers. Not that the rest of the cast does much better. No one seems able to sustain the heightened characterizations Dickens needs, giving us a sort of loud, generic hamminess that quickly wears out its welcome. Even so, it's a treat to (just once) get all the story (the Artful Dodger has some surprising character turns), and it's certainly preferable to a recent mini-series which added a 'clarifying' preface. Memorable versions by Frank Lloyd, David Lean & Carol Reed each lose almost half of the story; for the better say I. With early Dickens, small sins of omission do wonders for story construction, especially in keeping Oliver in personal danger for the climax.

godfreye-1 This is an excellent version, well-acted, long enough to permit inclusion of Dickens' myriad confusing plots that keep the viewer guessing. It is broken into 12 28-minute episodes, reminiscent of the way Dickens serialized his novels. I dare anybody to watch just one - every one's a cliffhanger inviting you onwards. The acting is outstanding, though the strong dialect caused me to miss some lines. As Scott Funnell has noted in an earlier comment, the child actor who coincidentally has the same name does an outstanding job (and is rather adorable) as the young Oliver, as does the actor playing the larger (but according to Scott less important) role of the older Oliver.This is one of a whole series of superb BBC adaptations of the major Dickens novels, every one a gem. Like some of the others, the DVD re-release of Oliver Twist includes as an extra an excellent performance by Simon Callow as Charles Dickens, reading a lengthy passage from the novel, recreating Dickens' own reading tours that played to packed houses. Don't miss it!