Oliver Twist [DVD]

Having watched this version of the Dickens tale serialised on television I knew I had to own it. When great works of literature such as this are dramatised on television it is usual for serious liberties to be taken which very often render the original story almost unrecognisable. Not so in this case. Alan Bleasdale has adhered faithfully to the Dickens story and though long, not a minute is wasted in bringing the story vividly to life - and I mean LIFE. The casting alone is a stroke of genius, each actor being hand-picked for the part. Robert Lindsay, whom I have only ever seen playing comedy roles plays the part of Fagin to perfection. The prison scene in which he has finally lost his mind is a truly powerful performance worthy of an actor of the very highest calibre. Andy Serkis too delivers an extremely impressive characterisation, portraying the truly evil side of Bill Sykes - "chilling" as one reviewer has said. It would take too long to mention each actor's role individually. Michael Kitchen, David Ross, Julie Walters, Marc Warren, the list of first-class British actors is endless. Each one perfectly cast. There have been other dramatisations of this timeless story, but for my money this is the one to have.

I have read the book, and thought it was good. I have seen many versions of oliver twist, from the musical(which I thought was fantastic) to the old David Lean one(which was also fantastic!), but i got 2 say that this production has got 2 be one of the greatest versions i've ever seen. This is because the film actually informs U of Oliver's background, and how he got 2 be where he was. The acting was 1st class, most notably from Sam Smith(Oliver), keira knightley(Rose), michael kitchen(MR. Brownlow) and not to mention marc warren who plays Monks. For me he was really convincing, it as if he was that cruel(I would not say evil, because of the way he was brought up), and yet we should sympathise with him. He played his role well and was really convincing. All the supporting actors/actresses(not 2 mention) also did very well. If there was any faults in it i was too busy 2 notice it, as i was absorbed by the story and the acting. If anyone comes 2 me and asks me if they should get it I would have no trouble in saying yes. I would seriously reccomend it to anyone.

I fully agree with the praise that everyone has given for this version.There's just one minor thing that puzzles me about the DVD presentation of it: it's 4:3. When it was originally shown on ITV, I recorded it from analogue and the picture was 14:9 (full width with black bars top and bottom) which led me to believe that it was made in 16:9 widescreen and shown like that on digital platforms. But comparing the DVD against my VHS recordings, there's actually a bit of extra picture on the left and right on the VHS which is missing from the DVD. So it looks as if the master film has been cropped to 4:3 for the DVD release. Weird.

Alan Bleasdale, God bless him, has courageously and marvelously reprised this wonderful tale. I feel that Mr. Charles Dickens himself might well have re-ordered the telling of Oliver's adventures in like manner, had the opportunity not been pre-empted by his serializing the original. As an adept of melodrama, the Great Man might certainly approve of this adaptation.The screen production is almost perfect. It has period charm, good music, humour, excitement, terror and pathos all in proportion - and excellent casting from top to bottom. Not one of the salient characters seems out of place, or too shallow.I find this version of Oliver exhilarating. It is a much treasured addition, to my film library, that I'm sure will not grow tiresome with the passing years.The voice-track on the VHS version is a little distorted. A DVD version would be VERY WELCOME - and the sooner the better.

Mostly very good. A bit long-winded I thought. I am pleased that at the end everyone knows that Oliver belongs with them. I think Keira Knightly's character could have been a bit more shocked that the boy who has been living with them happens to be her nephew. I also think that Oliver could have been a bit more surprised to find out that Keira Knightly's character is his aunty. Mr Brownlow who is looking after Oliver is very good. He was very believable all the way through. I liked the characters of Fagin and Bill. Nancy is very different from the musical. She is not as confident as Nancy is in the musical.

Got this DVD for our two children to watch prior to taking them to the Theatre to see the Cameron MackIntosh version of Oliver. Hadn't realised that it was in 2 DVD's with a total of about 6 hours (it was the version for TV) but that being said, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Robert Lindsey was fantastic as Fagan and it was fun to look out for other well known actors. Would recommend this DVD.

At this price it's daylight robbery, hours of well done story telling, no spoilers from me, and my menus are all English and subtitles are English as well. Over 6 hours of Dickens characters and plots weaving in unexpected ways. True to the themes of the book by my accounting. And then some. Humor has its places, that's certain.

this version is the best one to date, very good viewing

I recommend this movie to all families

Keira Knightley collectionOliver Twist is a 1999 drama serial produced by ITVbased on the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

Die in meinen Augen beste Umsetzung der Geschichte von Oliver Twist als Serie. Trotz/Wegen einiger kreativer Freiheiten im ersten Teil insgesamt sehr gelungene Abbildung der im Roman dargestellten Gesellschaftskritik. Geniale Schauspieler: Andy Serkis, Robert Lindsay, Emily Woof! Selbst Charaktere, die sonst oft nur zu Karikaturen werden, sind hier in Ihrer Motivation nachvollziehbar.Durch die überzeugenden Schauspieler*innen ist die Geschichte endlich wieder spannend, obwohl man sie gefühlt schon 100x gesehen oder gelesen hat.Beim Bestellen aufpassen, es gibt unendlich viele Versionen: ITV-Serie von 1999. Vorsichtshalber beim Cast darauf achten, dass Andy Serkis, Judy Dench und Keira Knightley genannt sind, dann findet man sie leichter....Unbedingte Empfehlung, wenn man noch eine bezahlbare DVD ergattern kann!

I received it on time and it is as I expected.

Parts were very good, but Dicken's story was distorted by giving away the entire plot at the beginning, and focussing more on the love story than the story of how orphans were treated, and the abuse they suffered in the workhouse, which was Dickens' intention.