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Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD EAN: 0883929036233 Format: Color, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: January 27, 2009 Running Time: 169 minutes Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1967 Sales Rank: 1065
Amazon.com essential video: John Schlesinger's solid adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel sees three rival suitors vying for the affections of the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie decked out in a variety of bonnets and frilly dresses), who has just inherited a farm. The men in her life are stout, whiskered yeoman Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), an impoverished local farmer; neurotic, repressed squire William Boldwood (Peter Finch); and handsome rascal Sgt. Troy (Terrence Stamp), who breaks women's hearts for a hobby.
Thanks to cameraman Nicolas Roeg and production designer Richard MacDonald (who also worked for Joseph Losey), 19th-century Dorset looks as pretty and as picturesque as a John Constable reproduction on top of a cookie tin. Not that Schlesinger or screenwriter Frederic Raphael underplays the duress of rural life. We see the hardship of the farm workers' lives as the seasons turn. The film opens with a spectacular sequence in which Gabriel Oak's dog drives his flock of sheep over a cliff, thereby forcing him into penury. Whether hunger or heartbreak, every character here suffers. Bathsheba (like the model Christie plays in Darling) is a free spirit in a society in which women's rights are severely restricted. --Geoffrey Macnab
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - avoid this
The new DVD is a disaster--still cropped rather than 2.35x1 and lacking the original stereo soundtrack. Warner Bros. has botched a great opportunity to present this beautiful film in the manner it deserves.
Rating: - A Favorite Classic Needed on DVD!!!!!!!!!!
I first saw this movie on television MANY years ago and a about 10 years ago I bought it on ebay. I would be thrilled if there were a DVD, especially Blu-Ray version of it. This movie is truly a classic, beautifully ... Read More
Rating: - Neglected masterpiece
I agree with all the above reviewers. I have this '60 epic in laser disk, when laser disk technology gave us better selections of great movies. "Far from the Madding Crowd," with Julie Christie at her prime, Peter ... Read More
Rating: - Where is the DVD of This Film?
One of the best literary adaptations on film ever made, this film of Hardy's classic features fine performances from Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, and the dashing Terrence Stamp. Great cinematography by Nick ... Read More
Rating: - An unforgettable picture!
This well gifted director made his most relevant artwork with this film based on a Thomas hardy novel. This outstanding work shows the poignant portrait of a charming and humble lady who will be the most beloved ... Read More
- avoid this
- A Favorite Classic Needed on DVD!!!!!!!!!!