El Gran Gatsby [Blu-ray] [Spain Import]

I thought this adaptation of the unfogetatble novel was fantastic. The movie had its own uniqueness which made it even more interesting. The acting was superb and I would recommend this movie to anybody who enjoyed the novel!

This wild shot at Fitzgeralds masterpiece sees it all as a sort of proto-Godfather saga, 60 years ahead of its time. Beautifully costumed and with a sharp and accurate period look, this British TV version is a very distanced interpretation (if you can call it an interpretation, rather than an abject misunderstanding) of Gatsby. The take is pure gangland style -- an element certainly in the book, but which hardly subsumes it all -- or ought to, anyway. The story is really about romantic extravagance and earnestness; that takes more than mere costuming and sets, but actors with a lot of heart. The men here have no appeal whatsoever; theyre all thugs. Mira Sorvinos Daisy, however weird, is presented as some sort of heroine -- about as far from Fitzgeralds intent as you can get. The dialogue is all accurate, mind you, and the story line is not significantly altered. Simply, this total misunderstanding of Gatsby is an object lesson on how mere textual faithfulness is far from enough to properly mount a literary work as film. You cant blame our cousins across the Atlantic River though. The tight, terse Fitzgerald text is obviously based on the reader sharing certain cultural assumptions; this version exposes that fact about the book, and to that extent is useful. And the Brits never understood Scott Fitzgerald from the get-go, though he has always bugged them. The late great British literary critic Cyril Connelly summed it up perhaps best, Scott Fitzgerald is an American imposition, and I am beginning to resent him. This was in the 60s, in the heights of the Fitzgerald revival which continues to this day. The film still rates 3 stars because -- paired off against the more famous Redford Gatsby (which is also quite textually accurate) -- it presents fascinating issues of textual interpretation and personal and cultural orientation. Know the book well though, and see the other film first before coming to this.

Received very quickly.

This somewhat modest TV adaptation is the best of the modern Gatsby films. For one thing, the casting is perfect--Toby Stephens embodies to the nth the mixture of thug and sweetheart that is Gatsby, Paul Rudd delivers the most nuanced of all Nicks (though he is unflatteringly costumed in a ridiculous hat over a three-piece suit, which might be true to the period but just looks clunky), and Martin Donovan is wonderfully hateful as Tom. Francie Swift is a great Jordan, too, but the role is easy to play, I must admit. As for Daisy, Mira Sorvino is fine without suggesting the mystically magical being that so captures Gatsbys soul--but then this role is hard to play. Very, very hard. All the location work is fine, right down to the all-important Valley of Ashes with the sign of the optometrists glasses. The Gatsby parties are not as vast as in the recent Di Caprio version, but they really were way over the top. This version seems more faithful to the book, to the times...a real achievement.

In the movie The Great Gatsby which Im doing a review for my teacher Mr. M I thought there were some parts that were true to the book and some parts that were different. For instance the story line stayed pretty much true to the book. The story being, about a man named Nick Carraway played by Paul Rudd who moves from the Midwest to New York. There he is introduced to his second cousin Daisy (Mira Sorvino) and her husband Tome (Martin Donovan) where he has dinner with them and meets his soon t be girl friend Jordan Baker (Francie Swift). Then he meets his next door neighbor Jay Gatsby (Toby Stephens) at one of the wild parties of Gatsbys that Nick is invited to. Nick discovers that Gatsby is in love with Daisy and intends to win her heart by impressing her with his money and success, even though she and Tom are well off by old money they both had before. Throughout the movie Gatsby gets Daisy to like him but is rudely interrupted by Tom who catches on and unmasks Gatsby as a man getting his money from fake bonds which makes Daisy go back to Tom. Nick is dragged along in helping Gatsby get to Daisy. Also in the end after Daisy has rejected Gatsby, Daisy driving home ran over a woman (Myrtle) who happened to be Tomes mistress. Gatsby was in the car with Daisy when it happened. When Tom finds out he is horrified and lets Myrtles crazed husband know where Gatsby lived because it is assumed that Gatsby killed her. In doing so, Myrtles husband kills Gatsby and then himself. The ending of the movie and book is when Nick having witnessed the dead body of Myrtle goes back home to the mid-west. The only big differences between movie and book were two scenes. One was missing, and that was when Nick called Jordan to say goodbye and that in a way he always would love her. Which was a pretty important part of the book because he finds out that shes engaged to another man. The second big difference I thought, was Myrtles apartment party with Tom, Nick, Myrtles sister, and her sisters husband. This scene which was in a small apartment in the book with those people at the party was different then in the movie. The movie make it look like it was a huge apartment with lots more people in it. I also thought Nick played by Paul Rudd was true to character. Also, I thought Daisy did well with her part, her voice could have been more exciting though. Finally, I think the scenes and sets were close to what I envisioned then to be. So that is what I thought about the movie The Great Gatsby.

I have never seen this version of this movie. I ordered this by mistake. I had meant to order the one w/Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I will watch this one and hopefully it will be good too.

Incredible movie, and storyline. If youve read the book then you will want to see this version. The newer one doesnt give an accurate or close storyline. This should truly be in every movie lovers collection.

Haven seen 6 movies of The Great Gatsby this one was o.k., lovely costumes, but not quite like the book.

This movie, in my opinion does an excellent job of recreating the novel, The Great Gatsby. Im sure that Fitzgerald would approve. Although a few scenes are brief, or entirely skipped over, this is necessary for almost all conversions of books to movies. The movie, like the book, starts out introducing Nick and the two eggs, West Egg and East Egg. From there you are introduced to Daisy, Gatsby, Tom, George, Myrtle, along with the other characters. The movie follows the same track of explaining Gatsby and Daisys past together and Gatsby obsession with her. Just like the book, Gatsby is murdered by Tom in the end and Nick ends up moving out of West Egg and back home, but before he does this he realizes the lifestyle that people live and the true nature of theses peoples character. I believe that there were some really excellent actors in this movie. But the two that I believe really reenacted the original novel characters the best, were Daisy and Nick. I was pleasantly surprised after seeing the movie, because I realized that Nick was exactly how I had pictured him. From his attitude to his appearance, he really embraced and acted excellently, the narrator role of Nick Carroway. Daisy was in this same way wonderfully cast. The actress did a great job showing her careless ways and her obsession with material things in life. Throughout the drinking, the infidelities, and the love, Daisy did an admirable job playing the role. I believed that the movie was actually incredibly like the book. I recognized most of the dialogue as direct quotes from the book. If not all speech was direct from the text, then at least all memorable scenes and phrases where. The dreamy scenes and the lifelike flashbacks, I thought, were excellently displayed. With a book like Gatsby it must have been difficult to put many of the feelings and scenes onto a screen. The directors did a great job portraying the emotions that were felt in the book. Through the directors camera angles, costumes, and soundtrack I believe the moods were wonderfully and accurately shown. Personally, I enjoyed this movie because of its accuracy. It is a pet peeve of mine when books like The Great Gatsby are made into movies and not done right. In this case, the movies do not even do the books justice. Normally, books are much better than movies, it is an inevitable fact. But after viewing this movie, I was pleasantly surprised with the well done screen play and accuracy to the original writing.

Excellent