Les Miserables

This is my favorite version of all the movies. Very good! Anthony Perkins is wonderful as the obsessed policeman and Richard Jordan seems as thought this part were written just for him. This version focuses more on Jean Valjean than his daughter which I personally liked. This version covers most of what the musical just blows through. The Version with Liam Nieson focuses more on the relationship with Jean Valjean and his daughter Cosette. This is a movie worth watching over and over again, however, you need to give it your full attention or you won't like it. It is sad in parts but shows what can happen to a person who is determined to succeed. A great rags to riches story.

This is the best version of this classic by far. Richard Jordan gives one of his best performances as Jean Valjean. His scenes in the prison are heartrending. And he certainly knows how to draw you in and make you feel a part of it all, you can feel his suffering, his pain and the scene with the priest as he turns himself around is heartfelt and dramatic, he is definitely by far one of the best character actors that ever was. Anthony Perkins is great as Javert, cold, grim and unforgiving and the two of them together, they are great. Angela Pleasence gives a great performance as Fantine and of course John Gielgud, what can you say about someone that is a living legend, because you know whatever he does you know it will be outstanding. So I would highly recommend this one to anyone that loves the classics and not the version that just came out last year, to think they would try to do this classic again where there was already an outstanding version of this story once before was outrageous.

This is a great story and for me this is the best screen adaptation of it. Although Geoffrey Rush puts in a decent performance in the newer film release (1998), Anthony Perkins' Javert simply cannot be bettered with his steely, cold personality and determination. Jordon also does well with the Valjean character, emitting a personality of pride and restraint in the face of adversity. The story moves on at a decent pace and provides good characterisation without too much lagging.

Overall this is a fine production and I personally find it vastly superior to the latest film incarnation with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush where I didn't particularly like either of the portrayals of the leading characters, even though they were well-acted. This version may have the obligatory TV Movie feel to it, but it still manages to rise above its Big-screen counterpart.

I saw this version of the story many many years ago and loved it. I still have never seen the musical nor the new film. I watched this version again recently for the first time in many years and while it suffered slightly from the usual low budget aspects of a lot of TV movies, the acting was excellent and Tony Perkins was absolutely amazing as Javert. My 15 year old son had never seen any version of the story and watched it with me and he was mezmerized by the film and loved every minute of it (this from a kid who can't sit still for 5 minutes unless there are explosions and robots and blood and guts everywhere).

BTW, the bright-eyed young Marius who resembles an older Elijah Wood was played by Christopher Guard, who was Frodo in Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings".

An interesting adaption of the story. The screenplay writer John Gay has added about 30 minutes worth of backstory and recounts Valjean's initial theft of the bread, trial and almost 20 years imprisonment in some detail before getting to the scene with the Bishop, which is where the 1000+ page books _starts_!

He has included notable scenes and characters from the book - such as Marius' misunderstanding with his grandfather (played by John Gielgud) and Monsieur Madeline's housekeeper who never lies, Sister Simplice. However, he has also cut many others - notably the whole subplot with Thenardier's gang in Paris, practically all of the students' interactions and the character of Eponine. Further, he has chosen to include some scenes which I certainly would never think of as essential or even substantive, such as the convoluted means of getting Valjean back into the convent where he and Cosette spend 10 years.

The effect of these interesting choices is twofold: Firstly, this movie is very much Valjean's story, with many of the other characters given short shrift. (Javert is an exception.) Secondly, the pacing is somewhat uneven - inclusion of short scenes such as those with Marius' grandfather imply a more detailed backdrop to each of the other characters, but ultimately appear tacked on. Some of the "chase" scenes also come across as gratuitous and lack tension.

The fact that this is a made-for-TV movie comes out in a limited budget and the periodic fade outs between scenes.

On the plus side, Anthony Perkins gives a wonderfully controlled performance as Javert (standout scene for me was his confrontation with Sister Simplice), and Richard Jordan is sympathetic, if somewhat babyfaced even as an old man.

Lovers of that great "kids" TV show Press Gang (highly recommended BTW) will get a kick out of spotting a young Dexter Fletcher as Gavroche.