La belle et la bête

I adored this movie the first time I saw it when I was 16. I love fairy tales and especially like movies that try to stick to the original story. These stories have been around for hundreds of years before Disney and there are different versions of each in different countries. The sets and costuming of this version are beautiful. (All though some obviously date the film to the late eighties) Rebecca De Mornay is fantastic as the gracious loving creature that can love even a beast. The way that this is filmed it almost feels as though you are the proverbial fly on the wall, or the statue with eyes. I think it is a wonderful way to get kids interested in something besides cartoons.

While the 1946 Jean Cocteau and 1991 Disney versions are superior films of the timeless fairy tales, Cannon Movie Tales' 1987 adaptation is very worthy and one of the better Cannon Movie Tale films.

Beauty and the Beast (1987) is one of their best-looking films, Cannon's films were always made on a low budget but Beauty and the Beast is one of the few where it is not so painfully obvious. The film's very beautifully photographed, the sets are surprisingly lavish and atmospheric, especially the gardens and the castle is like a magisterial character in itself and from personal opinion Beauty and the Beast is the Cannon Movie Tale film with the best costume design, here being one of the highlights rather than a flaw. The music is quite good, not as memorable as the score and songs in Disney's version but they stand just fine on their own and fit well into the film. The incidental music is charmingly whimsical, and while only If You See With Your Heart stands out as truly great out of the songs (Wish for the Moon is also lovely, but not quite as emotion-filled) they're all listenable and do nothing to hinder the story.

The story of Beauty and the Beast is a timeless one, and while there are changes the basic details are intact structured faithfully and the enchanting spirit is too. Pacing is steady and controlled, very like the pacing of the fairy tale's story itself, the film doesn't suffer at all from trying to make a short story seem longer (a problem that The Frog Prince and especially The Emperor's New Clothes had) and the ending is very emotional. Beauty and the Beast's chemistry has a subtle intensity and a real poignancy too. It's nicely directed, allowing the story to breathe while still keeping its momentum and it does nothing to make the magic any less impactful. Rebecca De Mornay radiates innocence and beauty, and plays Beauty charmingly and touchingly, showing herself to be a quite decent singer too. John Savage shows very good chemistry with her, and is similarly very good as the Beast, giving off a scary but also tragically tormented figure and aided by good make-up.

While there is not a lot here actually that is wrong in Cannon Movie Tales' version of Beauty and the Beast, there are a couple of not-so-good areas. The two leads come off very well but the supporting roles are stockly written and overplayed, the siblings resort to quite embarrassing mugging and Beauty's father has rarely if ever been more unsympathetically portrayed. While Savage really impresses as the Beast, he is rather wooden as the Prince, which is not entirely his fault actually because Beast has always been a juicier and more interesting character which gives more scope to do much with the role. The writing does avoid being too cheesy and cloying and it is decent writing for a Cannon Movie Tale film, but can get a bit stiff in places especially in the early parts before Beast appears and when Beauty and the Beast are not on screen together.

All in all, there are some really beautiful things here, and of the Cannon Movie Tale films their version of Beauty and the Beast is one of their best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Charles Perrault's classic French fairy tale "Beauty And The Beast" has been filmed several times. Though it is not as popular as other fairy tales, it is just as enchanting. The well-known French version with Jean Marias and Josette Day, was filmed in 1946. Then, in 1962 came a forgotten quickie version with Joyce Taylor and Mark Damon. The groundbreaking Disney animated feature was released in 1991. But Cannon Films beat them to the punch, producing their live-action musical rendition in 1987. Starring Rebecca De Mornay as Beauty, and John Savage as The Beast/Prince, this is another good example in their "Movie Tales" series. Unlike some of their other titles which do NOT cry out for cinematic translation ("The Emperor's New Clothes" jumps to mind), this fairy tale is perfect for visual dramatization. Cannon's version stays relatively close to the original story, which is more than Disney's did (very little besides the title was retained) and it has great atmospheric photography, especially the scenes in the Beast's garden, which are all the more impressive considering the film's low budget. Both De Mornay and Savage bring depth to their roles, and, considering neither is a singer, they handle the best songs in the movie ("If You See With Your Heart" and "Wish For The Moon") very well, indeed. The film is rather slow paced, but, then, so is the original story. There are a few other changes as well, most notably, Beauty's sisters (Carmela Marner and Ruth Harlap) who are depicted as selfish and lazy, rather than jealous and wicked. Ditto her two brothers. The father,(Yosi Graber) is also characterized as somewhat shallow. But the climax is packed with traditional emotion, and this is a movie which seems to get better every time I see it. Recommended for fairy tale lovers everywhere on the planet.

Ohhhh my God, that was dreadful. Okay, DeMornay is quite nice to look at, but the prince looks like a cheap body builder from a cheap advertisement.

Yeah, the costumes were nice. But the story was totally empty, lacking emotions, suspense, style, ah, just everything. In the end you just don't understand why she stayed with the prince and fell in love with him cause the dude is boring as hell and delivers one stupid line after another.

Never before have I felt less while watching a movie.

I guess the two best adaptions of this tale are still the Disney one and the one by Jean Cocteau, with Jean Marais playing the prince / the beast. Go watch those instead and save your time on this empty flick.

This movie had a huge impact on me as a kid. I was about 10 when I first saw it..and since then I've watched it countless times. I would watch it everyday as a kid, memorised the entire script and lyrics and recite them, sing before while I lie in bed at night before sleeping. I loved, and still love this show. Just yesterday,I took it out to watch again, and I enjoyed it as much as before, and surprised myself I could remember the lines still. Rebecca has really surpassed being a great actress...being able to sing beautifully. I've adored her since then...and always will. She was the MAGIC in the entire movie. The songs are sweet and suited for this musical..it's no Mary Poppins, but it sure showed Rebecca's singing talent. Want a good fairytale? Forget Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Watch Cannon's Beauty and the Beast for a real treat.