A Christmas Carol

I've seen many versions of this story and was encouraged by the description of this being one of the darker treatments. But it was like they weren't really trying. Important lines were skipped, dialog was only one-sided, many details were missing, such as Marley's ghost talking about the chains he wore, but you couldn't see any. Or bed curtains being confused with window curtains. Way too many parts were clips shown earlier in the movie to fill the space. So much more could have been made by the creepy parts. The small cast didn't help either. No parties, no rooms of people, Fezziwig's and Fred's had just 3 people. The acting was wooden and everyone's eyes were unemotional, with the one exception of Bob Cratchit. Scrooge wasn't transformed except he stopped acting so angry. So disappointing.

The music was good, though, so that was appreciated.

I wish I could say this was better than it is. I appreciated the old and probably historical buildings this was shot in, however it was not set in London. Someone else here also said this, if you want to introduce your children to this tale, choose another version.

I don't mind it being a "dark" version and considered that a plus going in. But the ghost effects were inconsistent and dreadful. The acting uneven. The constant ooooohing music unbearable. And no sense of the story taking place in a well populated area. There must have been no budget for extras.

Give me the Muppet version any day!

Out of all the screen adaptations I have seen of "A Christmas Carol" this is the most boring adaption

Now here is the break down of the film from Amazon.

This is the darkest, most ghostly version of this story ever made. It stays true to the original feel of the Dickens story, while turning up the creepiness. A range of well known Irish and English actors makes up the cast. On the anniversary of his business partner's death, Ebenezer Scrooge finds unwelcome company in the form of three spirits from Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come.

I was hoping that this films "Darker Elements" would make this version stand out more but it doesn't. The sets are brightly let and thus taking away anything that might be scary.

It doesn't help that they used "Old English" type of writing in this. This makes the film sounds smug and keeps the audience at an emotional distance!

I have no idea how many adaptations have been made from this Charles Dickens tale but it is time to give it a rest.

This adaptation tries so hard to me avant garde and full of "atmosphere" that misses out on effectively actually telling the story. It quotes much of the original novella, even including the narration (much rewritten), but and with so many cut-aways to fast moving storm clouds (much overused in overlays as well) and echoed voices in Scrooge's visions, that it is obvious that the director is trying to remake this 150 year old story with the atmosphere of a modern ghost/horror story. He does not pull it off effectively.

Too much emphasis on atmosphere, not enough on the story. While the acting is respectable, the direction and cinematography are awful...a great story poorly retold.