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.

Good live action adaptation of the classic story. Rebecca De Mornay is perfect as the wholesome kind-hearted Beauty who lives with her wealthy father and grown brothers and sisters. As in Cinderella, Beauty's siblings require Beauty's constant help in doing even the smallest of chores. She is not unhappy and is able to tend to her family's needs with little effort, however she does wish to have some time of her own. The family goes broke, moves to the country, and Beauty is just as happy poor as rich. Her father stumbles across the Beast's castle and escapes imprisonment by having Beauty stay in his place. The Beast and castle are not unlike the Disney stage version, however there are no dancing silverware or clocks here, but the statues come to life. As a musical the songs are embarrassingly terrible by anyone's standards. The on-location sets are authentically colorful, charming and European. There are enough changes in the plot to keep one interested as to what exactly will happen next. Ultimately the film is saved by a wonderful performance by Rebecca De Mornay who simply melts hearts, sings like an angel, and warms the cold corners of any castle.

Every now and again, I'll pull out this movie for a trip down memory lane. True, it was low budget and John Savage never has appealed to me as a male romantic lead, but scenes of it were always so beautiful, taking inspiration from the 1946 classic La Belle et la bête. Not to sound like a sap, but there is a part in this movie that I always thought was wonderfully done. During one of the songs, Beauty is pretending to dance with her dream prince, meanwhile, in another room, Beast (who is actually her dream prince unbeknownst to her)is pretending to dance with Beauty. For a second she reaches out like she can feel him standing in front of her. For a B-Children's movie, I thought that was cool.

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.