Le chien des Baskerville

This was a well done version of one of the most favorite of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales. This version showcases an excellent cast, terrific costumes, and one of the best Edwardian locations yet. Other than Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, which is the best ever, Mr. Roxburgh was a very believable detective. While Richard Roxburgh is a really good Holmes, Ian Hart is outstanding as Dr. Watson. He plays Watson as an intelligent, loyal, and very human but capable doctor. Ian Hart brought a fuller dimension to the Dr. Watson character to this Hound of the Baskervilles that many other version have not. I also liked Matt Day as Sir. Henry Baskerville. His youth helped make his character more believable than others who have played this roll. Richard E. Grant was a diabolical Stapleton and feelings I had toward him as the "bad guy" attest to his great acting ability, as I loved him as the Scarlet Pimpernel! The only disappointment was the very few moments when the computer animated 'hound' was on screen. When the hound was chasing Baskerville, it was terrifying but as the animal got close up and I could see it was turned into a computer animated composite of several animals, terror turned to unbelief! All in all it was one of the best versions so far and I enjoyed it very much. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys not only a good detective story but somewhat of a horror story too.

Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' is one of the, perhaps even THE, most famous Sherlock Holmes stories and is the most adapted. For good reason, it is such a thrilling and scary story and contains a tantalising mystery.

This 2002 adaptation could have been better and is not in the same league as those of Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing, all wonderful and with vastly superior interpretations of Holmes. While one of the lesser adaptations of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', it's not the worst. It is better than the Matt Frewer film and although it needs to be re-watched remember the Peter Cook film being an abomination (from personal experience, while there have been a fair share of changes most of my re-watches have seen my opinions unchanged).

Certainly there are plus points. On the most part, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' looks great. There is a real creepiness and authenticity to the settings and production design and the costumes show a careful eye for detail. It's beautifully photographed. The music is suitably eerie.

Writing intrigues and entertains, while there are some genuinely creepy and suspenseful moments. Especially the opening and the attack on Seldon, as well as some of the build ups. It's paced in a lively fashion while still having some breathing space. Direction is competent enough at some points but low key in others.

Of the acting, the standouts are Ian Hart's loyal Watson (to me one of the best, most interesting and most faithful interpretations) and Richard E. Grant's skin crawling Stapleton (have only seen him creepier in the 'Trial and Retribution' episode he featured in). John Nettles is also splendid, and Danny Webb fares decently as Lestrade. Really liked Holmes and Watson's loyal yet strained chemistry and Watson featuring heavily in the second half which made him more interesting.

Was more conflicted though on Richard Roxburgh. Didn't mind the lack of physical resemblance, for me he did a serviceable enough job and has some charisma but he is also a bit bland and pales in comparison to very stiff competition, particularly Brett and Rathbone. Holmes could have been written somewhat better too, much has been said about the over-emphasised and out of character drug use (he did them, but not how depicted here) and his deductions seemed too convenient and telegraphed somehow.

Matt Day to me was a dull Sir Henry and Neve McKintosh, while lovely, seemed too modern for the period and the character is gratuitously treated here.

Also felt there were dull stretches, with the party and séance sequences feeling like padding. The hound effects are really quite dreadful, looking like something out of the 50s or earlier except worse looking, the culprit is obvious far too early (even for those familiar with the story or knows it inside out) and the ending is confused, rushed and anti-climactic, as well as missing the point of the ending, story and title.

In summary, not bad but could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

As a fan of the Novel, and all of Doyle's Holmes stories I was initially put off by the casting of a blonde Aussie as Sherlock. And I still feel that the characters would have been closer to Doyle's original descriptions had Roxburgh and Richard E. Grant switched roles. But, having said that, I found this treatment of the novel highly entertaining, and a lot of fun. The differences from the novel served to seperate it from the book, and give me a good bit of TV that stands on it's own, as it's own story. Holmes in an alternate reality for those of you out there that follow Science Fiction, if you will. And Hart did a masterful job as Dr. John H. Watson. What was my most lasting impression of this movie ? That Richard Roxburgh, though not in his element as Holmes, gave his all. And the way he played Holmes made me think... maybe Roxburgh is the best candidate to take over the role of Doctor Who when the series returns in 2005...

When Lord Baskerville is killed by a mysterious hound, the local doctor covers it up as a heart attack and lies about the wounds. However he goes to Baker Street detective Sherlock Holmes with the truth and asks for his help. Holmes dispatches Watson to protect Baskerville's relative, newly arrived from America while he attempts to uncover more.

Christmas TV schedules are full of one-off dramas usually with stars who have done well in America but have returned to keep their face about or actors who don't often do television series. This version of a classic story was one such example. As is often the case with such things, it is a good production and moves the story along at a good pace. The hound itself is best seen in shadows and quick edits as it isn't that scary but the film still manages to have a sense of urgency to it.

Roxburgh's Holmes is suitably cheerful and feels outside of the murders, like he is enjoying the mystery of the whole thing. Hart tries hard with Watson and avoids the usual trap of playing him like a fool of sorts beside Holmes. Here he is central to the story and is onscreen a lot, but Hart makes him quite sour and colourless and he emerges as quite a pale character. Support was billed as `all-star' and I suppose it is in a way. All present themselves well and people like Grant, Tarbuck (!), Nettles and Cook are interesting additions.

Overall this is a fast paced and enjoyable version of the classic tale and is easy to enjoy. Hart dominates the middle section of the film which drags it down a little due to his lifeless Watson but generally the film is well worth a watch no matter how many times you've seen it told.

I'm sorry but this was a serious disappointment. The makers seemed so desperate to make this version different that they changed or removed important characters and parts of the story. There are just too many things to list so I shall concentrate my criticism on the portrayal of Holmes and Watson.

While it is true that Watson often got annoyed with Holmes he was never so blatantly antagonistic towards him. Holmes' drug addiction was over played. Holmes only took his 7% solution when he was not on a case as form of alternative stimulus. He was not, as the film suggests, constantly indulging his addiction (and certainly not in railway station toilets).

The only two pieces of good casting were that of John Nettles as Dr Mortimer and Richard E Grant as Stapleton. I can only pray that the woefully miscast Holmes and Watson do not do any more films.

Jeremy Brett's crown as the best screen Sherlock Holmes is in no danger at all.