Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3734 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-26
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English, Turkish, Czech
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 347 minutes

Synopsis

The Jane Austin ITV Collection 3-disc box set features the Jane Austen adaptations Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Emma. In Mansfield Park, poverty-stricken Fanny Price (Billie Piper) is sent away to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt at Mansfield Park. As she struggles to adapt to her new lifestyle she begins to attract the attentions of suitors, learning about the sexual politics of high society along the way. In Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland arrives at Northanger upon the invitation of Henry Tilney and discovers that the place is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. In Emma, Emma Woodhouse is a clever young woman whose mischievous matchmaking schemes nearly end up jeopardising her own shot at romance.

Customer Reviews

Becoming a Jane fan
Well, I think I was a Jane Austen fan before. But to my shame I had read Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey only once and Emma only twice, so was not hugely familiar with any of these. Having watched them on TV, re-read the books and now re-watching on DVD, I think these are a great way of getting into some of her less well-known works.

Yes, they suffer a little from the 'Andrew Davis' effect of sexing up the original books that can be a little distracting. But overall they are a faithful enough reflection of the originals, well acted and good value in a boxed set like this - particularly as many of you will already have the BBC Pride & Prejudice and Ang Lee film of Sense & Sensibility (it is more in the school of these than the Gwyneth Paltrow film of Emma or the recent Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice). It's just a shame they couldn't squeeze Persuasion into the same boxed set - if they could this would have got the full five stars. As it is, it'll get four stars and a recommendation for anyone who is an Austen fan already or who has enjoyed either Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility and is looking to broaden their range.

It's alright...
As the reviewer before me stated, if this is indeed the caliber of programming that comes out of ITV, then no, it does not rival BBC...HOWEVER, I was actually relatively entertained by these programs (as well as the Persuasion movie that was part of this season that isn't included here). They weren't quite true to the novels, but overall, they were each worth watching all the way through. Perhaps it is because I'm a fan of cheesy romance films, but I give it 3 stars for being alright in my eyes.

waste of money and waste of time
These were quite dreadful and very disappointing. I should have known ITV productions would not match up to anything produced by the BBC. I was fooled by Andres Davis' name!