Ivanhoe

This mini-series of Ivanhoe is that rare breed of production, a costume epic with fleshed-out characters we can believe in and care about. Lavishly filmed on locations in the United Kingdom, it's a project that appeals to the eye as well as the mind. And best of all, it's got really great bad guys.

There's nothing unusual about villains holding center-stage, but Ciaran Hinds' turn as the tormented Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe stands as one of the most complex and riveting evildoers you'll see on a screen.

Hinds' Guilbert is a fleshed-out Darth Vader, a valiant knight who's become jaded and abandoned youthful convictions after years of bearing the sword in a harsh world. He murders and plots, but can still be moved to anguish and despair.

Hinds' strong performance typifies this powerful presentation of Walter Scott's convoluted story of knights, castles, revenge and redemption during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. The tricky-to-follow story is still there, but it hardly matters amid exciting chain-mail carnage, scheming monarchs and great characters.

Nothing can beat Sian Phillips (I Claudius) as Queen Eleanor, chiding her grown sons Richard and Prince John. Even evil princes can't talk back to mother. Christopher Lee is Lucard de Beaumanoir, head of the hard-praying, hard-fighting Templar Knights. Lee's piercing eyes and rich voice demand respect in his few scenes. It's truly a shame he hasn't been in more high-quality productions over the years. Susan Lynch (Cracker, Waking Ned Devine) offers another strong presence as Rebecca, the Jewess who enters the hearts of Guilbert and Ivanhoe. And it's refreshing to see such larger-than-lifers like Robin Hood and Friar Tuck look like real men for a change.

In the title role, Steven Waddington is stoic and strong, but through much of the story he's a wounded hero on the run. Shown in North America by A&E, this mini-series is now available on video. It's well worth seeing for anyone who wants meaty characters to go along with castles and swordplay.

I first saw the story of Ivanhoe in the 1982-film version which I saw again and again (and again...).

When I was about 12-13 years old I read the novel - and loved it.

Now I've seen this BBC-series. At first I was a little skeptic - could it be as good as the one from 1982. And yes it could - and better.

First of all we really get to know the characters, and prince John is not portrayed as all evil, which I like, as it gives him more substance.

Also the things that takes place does not happen because people are evil, but because they interact with each other - sometimes with misunderstandings as the result.

I rate the series 9 out of 10 - the mistakes in the continuity makes it lose the last point.

/Louise, Denmark

I first came in contact with Sir Walter Scott's famed romance, Ivanhoe, through an animated version shown around the holidays. I fell in love with the story (mostly due to the inclusion of Robin Hood) and leapt at the chance to view any version of it, as well as read the original novel. The 1952 version was interesting, but not very faithful. The 1982 version was closer, but Anthony Andrews was a bit wooden and his feathered hair was out of place. This 1997 mini-series finally got it right, with both a faithful adaptation of the story and fine performances.

All the characters are portrayed well and are given greater depth than in the past. Gilbert is not just an evil schemer, he is a man torn by love and hatred. Ivanhoe is torn between two women and despised by his father. Gurd and Wamba are given greater roles and speak for the underclass. Prince John is the true schemer, longing for the kingdom he has watched over while his brother was off playing the soldier. Richard finally gets some of the criticism he deserves for abandoning his subjects for treasure hunts, disguised as "holy wars". Rebecca is wise beyond her years, but torn between a forbidden love of Ivanhoe and the affections of the tormented Gilbert.

This production captures Scott in all his romantic glory, and makes a great attempt at historical accuracy, with the inherent problem that the division of Norman and Saxon was mostly gone by this point in history. Still, we see that medieval life was cheap and conditions less than sanitary, though thankfully not to the point of a Terry Gilliam production. This is well worth viewing.

There really isn't a great deal more to add to this that hasn't been mentioned in previous reviews.The cast is first rate;the script is quite good,AND extremely faithful to the original text,and all of the production values show professionalism of the highest levels.While the sets,props, and costumes lack the glamour and romantic aspects of the 1952 and 1981 productions,they demonstrate a gritty realism that shows a vivid historical verisimilitude.This was the way the Middle Ages really looked.

I was pleased to see that this adaptation included the character of Urfried/Ulrica,the Saxon noblewoman whose enforced collaboration and concubinage to the Norman brutes who massacred her family,husband,and daughter leads to psychosis and a horrifying revenge.Not a nice character,but a dramatically satisfying resolution.

HISTORICAL NOTE:The whole business of the enduring conflicts between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons,125 years after the Conquest,was a total fabrication of Scott's.At the time when the novel was written,there was a movement in Scotland to attempt to keep Gaelic as an official language,used in legal and governmental capacities,on an equal basis with English.So the REAL conflict isn't between Normans and Saxons,but rather between English and Scots.And yet,there IS a pervasive belief that the Normans and Saxons were bitterly antagonistic.Such was Scott's influence.

I watched this outstanding four hour epic for the umpteenth time yesterday evening and found I still was drawn to it as I was the first time I saw it. I agree with another viewer's comment that it isn't to be used for historical reference, but what it does with 12th century English history can be overlooked because of the way it makes you feel you are witnessing what life was truly like in the 1190s.

Ciaran Hinds and Susan Lynch sizzle as Brian de Bois Guilbert and Rebecca; I particularly find fascinating the way Hinds is able to transform Bois Guilbert from a deeply embittered, ruthless man into one who finds his own soul in searching for Rebecca's as he tries to woo her. After he has learned that the Grand Master of the Templars has demanded that she be tried as a witch, he immediately goes to warn her and tells her that "I haven't felt fear in 20 years, but I feel it now!", and you truly believe him. That and his final line as he lies beneath Ivanhoe's sword after he has fallen defeated in their Trial by Combat to decide whether Rebecca is to be burned as a witch: "In Austria I was not brave enough to die for (King) Richard...But for her...Do it!" A true anti-hero.

This drama has dozens of wonderful lines, but I think my favourite is when Sian Philips, in a very impressive brief role as the Dowager Queen Eleanor, comments to her lady-in-waiting in reference to her late husband King Henry II and her sons Richard and John: "Beware of powerful men, Bernice. They spawn unspeakable whelps!" It makes me smile every time.

Ralph Brown is deliciously wicked as Prince John, and I think his is the first accurate portrayal of the man destined to be King of England that I have ever seen, showing him as a scheming usurper, devious at statecraft, a womaniser and murderer. The way he subtly makes a joke at Rebecca's trial as he questions the claim by a dog's owner of Rebecca using magic to kill the animal. John says with a smirk he doesn't try to hide from the Grand Master, that the present panting, healthy hound "looks just find to me." He shows boredom and almost rolls his eyes at certain points of Rebecca's trial at what her accusers say, a sign of his defiance of the Church he will show later in his life.

I think Sir Walter Scott himself would be pleased with adaptation of his novel, which follows most of the story very closely while filling out certain characters that are more three dimensional in this film than they were in the classic novel. A true BBC masterpiece!