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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5060051630224
Format: PAL
Number Of Discs: 2
Region Code: 2
Theatrical Release Date: November 02, 2003
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The miniseries treatment is suited to Doctor Zhivago, the sprawling Boris Pasternak novel of a Russian physician-poet whose comfortable life is upended by the Revolution. And this near-four-hour British production lucidly demonstrates that Pasternak was one heck of a storyteller: the torment of Zhivago (Hans Matheson) as he must choose between his well-bred childhood sweetheart (Alexandra Maria Lara, real comer) and the tragically beautiful Lara (Keira Knightley, from Pirates of the Caribbean) remains compelling. The TV treatment can't match the epic sweep of David Lean's feature film, of course, with its cast of thousands and astonishing production design. Devotees of that 1965 version will undoubtedly yearn for Maurice Jarre's tinkly hit 'Lara's Theme,' too; here, Ludovico Einaudi's score is serviceable by comparison. Matheson never gets untracked in the title role, but the uncannily gorgeous Knightley and a supremely decadent Sam Neill (as her dreadful seducer) keep their characters vital. The limitations of the small screen duly noted, the frosty location shooting is handsome. Given the choice, see the Lean film on the big screen every time; but this is sturdy introduction to a classic story. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Majestic Film With Excellent Performances, Well Directed, And A Better Adaptation; But Missing The Music Of Lean's Production
I purchased this movie based on other reviews, and do not regret my decision. Unfortunately, for the entire 225 minutes I kept waiting for "My Love (Lara's Theme)," the stirringly romantic theme indelibly chiseled into my mind for all time. But that is the signature of a true epic, and completely befitting David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago." On the other hand, this version of "Doctor Zhivago," directed by Giacomo Campiotti is everything else that Lean's film was not--except perhaps in terms of cinematography ... Read More
Rating: - Mostly better than the original movie
Doctor Zhivago is a romance story, a love triangle really, set with the Russian Revolution of 1917 as the primary backdrop. The story begins in Doctor Zhivago's childhood in the Russian countryside. His father commits suicide and Zhivago is taken to Moscow by aristocratic relatives to live. He attends medical school and becomes a fine physician but he prefers to write poetry. He marries and has children but he soon secures a mistress. As Zhivago isn't Kosher with the Bolsheviks (Communists), he chooses to ... Read More
Rating:  - So-So Siberian Romance
Boris Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago",when it was first released in the '60s,was an epic love story daring to question the Soviet regime. It was beautifully realized in David Lean's epic movie starring Omar Sharif as the romantic poet/doctor,Julie Christie as his muse Lara,and Geraldine Chaplin as his wife Tonya. "Lara's Theme",its sentimental theme,made its way into popular consciousness.
Nearly three decades later, Masterpiece Theater did its own remake,attempting to be truer to the original story. ... Read More
Rating: - An Authentic Zhivago
It is as much a mistake as it is inevitable to compare this television adaptation to the 1965 David Lean film. I adore the Lean film. However, my affection for it doesn't diminish my appreciation of this television version directed by Giacomo Campiotte. There are no epic vistas, the architecture is less grand the camera is closer, which may be as much a limitation of the medium as it is an artistic vision but which ever it is, it works.
There is more time in a television miniseries, time to explore nuances ... Read More
Rating: - New is not always bad.
I too prefer this version.
But I am odd-man out because I never loved the original screen adaptation. Perhaps because although full of great talents, it failed to make me care about the characters. I did love the "making of" footage on the collector's edition I bought, but the film never impressed me. Like many of the other reviewers I have a great deal of respect for Julie Christie as an actress but her performance fell flat, which I blame on the director. Lean may have been great at epic scope, ... Read More
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