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Rating:  - ITS A TV SERIES
Having watched both Parts of the 2002 FORSYTE SAGA I must take umbrage with many of the reviewers here that have chastised the writers for either not being faithful to Galsworthy or the original series. The current creators are under no obligation to include or exclude anything. They are creating "their" story based on a previous work and are free to adapt as they see fit. We should judge the material on its own merits.
Galsworthy wrote a book. The reader creates in his mind the movie and no two readers are likely to ever come up with the same images. Most readers will take issue with most adaptations of books. Its never going to be as they imagined it because it will be as the adaptor imagined it.
I found it interesting that so many of the reviewers pointed out that the first meeting between Jon and Fluer as children NEVER took place as though we were taking about historical events. It isn't history, its fiction. It may not have taken place in Glasworthy's novel because the idea never occurred him. I feel that scene made perfect sense in the scheme of things.
The other two scenes that many of the writers here had issue with were the sex scene which I somewhat agree didn't feel right under the circumstances of Young Jolyn's passing. Still we all handle the stress of a parent dying in our own way and I would defy any man to withstand the charms of woman like Fluer when it was being put forth in such an appealing manner.
I will take issue with the dragging out of the wedding. I longed for a more positive resolution between the lovers who seemed so suited to each other. I kept expecting young Jon to burst into the wedding and smash on window to stop it like some Jazz age Benjamin. Other wise why show so much detail of an inevitable wedding between Fluer ad Michael Mont. A man she clearly did not love. To me that was a tease and a filler.
The final scene between Soames and Irene really did not feel right either as many have said. It seemed a forced conclusion to try and give some kind of an upbeat ending to the Saga. We long for them to reach some kind of forgiveness and understanding but it just didn't seem right to me in the manner that it was portrayed.
I also questioned Irene giving Robin Hill up in the first place. This house had been built by the love of her life and had been the home that she so happily shared with Young Joylen. It seems to me that Irene giving up Robin Hill would be like Scarlet giving up Tara. But THAT I am sure she did do in the novel thus the title "To Let." What I am saying here is Galsworthy was wrong and the screenwriters were true to his material.
All in all I was very moved by the series. I though the look of the sets and costumes was magnificent. Gina McKee stole my heart in the film NOTTING HILL and was the chief reason for my interest in the FS. She was absolutely fabulous beginning to end.
Part one would be five stars because of Mckee. Part two four stars because she wasn't in it as much.
Rating:  - Great Saga
I just thoroughly enjoyed this series. I enjoy watching it more on DVD than on television because I could watch the series all at one time and not over week after week. Acting and story fabulous. A must see.
Rating: - A treat for Forsyte fans and lovers of the era
I loved this movie even more than the first part. The first part deserves a five-star rating as well for great acting and story. Unlike many of the reviews I loved series two more than series one. By the time you have watched six episodes of Forsytes you will know them pretty well and as you watch Fluer and Jon try to unravel the mysteries of Forsyte History you can feel the emotions of every character and see where they are coming from. As a plus I am infatuated with the Jazz era. The clothes and the lifestyle are the backdrop for this eye-candy of a film. The diffenerces between generations is always an interesting subject and it is a re-accuring theme here. You see how London has changed, how Soames gasps at the revealing dresses his daughter wears, how Irene struggles to get her head around the new music and dancing. I have not read the book or seen the 60's versions of either series so I can give an unbiased opinion. I also can understand how sometimes in adaptations, certain things that work in print do not work on the screen, so it doesn't bother me when the screenwriters take liberties. On it's own aside from previous versions, this is a fantastic movie with a deeply rooted story, multi-faceted characters, beautiful costumes and production, and fabulous acting. Remember that most of the actors in this series have already played their respective characters for the epic first series and have mastered them. That is the beauty of this series. Some will complain that the characters are not significantly aged enough, but lets face it, many of these actors are supposed to span 40 years of their characters life between the two series, and make-up aging usually just looks frightening. At least this way you have the same skillful cast.
Rating: - What? The story of Soames Forsyte having a happy ending?
For most of the four episodes of "The Forsyte Saga, Series 2" (a.k.a. "The Forstye Sage: To Let") I had a sense of disappointment that it was just not as good as the first part, produced a year earlier. I was able to trace my feelings to a couple of key points. First, I had never read the John Galsworthy novels and had not seen either the 1949 Hollywood film "That Forsyte Woman" with Errol Flynn and Greer Garson or the the 1967 BBC production with Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, and Kenneth More. So when I watched Series 1 it was all news to me. Then, unwilling to wait for Series 2 to make it across the Pond, I went ahead and watched the 1967 version. That meant that with Series 2 the story was not new to me and I was aware of some plot lines that were missing.
Second, Series 1 ended with the most powerful scene in the entire story. The tragic Soames Forsyte (Damien Lewis), having seen his first wife Irene (Gina McKee) leave him for his cousin Jolyon (Rupert Graves) and bear for him the son she refused to give him, has remarried and his wife is finally having his child. But the birth was difficult and Soames had to decide if the doctor should operate, which would kill the baby but save his wife, or risk both their lives on the slim chance they would both live. Soames takes the risk and is rewarded by the birth of a daughter and not the male heir he desired. Then word came that his father was dying and Soames rushed to the old man's side to announce the birth of his son. His father died happy hearing the lie and Soames returned to his home to be told that his wife would never be able to have another child. But when Soames looks at his daughter for the first time, his heart warms to her. It was a marvelous moment and a great performance by Lewis and I watched Series 2 knowing that it was not going to be equalled let alone surpassed.
On the one hand I was certainly right. The final great irony of the Forsyte Saga is that Soame's daughter Fleur (Emma Griifiths Malin) and young Jon Forsyte (Lee Williams), daughter of Irene and Jolyon, manage to meet and fall in love to the absolute horror of their parents. The young couple, of course, do not know about the ugly circumstances under which Irene left Soames long before they were born, and nobody is eager to tell them the story. Eventually it will come out and result in the less than happy circumstances that we have come to expect in this particular soap opera. This is not a saga in which everybody lives happily ever after.
The good news and the bad news is that I liked the final scene of this production. This is good because it salvaged Series 2 for me at a point when I was close to regretting the sense of anticipation I had enjoyed waiting for it to come out on DVD. The bad part is that it is a scene that created for this version and not part of either the original novel or BBC series. The climax of a work is not exactly the part to go off text as far as I am concerned and I am glad I was not as familiar with Galsworthy's work as are others who have taken this production to task for various changes and additions they see as violating his original vision. That is why I was able to enjoy Series 2 well enough, while still thinking it falls short of the greatness of Series 1.
Whoever wrote this adaptation seemed to have been as captivated by Soames' character as I was, and determined to give him another big moment that decidedly changes the meaning and import of the entire saga. The return of Annette (Beatriz Batarda) into Soames' life helps to set up the final scene, so it is not like it is it was just tacked on to the story. But I missed the way Soames struggled with the demands of modern art, which is now replaced by the symbolic irony of juxtaposing Irene playing modern music on her piano while Soames purchases a player piano. Galsworthy made his point with considerably more depth, which is what I wanted this time around as well. Series 2 really is reduced to the story of Fleur and Jon as something of Soames and Irene the next generation, and obvious "The Forstye Saga" is on a grander scale than that.
Rating: - I didn't want it to end
I have never read the books or seen the original series. I only was obsessed with the first series on DVD last year and for the last couple of days have been obsessed with the second. The only reason why I went onto the internet as soon as the second one finished is I wanted to see if that was indeed the end. Unfortunately it is.
I am upset that they rushed through the developing love affair between Jolyon and Irene in the first series. I also did not love Series 2 as much as Series I.
But as I had not read the books or seen the 1969 series I did not miss the omissions that obviously disturbed other viewers. It was just a fabulous British drama with wonderful sets and costumes and it totally sucked me in. That is what I really want these days when constantly searching for new dramas to watch on DVD. This one fulfilled this requirement.
I would recommend this version series to anyone!!!!!!!!!!!! I am now just going to have to buy the 1969 series.
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