akasha_shamira_dracula I don't know, maybe because I heard a lot about this film made me have high hopes. Too high it seems. The movie isn't bad, but it's too short, told to quickly, you get the feeling that the director was in a hurry to catch a plane or something. That's the biggest minus, well, that after the music. In this movie there is either no music at all, or it suddenly appears and gives the viewer a earache.Little spoiler I suppose, but read it if you wanna keep your ear drums in one piece: The music in the opening scene, when the beginning credits start, hits you suddenly in such a volume, like the creators wanted to fix the viewers up deaf.end of spoiler I don't know if it was the quality of the DVD or not, but visually you it's not too capturing, like in the case of characterization - budget cuts on wigs that everyone had such mousy, thin hair or something? Some costumes, don't fit the time period. And the camera work leaves a few wishes. That were the minuses, now the pluses.The pluses are, that when the story screenplay is chopped up at least the dialogs try to keep up. A few laughs guaranteed, out of Aunt Susan and "galloping" Major Chevening mostly. Unfortunately I can't say that I enjoyed the performance of the main characters - all ms. Friel - Flora does here is sighing, being a cold fish and completely unconvincing. Mr. Barr - Jaques St. Ives is suppose to be a boyish Casanova that suddenly changes and falls deeply in love in a fair maiden - but why don't I see that love? First he was dull and pretended to be a Casanova, then he became dull and pretended to be in love - no success in either version. And then there is mr. Isaacs - Alain St. Ives, well clearly he tries to do something with his role, but doesn't have too much of an occasion to do it, he appears in 7 scenes from what I counted and they were short. A pity as he's capable of stealing the show if he has an occasion for it - unfortunately here he didn't get it. Frankly, I have a feeling that his acting was the only thing that made his character tolerable, because the construction of the role seemed horribly shallow.Pretty much it and comparing this film to classics with Errol Flynn is too much of a complement for it. It in no way holds the climate you can find for example in the classical "The Sea Hawk" from 1940. I'll give it a 6 on 10 for ms. Richardson and mr. Grant.

Libretio ST. IVES Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby StereoLoosely based on an unfinished work by Robert Louis Stevenson, this light-hearted romp through 19th century Europe attends the fortunes of a dashing French hussar (Jean-Marc Barr, the ineffably beautiful star of THE BIG BLUE, and a regular in the films of Lars von Trier) as he wines and wenches his way through the Napoleonic wars before being captured by the enemy and interned in a Scottish prison camp. There, he's befriended by a sympathetic warder (Richard E. Grant) who recognizes his status as a 'gentleman', and is helped to escape by a romantic young noblewoman (Anna Friel) and her idiosyncratic aunt (Miranda Richardson). Eventually, Barr stumbles on the scattered remnants of his long-lost family (Michael Gough is the benevolent grandfather, while Jason Isaacs plays the younger brother who would rather see Barr dead than share his inheritance), and is pursued across the English Channel by those who would either worship or destroy him.Director Harry Hook (LORD OF THE FLIES) plays things low-key for the most part, which means this swashbuckling comic adventure isn't nearly as swashbuckling, comic or adventurous as Allan Cubitt's witty script suggests, but the period settings are a treat and the characters are nicely underplayed by a game cast (Barr is proud and genial, while Grant and Richardson steal the show as, respectively, an incompetent fop and a worldly woman who cultivate a boiling passion for one another, despite their strict adherence to the rules of etiquette, leading to some of the film's most hilarious sequences). Perhaps too restrained for its own good, the movie strikes a diplomatic balance between humor and drama, but there's enough of both to satisfy casual viewers and hard-boiled movie fans alike. Also known as ALL FOR LOVE.

BWMonkey *a possible SPOILER or two*yes, it was fun to watch. i like all the actors in it, especially Richard E. Grant and Jason Isaacs. the charcters were delightful and the set was marvelously done. bits of the storyline were choppy at times, but that can be forgiven.jaques st. ives, the main chacter of the film, was very very fun to watch. a handsome young man with a cocky attitude and noble heart who manages to find his long-lost grandfather and brother. now the brother, alain, was the bad guy of the film, but ultimately you felt pity for him.SPOILER: funny story: near the end, when he was dying and apoligizing and jaques was bending over him my mom kept saying "what're you doing!? don't get too close, you damn fool!" i think she thought that alain, the pitiful malicious brother who is out to kill jaques and who realizes his mistake in the end and shows brotherly love (funny how a sword point in your gut can do that), was suddenly going to jump up and kill them all. personally, i think that would have been a cool ending, but i'm tired of seeing jason isaacs die every time he plays a character i like (namely, a villian).i would recommend this film if you want something light and fun, with a couple cool sword fights and cute love story.

jost-1 This is a lighthearted, colorful romp set in an interesting historical time period....the final years of Napoleon's reign. Lively performances by all the principals, in particular Miranda Richardson's naughty but nice, "liberated" bon vivant and the wonderful comic touches of Richard Grant's character (cracked me up several times, especially the wedding scene) which contribute significantly to its overall success. Stunning, vibrant color...those British redcoats never looked so red, Flora's buttercup yellow dress, a vision. Next, I read the book and meet Robert Louis Stevenson's characters all over again.