Reviews

I expected much, but this delivered little. Kate Beckinsale did manage to get down to her underwear totally pointlessly, and there is a fairly action packed opening sequence, but its all downhill from there. The characters are not just poorly drawn, they're not drawn at all. Flashbacks are repeated and not overly exciting. The atmosphere of the Antartic base is ludicrous, being more like a frat house with a host of people who are never developed. As other people have pointed out, the climactic fight is chaotic with people in parkas in the show, & the climax is completely underwhelming.In all, not the biggest waste of time I've spent in the cinema, but not far from it.

I was actually really excited about this as i thought it would have a good dose of reality in it as real people who hadn't been portrayed before were being shown (the Doehners, Margaret Mather), but I was wrong. the various conspiracies were barely touched on. The Nazi propaganda and background were not mentioned, neither was the Graf Zeppelin. As for characters, the passengers prtrated were barely cardboard cutouts (& the commentary states that Mather was uninjured, but she states that she was). The Adelts & the worlds first and last zeppelin stewardess were not featured at all, yet some little girl wandered around and there were no little girls on board at all!!. Also, there seemed to be various inaccuracies that contradict previous survivor statements. Sadly, I actually realised that The Hindenburg (1975) had more factual information and was more dramatically involving. The dramatisation of the Lusitania sinking shown earlier this year on the BBC was far better.

I first saw this on TV when it was first made & was swept away by it. I have seen it several times since & now own it on DVD. I consider it one of the finest Holocaust dramas ever made. I found it deeply moving-especially the escape sequence. The characters-based on real people-draw you in & you emphasise completely with them. It is ultimately a film that show that people can keep their humanity & that some Jews were able to fight back & win. The ending of the film is triumphant, as you cheer those who do make it.I lent this to a friend very recently who hadn't seen it, & it reduced him to tears, as it has already done me. The acting is superb throughout & makes the characters painfully real & this really matters so much in several deeply upsetting sequences-the first train arrivals from which only a few people survive, the shooting of the selected male inmates, the death of the mother who tried to protect her baby, & the escape where only a few of the characters survive. This film humanised the Holocaust for me, made me think of the real people who suffered, far more than a documentary ever could. Although I admire Schindler's List, this film is far more moving & realistic.

The costumes looked great, but thats all. McEwen seems totally miscast a Marple-& why is she now seen in some grotty looking room in her cottage when we know form the books & Hickson adaptations she was able to afford a maid? But the more major flaw is that she has none of the depth of character that Joan Hickson bought to the role, or the sense of empathy or feeling. The story had been clipped badly for the running time-Basil Blake hardly appeared, & Sir Henry Clithering vanished all together, as did Insp. Slack (even though he is a recurring character). The lesbian ending was pure soap-opera & added nothing to the story whilst taking out original plot devices. The extra scenes incorporated to back this up were weak, & it would have been better to have had more of the original dialogue & story lines that had been cut. Marple herself actually had very few scenes, & the cast as a whole were hamming it up & treating it as pantomime (Lumley mugging, Callow hamming, Edward Fox completely wasted). I know a few Christie fans, & and all of them hated this. I have taped the second film in this series (Murder at the Vicarage) but am not convinced a yet, & may not bother with any of the others-esp as I have the Hickson Marples on DVD & now appreciate them even more. A totally wasted opportunity.