Little Women (1994) (Classic DVD and Book Collection Series)

For a Book to Movie Adaptation, It Is Not Too Bad

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 6, 2006

Pros: Good acting, good soundtrack and great color

Cons: Threw out the book's true message; overly modernized and made more politically correct

According to the Internet Movie Database's exhaustive records, Louisa May Alcott's novel "Little Women" has seen itself recreated in four TV series, four made for TV movies and five feature length movies since 1918. The most recent version appeared in 1994 and features Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Samantha Mathis, Eric Stoltz, Susan Sarandon, and Gabriel Byrne. As a long time fan of the novel, who has happily carted her large leather bound gold-gilded unabridged edition whenever she has moved, I find that I was disappointed in this newest movie version. As a movie lover, however, I found the movie to be an enjoyable experience.

The decision of the screenwriter and director to cut out what I felt were several story arcs and scenes from the novel was very disappointing. For example, in the movie there is no mention of Beth’s shyness, or of her overcoming that shyness to become friends with Mr. Lawrence. The scene in the novel where she gathers her courage to walk over to his house and thank him for giving her his piano is one of the most defining moments for Beth. Overall I found Beth and Mr. Lawrence to both be sadly underdeveloped in the movie. Mr. Lawrence appears in only three scenes, while many of Beth’s key moments also vanished. Jo’s wonderful tomboyish nature is also severely tone-down for this version. She does not say “Christopher Columbus” nor any of her other slang words. We never see the scene where she longs to go be a soldier fighting in the war and wishes she were a man. They transformed the character of Meg from someone who longs for finer things and tends to be snobbish into the wise older sister who does not care about such things. Lacking is the wonderful moment when she realizes that she does not care about Mr. Brook’s poverty as she staunchly defends her love of him against Aunt March. While Amy’s quest for a perfect nose is mentioned twice, there is never a scene showing some of her efforts such as her wearing the clothespin on it at night to make is straight, nor do we get enjoy watching her artistic endeavors such as her attempts to make a plaster cast of her foot.

It really was not unexpected, though, considering most of the first two chapters of the book were cut out of the film. We never get to see the scene where they grumble about having no Christmas presents and decide to buy ones for themselves, only to change their mind when their beloved mother comes home and they realize that they would rather give her presents than buy things for themselves. The simple joy of their giving the presents to Marmee before gathering to hear their father’s letter would have been a more welcome opening. Indeed, we do not see very many of the lessons that the girls learned in the novel that turned them from young girls into little women. When Amy burns Jo’s manuscript, later falls in the pond, and almost drowns because of Jo’s anger, we never see Jo’s disgust at herself nor do we see the wonderful conversation she had with Marmee about learning to control her anger.

More than likely this, and other scenes, disappeared because they did not fit the new modern ideas being incorporated into it. The dialog often had a feminist and modernized slant to it. In many scenes, the message is clear that that the women of the March are independent and free thinkers who really do not need a man to do anything. There are also scenes with obvious modern touches, such as Meg and Mr. Brooks kissing in the doorway, and Laurie kissing Amy in the middle of a field. The girls in the book were raised to be “good girls” and such public behaviors were not have been taken lightly at the time, especially considering that their father was a chaplain, which is something else never noted in the movie.

Still, one might wonder how I can say I found it to be enjoyable at the same time as I noted so many glaring faults. As a lover of both books and movies, I have had to learn how to view movies made from

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jul 5, 2005

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 11, 2005

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 11, 2005

love it

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jul 12, 2003

i love this movie, and i love the book also!

Amazing performance by all members of th

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jul 29, 2001

This movie is without a doubt one of my favourites. Outstanding acting done by everyone. In particular, Winona Ryder, she truly captured the character of the "wild" Jo. Gabriel Byrne also sticks out in my mind. For when I read the book I was quite upset that Jo chose Fredrich Bhear over Theodore Laurence, "Laurie". But when Gabriel Byrne plays him I rather prefered that she did. Don't get me wrong I mean Christian Bale was sensational as Teddy. But the one actress who best captured her character was Kirsten Dunst as Amy Curtis March. Little Women is an excellent family movie that can be enjoyed over and over again.

Beautiful version of this story

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 17, 2000 | 1 out of 1 found this Little Women (1994) review helpful

I love this movie,Winona Ryder shines as Jo,christian bale is wonderful as the best friend who is also in love with jo, this movie also boasts flawless performances of claire danes, trini alvardo,and kirsten dunst. if you like any of these actors work, watch this, if you like a good tear jerker watch this, or if you read the book by louisa may alcott watch this you will be happily satisfied with the results.

MY FAVORITE ALL TIME MOVIE!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Sep 4, 2000

is my favorite movie ever! winona ryder as well the rest of the march sisters are excellents for each role....
my favorite march sister is Jo.
this movie will make u laugh , and cry, and you'd be glad u bought it,because you'd like to see it over and over again.

review on little women

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jun 24, 2000

I liked it very much but i think it is sad.

Excellent family movie!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 6, 2000

Little Women was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time! It has the most lovable characters, a wonderful story that pulls you right into the movie, a beautiful soundtrack, and a warm, welcoming feeling of the whole story! It has something in it for everybody! It has romance, just the right amount of comedy, and just the feel of the movie is mesmorizing for everyone in the family! The actors chosen for Little Women were perfect! It is a story that no one should miss! Go get it today!

It was a rollcoaster of emotion !!!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Feb 27, 2000

This movie has got to be on my top 10 list. It gave you every aspect of what a middle class family went through during the war. Not only did it make me laugh and cry. It also somewhat put me in thier place, showing what it ment to really have to struggle in order to survive. They stuck together, in good times, and in bad. This is the type of movie that makes you stop to think where those type of values went to?!? All of the actors and actresses could not have done a better job!

bomb

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 31, 1999

its cause of winona

Winona Ryder is so hot...!!!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 26, 1999

Winona Ryder is so hot in this movie. After seeing her performance, i'm glad she won the oscar for best actress. She aslo look like Salma Hayek which i loved. This movie is GREATTTT....maybe they ought to change the title to "Sexiest Little Women" cause the cast is the bomb...Best of luck and wishes to Winona in the future :)

The best movie ever

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 9, 1999

i luved this movie sooo much everytime i see it i wanna cry. but ina happy way. it makes u realize what life is all about

Good acting by Claire

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Nov 3, 1999

The character Beth was one that was compassionate, sweet, talented, and beautiful. The producer of this film picked the right actress for the job, Claire Danes.