BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

blood_summit POSSIBLE SPOILERSIt clearly goes without saying that this is in the shadow of the original David Lean film and understandably as it is a hard act to follow. It would be easy to condemn this as being "amateurish" but I have to say that I strongly disagree. This production dealt with the setting and period in a more subtle and understated manner and it's in the format of TV which is completely different to the big screen and less cinematic. Despite this being early on in Keira Knightley's career, she does a good job portraying Lara as being a well rounded character. Kris Marshall was another one who stood out for me as his character of Pasha Antipov as his character development was not only well portrayed but more jarring as he turns from an idealistic and optimistic revolutionary to a brutal and merciless Bolshevik General.This also portrays the Russian Revolution in more of a "Warts and all" kind of way as opposed to the romanticised depiction given originally and is executed in a very compelling way. There is an interesting use of archive footage (remeniscent of the use of archive footage in the 1978 TV series "Secret Army") that adds some extra depth to the portrayal of 1910s/1920s Russia.] I'd say that you should listen to what Anna Rust has said and give it a look.

aussiebrisguy I'm not sure why Doctor Zhivago was remade as the David Lean film was quite brilliant. I do think the mini-series had its moments but it will always sadly be compared with the earlier film with the most beautiful Julie Christie as Lara and the incredibly dashing Omar Sharif as Zhivago. Who after all can outdo these two I ask myself? This is the battle the leads in the mini-series have to constantly face as everybody wants to see Christie and Sharif rather than their new counterparts. I still enjoyed it all but not nearly as much as if the earlier film had not been made. Pasternak's story remains powerfully strong and deeply moving. Sometimes I think remakes are made because creative forces are not imaginative enough to find new projects to work on. It would seem this was the case with this good remake.

songbird2882 I watched this movie on accident actually, sending someone else to rent "Dr. Zhivago" for me, and he returned with this mini-series, I of course intending the 1967 classic which I love. I gamely watched the re-make anyway and was absolutely thrilled! This version actually had dialog! I hadn't realized how much an actual plot line or character development had been missing from the old one, but I was amazed at how well these characters were developed, lovingly acted and portrayed, and while I have not read the book, it appeared to be a good adaptation. Hans Matheson was a much better Zhivago than Omar Shariff, though I didn't think I would ever find myself saying so, and all the other characters were well-cast. The only disappointment to me was Sam Neill, who is one of my favorite actors. While his performance was solid, I didn't feel that he brought anything extra to Kamarovsky. Even if you love the classic, as I do, give this one a chance.

goddessofoddness Kiera Knightly is a much better Lara. Julie's Christie was much too pure. Kiera's Lara is complex, and better. Julie Christie never was believable as a young teenager.Hans Matheson is no Omar Sharif, of course, but he is closer to the appropriate age.Sam Neill was born to play Komarovsky. So full of cruel, cold ambition and self-absorption.Tonia is so much better too.In total, the entire film is broader, and a much more cohesive story. There is no doubt in this film about what drives the characters. There is still no room for the novel's mourning for the death of the individual life, of nobility of spirit, of poetry. But at least here we understand better why Yuri chooses Lara, and why Pasha abandons Lara, and how little Yuri sees his mother vanish.