Pre-Order Shadowlands (1993) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

The price link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[trajan007]

Beautiful transfer, beautiful film.

 

[titch]

I've been waiting for a decent release of this very moving film for ages. If I had to single out my favourite Anthony Hopkins performance, this would actually be the one. You have the show-stopping Antony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs, the hammy Anthony Hopkins in countless Hollywood blockbusters and the subtle Antony Hopkins in The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road and Howards End/Remains Of The Day. It seems very few people have seen Shadowlands, which came out the same year as The Remains Of The Day - the Merchant-Ivory production got all the attention in the art-house circuit. I was walking past a cinema in Sheffield one Sunday afternoon in 1994 and decided to see it on the spur of the moment. Hopkins' performance shows what an incredible actor he is. This is one of those films that makes grown men weep. See it with someone you care about.

 

[bujaki]

I've been waiting for a decent release of this very moving film for ages. If I had to single out my favourite Anthony Hopkins performance, this would actually be the one. You have the show-stopping Antony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs, the hammy Anthony Hopkins in countless Hollywood blockbusters and the subtle Antony Hopkins in The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road and Howards End/Remains Of The Day. It seems very few people have seen Shadowlands, which came out the same year as The Remains Of The Day - the Merchant-Ivory production got all the attention in the art-house circuit. I was walking past a cinema in Sheffield one Sunday afternoon in 1994 and decided to see it on the spur of the moment. Hopkins' performance shows what an incredible actor he is. This is one of those films that makes grown men weep. See it with someone you care about.

Although the TV version is superior imo, this is a worthy film. And yes, both versions had me shedding many tears.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I've been wanting to see this for a long time. I've got a copy on its way to me.

I've read quite a bit CS Lewis and understand this part of his life to be quite compelling.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Another film I need to blindly buy based on overwhelmingly positive feedback

 

[Mike Frezon]

Peg and I watched this for the first time the other night.

We both enjoyed it greatly. There's much that was left out about the relationship and timeline in the match of Lewis and Grisham...but enough that still made it a compelling story. Hopkins (see Kein's quote below) was really marvelous. I'm not 100% sure what Debra Winger was going for here (she kept falling in and out of a really bad NYC accent) and I tend to think that another actress in that role might have made it a better film.

I've been waiting for a decent release of this very moving film for ages. If I had to single out my favourite Anthony Hopkins performance, this would actually be the one. You have the show-stopping Antony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs, the hammy Anthony Hopkins in countless Hollywood blockbusters and the subtle Antony Hopkins in The Elephant Man, 84 Charing Cross Road and Howards End/Remains Of The Day. It seems very few people have seen Shadowlands, which came out the same year as The Remains Of The Day - the Merchant-Ivory production got all the attention in the art-house circuit.

My copy of The Remains of the Day (another film we've never seen) JUST arrived from the latest Twilight Time sale at SAE. Now I'm looking forward to it that much more. Peg couldn't stop saying how great Hopkins was. She had never seen him in a film before.

 

[Matt Hough]

I think The Remains of the Day is one of THE great films of the 1990s. Superb performances, gorgeous production, direction sublime: almost the perfect movie.

 

[bujaki]

I think The Remains of the Day is one of THE great films of the 1990s. Superb performances, gorgeous production, direction sublime: almost the perfect movie.

I agree. Has Hopkins ever been better? Or for that matter, Thompson, in spite of her Oscar for Howards End (another great performance from Hopkins)?

 

[bujaki]

Peg and I watched this for the first time the other night.

We both enjoyed it greatly. There's much that was left out about the relationship and timeline in the match of Lewis and Grisham...but enough that still made it a compelling story. Hopkins (see Kein's quote below) was really marvelous. I'm not 100% sure what Debra Winger was going for here (she kept falling in and out of a really bad NYC accent) and I tend to think that another actress in that role might have made it a better film.



My copy of The Remains of the Day (another film we've never seen) JUST arrived from the latest Twilight Time sale at SAE. Now I'm looking forward to it that much more. Peg couldn't stop saying how great Hopkins was. She had never seen him in a film before.

As good as this is, I still prefer the TV movie with Claire Bloom and Joss Ackland (1985). Available to stream via Amazon Prime.

 

[Jack P]

The TV version with Joss Ackland and Claire Bloom is the only version of this story I watch. I found "Shadowlands" shockingly shallow in that it managed to remove the one thing that was at the heart of the bond between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. Namely, Christianity.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I found "Shadowlands" shockingly shallow in that it managed to remove the one thing that was at the heart of the bond between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. Namely, Christianity.

That's interesting Jack, because that was one of the comments we both had after watching the film. We knew their Christianity was what brought them together and forged their relationship...and yet it was barely mentioned.

 

[Jack P]

And this is in total contrast to the TV version where the whole theme of discovery of faith, the shaking of it during tragedy and then it's renewal is so vitally important. At one point in the TV version, Lewis mentions to Joy how he likened the moment when he was sure of his faith to taking a great dive when swimming. Later, as he copes with Joy's death and goes through a crisis of faith we see him walking and accompanied to poignant voice-overs that are direct quotes from his book "A Grief Observed" that represent his renewal of faith. And finally, the last shot of the film he's walking with Douglas (who has earlier said he doesn't believe in Heaven) and asked him if he's ever dived. It's the absolute perfect balance of emphasizing the importance of faith and it's rediscovery without overdoing it.

The film though removes this completely and removes the entire context of this relationship and who these people were. To me it's like a movie about Alexander Graham Bell that never mentions the telephone!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Peg and I had just watched A Man Called Peter a few nights before and my favorite parts of THAT film were how the two main characters (Peter and Catherine Marshall) used their faith and relationship with God to cope with various personal crises which befell them. It is an issue which speaks very loudly and very personally to me (after a number of huge health crises I've had in my life)

I'll have to look up this other version of Shadowlands you and Jose both prefer.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Found the DVD. Ordered. Thank you both.

I wonder why they changed Joy's last name for the motion picture?

 

[Jack P]

They didn't. Joy Davidman was her maiden name, Gresham was her first husband but she wrote professionally under her maiden name.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Excellent info. Thanks.

Makes sense.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This discussion caught my interest as I noticed iTunes has the HD stream/download on sale for $4.99 so I purchased it. I also bought the TV movie DVD. I'm looking forward to watching both movies.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Peg and I watched the DVD of CS Lewis Into the Shadowlands tonight (with Claire Bloom and Joss Ackland).

We both liked it a heckuva lot more than the feature film Shadowlands. Youse guys wuz right! Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not 100% sure what Debra Winger was going for here (she kept falling in and out of a really bad NYC accent) and I tend to think that another actress in that role might have made it a better film.

Claire Boom was SO MUCH BETTER in the role than Winger. Even though her American accent wasn't perfect, you could understand why Lewis would have fallen for her Joy Gresham. While much of the dialogue was the same as in Shadowlands, the relationship between the two protagonists just makes sense in the 1985 BBC production. And Ackland was VERY GOOD as Lewis.

And there were a bunch of other things that made sense in this version...such as why Lewis' clergyman friend didn't marry them in the hospital. That was explained in this version. There were some scenes which tied Lewis' Narnia books into the plot (that was inexplicably missing in the Hopkins version). And, as Jack noted, the connection between the two on the basis of their Christianity was front and center and well-handled as they dealt with their personal crises.

It's just too bad the PQ and SQ of this BBC DVD was so bad. And without captions, there were a few lines of dialogue I couldn't make out even though I replayed them a few times. And the production had a rather odd feel to it (some of which was probably created by the spaces where there were commercial breaks). We watched the full 90 minute version. Honestly, it did drag at times--which made me wonder if the shorter version would improve it).

 

[Jack P]

So glad you got to see the BBC version! I wasn't aware there was an official DVD release. My copy is a DVD transfer from an earlier commercial VHS release.