Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group discussion

Ovation is having a Jane Austen marathon today, and of course my sister and I are watching!

Which Jane Austen movie versions are your favorite (including the A&E and BBC adaptations)?

Let's talk Jane Austen movies.

Sense & Sensibility is my all-time favorite Jane Austen movie. The Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice is a close second.

To clarify...the Emma Thompson version of S&S.

Oh I can't pick a favorite. I love Jane Austen movies. Pride and Prejudice with Matthew McFadyen is the movie that started it all for me but I love the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice as well. I also really enjoyed Persuasion with Rupert Penry-Jones.

The Brits sure know how to produce a good costume drama specially with great material like Jane Austen.

Did anyone see "Becomng Jane"? I love that movie. It makes my heart hurt when I watch it every time. It's supposed to me loosely based on her life before she wrote all her books.

I have to say I like the BBC Sense and Sensibility better, with David Morissey as Brandon. I adored him! I also liked Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars more. He made the character more dimensional. My sister made a good point that having a miniseries format gave more time to delve into the characters and their relationships than a 2 hr movie format.

@ Jessica, I ended up loving P&P movie version with Matthew as much as the Colin Firth miniseries and I actually watch it more.

I loved Persuasion with Rupert Penry-Jones. My sister probably loves it even more.

I would love for BBC to produce Lisa Kleypas' novels and even Anne Stuart's Rohan series and historicals. They would be awesome!

That would be awesome Lady Danielle. I wonder how we could make that suggestion to them. I love BBC's costume dramas.

I'm sure they have a way to email them. Not sure if they would take the advice. I would love it if they did!

I agree about the BBC version of Sense and Sensibility, Danielle! I love it. I taped it today, and am excited to watch it again.

I really like their new version of Northanger Abbey, too. It's really fun...much more light-hearted Austen.

Rupert Penry-Jones is one of my boyfriends, so I adore his version of Persuasion.

Is that the version with JJ Feild? I liked it too. You will have to share Rupert with me and my sister. :)

I love every Austen adaptation ever made!

Nevertheless, I have my favorites:

Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds. Rupert Penry- Jones is also great but I didn't like the running all over Bath scene at the end.
P&P with Colin Firth although I did love Matthew MacFayden's Darcy as well not so much Keira Knightly's Elizabeth
S&S with David Morrisey and Dan Stevens although I loved Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon.

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "Is that the version with JJ Feild? I liked it too. You will have to share Rupert with me and my sister. :)"

Yep, that's the one! I suppose I can share ;-)

I thought Morrisey was so sexy as Col. Brandon! He's a total dude.

~Megan~ wrote: "I thought Morrisey was so sexy as Col. Brandon! He's a total dude."

Totally agree! Marianne doesn't realize how lucky she is to have a real man like Brandon, not a boy like Willoughby!

~Megan~ wrote: "Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress wrote: "Is that the version with JJ Feild? I liked it too. You will have to share Rupert with me and my sister. :)"

Yep, that's the one! I suppose I can shar..."

You're so generous!

I loved Jeremy Northam as Knightley. Just the way he said Emma's name and looked at her was sexy!

My favourite adaptation is actually the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson one makes me cringe because everyone except Kate Winslet is a few decades too old for their roles. Alan Rickman looks like a paedophile hanging around a teenage girl - he was literally old enough to be playing Marianne's grandfather!
And don't even get me started on Hugh Grant...

I also loved the most recent Northanger Abbey for the excellent cast, though they added far too much in the way of 'sexiness'.

I would have liked to see the 1980 Pride and Prejudice (you can watch it on YouTube) done with a bigger budget. The Darcy is a little wooden, but he is also the closest to how I picture the character. One problem I have with P&P adaptations is that everyone forgets DARCY SMILES IN THE BOOK.

Karen L wrote: "First for me is Colin Firth's Pride & Prejudice. He makes a wonderful Mr. Darcy and the author of Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding, thinks so too. She thought Bridget needed her own Mr. Darcy ..."

Ditto. I love your choices.

My favorite Austen book is actually Persuasion but I haven't seen an adaptation that does it justice. The Ciaran Hinds one came the closest. And he is my favorite in the role.

Sonya Heaney wrote: "My favourite adaptation is actually the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson one makes me cringe because everyone except Kate Winslet is a few decades too old for their roles. Alan Rickman..."

I love the movie. But you're very right. Emma Thompson (though a great actress) is too old for the part. And I love Alan Rickman but I actually always feel sorry for him in the movie. I just don't believe Kate Winslet's character falls in love with him. Their chemistry is way off.

I think that the version with David Morrissey is much better as far as S&S. I thought he had good chemistry with the actress who plays Marianne.

I don't think I've seen another S&S. Though I could be wrong. I did watch a Bollywood version that I enjoyed. And I love Bride & Prejudice but I'm thinking that doesn't count. Lol.

I love the 2009 version of Emma starring Romola Garai, the Colin Firth '95 P&P, and Ang Lee's '95 Sense and Sensibility to name a few. For modern adaptations I love the Bridget Jones's Diary movies! I would also recommend Austenland, which is a modern movie about a Janeite who goes to a Jane Austen theme park.

I still need to watch the Romola Garai Emma.

Traci L. wrote: "Karen L wrote: "First for me is Colin Firth's Pride & Prejudice. He makes a wonderful Mr. Darcy and the author of Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding, thinks so too. She thought Bridget needed he..."

The BBC version of 'Persuasion' with Amanda Root (magnificent) and Ciaran Hinds is the only one that I really liked.

Traci L. wrote: "Sonya Heaney wrote: "My favourite adaptation is actually the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson one makes me cringe because everyone except Kate Winslet is a few decades too old for thei..."

I'm a fan of Emma T. but she was terribly miscast here. The whole film suffered from one miscast part after another. Rickman had no place in it, and that Hugh Grant chap (not a fan of his even in the best of times, if there's ever been some such)displayed spectacular cluelessness as to who or what Edward Farrars was supposed to be. Although Ang Lee's direction was excellent, I found Emma Thompson's script, Oscar and all, rather poor. Did not like her decision to make Edward much more honourable than Austin has (who draws a colder and subtler portrait of Ferrars). Likewise, Cl. Brandon. All male characters are afflicted by the curse of 'modernising the male'.
Neither did I like the way ET handled the differences in the two Dashwood sisters. Overall, IMHO, only Winslet and the wonderful Greg Wise (subsequently our Em's husband) were right for their part and did something memorable with their material.

I've only seen a few, I liked them all though. The Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice (really liked a lot), the Ciaran Hinds Persuasion (really liked), a PBS Masterpiece version of Northanger Abbey (love PBS Masterpiece!), and the Kate Winslet/Alan Rickman Sense and Sensibility (loved!). I haven't read any of the books, though they're definitely owned and on the TBR. I have to say though I loved Alan Rickman, lol.

Well the Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice still does it for me everytime and is as good as ever. This production was just so well done with the right casting of actors and attention to period detail :-)

Has anyone watched the youtube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? It's a modern vlog style retelling of P&P and it's very creative. It won an Emmy. It has one of the best Darcys I've ever seen and can be found on youtube. Emma Approved is the current series by the LBD creators, and it's a vlog style series about Emma, in which she's a lifestyle coach.

Samantha wrote: "Has anyone watched the youtube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? It's a modern vlog style retelling of P&P and it's very creative. It won an Emmy. It has one of the best Darcys I've ever seen and c..."

No I've never heard of them. Will give them a lookie!

Samantha wrote: "Has anyone watched the youtube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? It's a modern vlog style retelling of P&P and it's very creative. It won an Emmy. It has one of the best Darcys I've ever seen and c..."

Coming out of lurkdom to say, "OMG! Lizzie Bennet Diaries was the best! Loved it so much! I couldn't get enough of it! Ok. That's all. *crawls back under rock* :)

Kim wrote: "Sense & Sensibility is my all-time favorite Jane Austen movie. The Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice is a close second."

Ever seen the 2008 BBC version of Sense & Sensibility? If you haven't you should.