Les Miserables
List Price:
Our Price: $8.17
You Save: $6.78 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.39 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Claire Danes, Geoffrey Rush, Hans Matheson, Liam Neeson, Uma ThurmanBrand: NEESON,LIAM
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 134 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-11-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Les Miserables
DVD Review: An echo of greatness!
Summary: 4 Stars
Victor Hugo's enormous output is unique in French literature... He was described as 'The most powerful mind of the romantic movement' and his novel, published in 1862, continued to be widely read...
The plot - that of a detective - is as well the epic of the people of Paris... Its author claimed it as a 'religious' work, and indeed by means of its characters, sometimes a little larger than life, yet always vital and engaging, and by its re-creation of the swarming Parisian underworld, the main theme of man's ceaseless combat with evil clearly emerges while the whole gives a faithful picture of the declines and flow of life...
Hugo relives his youth in this vast novel, the culmination of 14 years work... He and Valjean share their most outstanding characteristic: their charitable heart...
The story contains glimpses of Hugo's disgust towards 'the treatment of the lower class French citizens by the government: Valjean, an ex-convict recently released from prison, but he is not given the opportunity to make a good living for himself; Fantine forced into prostitution due to the lack of money to pay her illegitimate child...
And towards the 'general injustice of the law enforcement system: Valjean sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread; Fantine arrested for hitting a man of a higher class...
The symbol of France's greed that Hugo despises is Thenardier - the man that Fantine entrusts Cosette to - who betrays the trust by essentially making Cosette his personal slave...
The strongest emotions of "Les Misérables are love and hate...
Javert and Valjean are both extremes, with a conscience incredibly strict...
Liam Neeson is cast as the gentle Valjean who takes the twist of fate parlaying it into personal success and moral rehabilitation... He changes his ways to become years later the much-loved mayor of Vigau, and as a caring businessman he struggles to forget the past and manages to redeem his soul becoming benevolent, giving manual and financial help to the weak, sick and poor...
After nine years, Valjean was horrified to discover that Javert - a former guard of the Quarries of Toulon, where he served almost 20 years - has arrived to be the head of Vigau's police force...
Valjean's desire to protect the employees from bad influences leads him to fire (indirectly) one of his workers Fantine - turned prostitute... He assumes responsibility for raising her daughter Cosette... He becomes a father figure and soon forces the choice of sacrificing his own freedom for her happiness...
Geoffrey Rush plays the icy chief inspector Javert, the man who tries "to live his life without breaking a single rule." When he is given the job of spying in the barricades and Valjean gives him his freedom instead of shooting him, things begin to fall apart for him...
The action of mercy of Jean Valjean causes him to doubt the solid base of his existence... He is in emotional agony unable to betray his convictions... He sees too late the truth...
Valjean's legendary physical strength are enough to stir his suspicion that the town mayor is a fraud... He is less villain than a man driven by his own hard concept of justice begging permission of his superiors in Paris to investigate the mayor, the man he believes is a convict...
When he thinks he has made a mistake in identifying Monsieur Le Maire as the 'convict' Jean Valjean, he insists on informing him that he has denounced him unjustly and that therefore he must be dismissed: "You must punish me", he says, "or my life will have been meaningless." (A key line in the film).
Uma Thurman approaches the self-indulgent character of Fantine with admirable restraint, giving a certain level of charm and charisma to the film... She gives her sick mother role a good amount of realism demonstrating her character's frustration and pain exquisitely...
Fantine's misery overwhelms her as she sells her body to support her child... Being in a wild state, enraged at how she is a helpless victim of misery, she is arrested after being humiliated by several would-be customers, but Valjean intercedes on her behalf overriding Javert's authority...
When Valjean helps her, she begins to rediscover hope... Her joy at the thought of having Cosette with her is great... But the shock of Valjean's arrest and the discover that Cosette is not there, are too much for the poor creature...
Claire Danes plays the teenage Cosette who realizes one day that she has become quite beautiful... She disobeys her father's rules by secretly sneaking out and seeing Marius - a charismatic young Parisian revolutionary - with whom she fell in love...
Cosette spends her childhood as a servant girl at the Thenardier's inn, horribly mistreated and constantly terrified... She grew up in a convent, innocent, pure and a bit naïve...
Peter Vaughan is excellent as the compassionate bishop whose act of generosity turns an embittered Valjean around...
Bille August tries to capture the essence of Hugo's morality staging its political turmoil strongly enough to give it contemporary resonance, keeping the eternal three elements: the bishop handing over the candlesticks; Fantine's collapse; Marius crying out: "To the barricades!"
History doesn't change, as Voltaire once remarked... But what we need from it, does... Valjean's story is not unique, it's universal... In other world, it's contemporary... There are certainly enough "Les Misérables" to go all around the world...
Description of Les Miserables
Victor Hugo's stirring novel of redemption and revolution is brought to life by the artistry of director Billie August and his brilliant cast. Liam Neeson stars as Jean Valjean, a heartless convict who is transformed by a single act of mercy. Uma Thurman is Fantine, the vulnerable prostitute who begs Valjean to raise her only child, Cosette (Claire Danes). And Oscar(r)-winner Geoffrey Rush (Best Actor, Shine, 1996) is an ambitious policeman determined to return Valjean to prison. A truly epic film, Les Miserables is magnificent! A compelling and powerful human drama with terrific performances by Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush.Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
EvitaBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1998-03-25; Published: 1998-03-01; DVD
Best price: $3.76
Price in other shops:
Les Miserables - Les Miserables 2010 CastPBS; Release date: 2010-10-12; Music CD
Best price: $12.54
Price in other shops:
Rob RoyNEESON,LIAM; Release date: 1997-10-14; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Les Misérables (Signet Classics)by Victor Hugo
Penguin Group USA; Signet Classics; Published: 1987-03-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
The Man in the Iron MaskDICAPRIO,LEONARDO; Release date: 1998-08-12; DVD
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
The Count of Monte CristoBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2002-09-10; DVD
Best price: $5.84
Price in other shops:
Les MiserablesLions Gate; Release date: 2004-06-22; DVD
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops:
Les Miserables: The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert HallWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $23.99
Price in other shops:
The Phantom of the Opera (Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-05-03; DVD
Best price: $4.56
Price in other shops:
Les MiserablesUniversal; Release date: 2011-02-22; DVD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops: