Frankenstein - The Director's Cut (ITV Series) [2007]

Average customer rating:

I've seen worse - but fans of the book beware!

Very entertaining

Dreadful

This Is Unfairly Criticised

Great TV

Frankenstein - The Director's Cut (ITV Series) [2007]
Starring: Helen McCrory
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000VI4I0Y
Release Date: 2007-10-29

Customer Reviews:

I've seen worse - but fans of the book beware!.......2007-11-28

As a fan of the book (studied at A-Level and Degree Level), I was intrigued to see that ITV were screening a modern adaptation of Frankenstein - even more so when I saw the roles were reversed, and that Victor Frankenstein had now become Victoria!

The plot was great - the idea that a biologist would be researching cells and their growth is obviously nothing out of the ordinary - but when it transpired that Victoria's son was desperately ill in hospital and he needed organ transplants, then you realise why she was so desperate to make the experiment work. Her despair is apparent when she grabs a vial full of her son William's blood and dashes back to the lab... it's plain what she is going to do, and you can tell it will all end in tears.

The tale accelerated when Victoria realised that in the purpose-built tank is no longer a series of unconnected organ cells, but an entire being! I did think it was pretty contrived and almost laughable when she said "It's alive!" - anyone who is familiar with the story will have seen that coming miles off! However, the creepiness increased when the 'project' came to life after being struck by the rogue bolt of lightning, disappeared into the night and began wreaking havoc left, right and centre. The fact that to begin with you're not shown its face really highlights the scariness too!

Another similarity to the original tale is how the 'monster' is portrayed as actually being a gentle giant that is deeply misunderstood. When he kills the little girl because she is screaming, you can tell that wasn't his intention and you do start to feel some sympathy. But I don't think this was played on as much as it could have been. It could have been much more powerful if his true 'goodness' was emphasised.

Instead, the story focuses on Victoria and her feelings towards the being she has created, and how she comes to think of him as her child. The way she tries to give him the life of an ordinary human is very touching and it's easy to see how a bereaved mother could react in this way. The story from this point seems to lose it a little - it definitely wasn't as engaging as it could have been.

Overall, I was disappointed. The basic themes were fantastic and it had the potential to be a very powerful drama, but there wasn't enough tension. There were no real twists and turns to the plot, no surprises and definitely no shock ending. There are worse things you could watch - but this is almost an insult to Mary Shelley's classic novel.

Very entertaining.......2007-11-06

I found this entertaining and I think that it was good for a bit of escapism. I, too, am looking forward to seeing what will be added in the "Director's Cut".

Dreadful.......2007-11-02

Ham acting; dreadful plot; laboured, cliched script; the least scariest monster in small (or big) screen history; this was utter rubbish from start to finish. Rarely have I seen a drama so bad, especially when they have such a wealth of material to work from. The plot and story lurched around so much none of it made sense. The ridiculous ending would have seemed farcical had that which proceeded it had not been just as awful. I tried to give this what it really deserved - no stars - but one will have to do.

This Is Unfairly Criticised.......2007-10-31

This is a simple modern TV remake of the classic Frankenstein horror tale. This was made to bring this old fashioned and to some extent out dated story and places it in the 21st century. Dr. Frankenstein is now a woman who is working on a controversial stem cell project to grow a multi-organ bank artificially, but all goes horribly wrong as the organs form into one organism that grows a consciousness and escapes.

Even on TV this is a very dark and at times quite frightening and indeed intimidating, although it doesn't stick to the classic premise of the original story this is how I feel remakes should be done and thats a whole rehash on a story from a past generation and that's what they did.

One good TV "Movie" and although it got really bad reviews it definitely has the marmite effect where you either love it or you hate it, clearly a lot of people hated it but just as many loved it and I was one of the latter.

Great TV.......2007-10-25

I really enjoyed Frankenstein ITV and I'll be interested to see the director's cut to see if there are many changes. I'm sure that with Jed Mercurio as the director there will be alot more gore in store on this version!

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