Product Description

As the Civil War rages on, the four sisters of the March family struggle to grow up without the guiding hand of their loving father.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 3-JUN-2003
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #642 in DVD
• Brand: RYDER,WINONA
• Released on: 2000-04-25
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Portuguese
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
The flaws are easily forgiven in this beautiful version of Louisa May Alcott's novel. A stirring look at life in New England during the Civil War, Little Women is a triumph for all involved. We follow one family as they split into the world, ending up with the most independent, the outspoken Jo (Winona Ryder). This time around, the dramatics and conclusions fall into place a little too well, instead of finding life's little accidents along the way. Everyone now looks a bit too cute and oh, so nice. As the matron, Marmee, Susan Sarandon kicks the film into a modern tone, creating a movie alive with a great feminine sprit. Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire) has another showy role. The young ensemble cast cannot be faulted, with Ryder beginning the movie in a role akin to light comedy and crescendoing to a triumphant end worthy of an Oscar. --Doug Thomas

DVD features
Based on the feature commentary for her film, Gillian Armstrong must be a pretty delightful person to spend an evening with. The Australian director takes us all the way through the lovely 1994 film, "whispering in our ear" with deft clarity. Armstrong engages us while talking about casting (much influenced by star Winona Ryder), locale (mostly Vancouver, B.C.), the modernization of the characters, and the task of bringing the intricate design of the 19th-century piece to life. Armstrong also narrates over two deleted scenes shown separately. She admits it's enjoyable to view the picture five years later because of Thomas Newman's Oscar-nominated score. (The score can also be heard an isolated music track.) There is also a general six-minute featurette (made by HBO) and a better eight-minute featurette on the film's costume design, narrated by Oscar nominee Colleen Atwood. Talent files, productions notes, an elementary timeline, and trivia games are also included. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
Gillian Armstrong's movie is more naturalistic-less storybooklike-than the previous screen versions of Louisa May Alcott's novel about a poor but noble New England family in the eighteen-sixties. In this rendering, the Marches-mother, father (mostly absent), and four daughters-inhabit a coherent, fully realized world. It's a deceptively audacious picture. Armstrong and the screenwriter, Robin Swicord, treat Alcott's familiar coming-of-age saga as if it were the story of American culture's coming of age, and, amazingly, they make their grand conception stick. Winona Ryder, as the aspiring writer Jo, gives a luminous performance; she shows us that even this remarkable young woman comes out of a family, and out of a society. Also with Susan Sarandon, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Samantha Mathis, Christian Bale, Gabriel Byrne, and Mary Wickes. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

A great movie and a great remake!!!
To start out, this is one of my favorite books. So I of course started out with an additude to begin with, muttering that the book was always better. In this case, I was so wrong. The characters portrayed in this film are the same ones I met in 5th grade when I first read "Little Women". The actors shine in their roles and truly embody everyone one of the literary creations they represents.
Playing the March matriarch, Susan Sarandon is great! She is able to maintain the feel of the period while bringing to Marmee an empowering bout of women's rights thoughts. Sarandon gives off warmth and knowledge wiht the apparent ease of someone completely familiar with the material.
Wynona Ryder is another standout here. She is the raging bundle of emotion that we have all come to know as Jo March. Playing down her usually unique features, Ryder plays the part with spunk and earnestness.
My favorite here is Christian Bale as the oft put uopn Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence. Quite a jump from his "Newsies" days, Bale is the best Laurie I have seen on screen to date. He has the mannerisms and lines down to perfection, while still maintaining the spontanaity that really is a huge part of Laurie's character. He also handles the age jump incredibly well.
Not until my most recent viewing of the movie did I realize Gabriel Byrne was Professor Bhaer. The native irishman does a great job of bringing Frerdrick to life, right down to his physical bumbling and poetic heart.
In my opinion, this movie was a complete triumph and a complete success from novel to film. All actors are fine in their roles, most exceptional, and it is such a joy to see an old favorite and all-time classic brought to life which such enthusiasm and talent. This is a must-see for any fan of the novel~although it will leave you yearning for "Little Men" and Jo's Boys" featuring this cast-which has yet to be done!!

Beautiful Version of the Classic Story
This version of Little Women is a classic in its own right. Armstrong did an amazing job here capturing the period and coaxing beautiful performances from her cast. Ryder, Dunst, Alvarado, Mathis, Sarandon, Byrne, Bale and a heartbreaking Danes are all in top form. Visually, the movie is just beautiful and the soundtrack is mesmerizing. A must see.

Capturing the Spirit of a Classic
Little Women was my favorite book as a child, and I still re-read it at least yearly as an adult for the comfort it gives me. I've probably read it 50 times over the last 30 years. I have also seen every filmed version of the book that I could, and was never completely satisfied. I held my breath as this version of the story rolled onto the screen.

I was enchanted. It was all there, from the scenery to the costumes to the characters. Winona Ryder perfectly captured my fiery Jo, Kirsten Dunst the vanity of Amy, and Clair Danes the real depths of Beth, without any of them becoming a caricature. I loved the way Trini Alvarado, an actress new to me, potrayed the earnest, wistful, practical Meg. The passionate, fun-loving yet moody Laurie was perfectly found in Christian Bale, and the only difference between Gabriel Byrne and the professor I've always imagined is that Gabriel Byrne is more handsome. Aunt March had more dimensionality to her than in the book (and what a joy to see Mary Wickes in the role!). But the spirit that Louisa May Alcott gave to her book was caught ethereally in Marmee, as portrayed by Susan Sarandon. She was the real foundation of the film, and expanding her character was the wisest decision Gilllian Armstrong made. Yes, some of the things in the film were not in the book, but they were so consistent with the story, so central to the March family philosophy, that perhaps they should have been! I never thought that my beloved book could be improved upon, but it has been in this film. I also wish to mention the sets, the cinematography and the music, all which added so much to make my imagined world of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy become real. Thank you to everyone who worked on this precious film.