Product Description

Acclaimed adaptation of louisa may alcotts civil war-era novel about the life and times of the four march sisters. Special features: subtitles in english spanish portuguese chinese korean and thai directors commentary two trivia games talent files historical timeline deleted scenes and much more. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 07/19/2005 Starring: Winona Ryder Kirsten Dunst Run time: 118 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Gillian Armstrong

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #792 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2000-04-25
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Portuguese
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 118 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 Classic for the Whole Family
My family of boys and girls loves this family classic. We can sit and watch it anytime and remember that the most important things are under your own roof.

Great Movie
It didn't come as fast as it said, but I did receive it and my wife loves the movie.movie.

Excellent Version Of The Classic "Chick Lit" Novel. Very Sentimental & Enjoyable From Beginning To End.
I first read the book a few years ago (I've always loved what guys call "Chick Lit"; yes, I'm very sentimental; most guys aren't; they're basically unemotional pigs who think only about sex) and loved it. I love period films anyway. BOOK & MOVIE SPOILER AHEAD!!! I cried when one of the major characters dies. She reminds me very much of my best friend who has always been there for me. The cinematography was absolutely stunning. Winona Ryder (who was excellent in dual roles in Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece "Bram Stoker' Dracula") is equally superb here, with Kirsten Dunst (fresh off her biting debut in "Interview With The Vampire"), Susan Sarandon, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Eric Stoltz, Christian Bale ("Empire Of The Sun," "Henry V"), Gabriel Byrne & Mary Wickes ("Now, Voyager") rounding out the cast. It's a faithful version of the story with absolutely nothing objectionable for family viewing. It received the PG rating for thematic elements (situations involving death). This is the kind of film that Hollywood rarely makes anymore (the seriously underrated classic "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" would be released the following year along with two excellent adaptations of Jane Austen's books: "Sense And Sensibility" &
"Emma.") I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL those movies.