4/5 Lowered Expectations
  by James Fairchild (Fairfield, Iowa)
For much of my life I considered Great Expectations David Lean's most enjoyable film. I hadn't seen it since it appeared on Bravo in the 1980s, so I was very excited when I recently bought it at half price during a Criterion Collection sale. The early scenes of Pip's extraordinary encounter with the prisoner Magwich, family life with his shrewish sister and gentle Joe, and Pip's visits to see Miss Havisham and Estella still grab me in my movie bones. Lean's incredible facility for atmosphere in the foggy English moors, the rotting ship hulks, the graveyard, and Miss Havisham's dreary mansion are still magical. But when Pip grows up, moves to London, and becomes John Mills, the atmosphere recedes, the delightful performance by the actor playing young Pip is of course gone, and Pip's foppish attempts at social climbing are almost too embarrassing to watch. However it's still a great half a movie.

5/5 Great Expectations Met
  by So Many Books So Little Time
Our Book Club leader knew that this 1946 film of Dickens' story followed the book most closely. Pip as a young boy shows his fears and his bravery with great animation. Bitter Miss Haversham teaches Estella well. Magwitch is a big surprise. I enjoyed Alec Guiness and John Mill's performances. Pip's sister's death was different in the film than in the book, as was the end of Estella's marriage. This is one of my favorite classics. I've read it over a number of times, and have seen this movie more than once. I understand there were three endings that Dickens wrote of this book, to please his publishers. This film followed the one he chose.

4/5 Holds up very well to today
  by Alan Starr (Lawrence, MA)
Classic 1946 version, rated 8.2 on IMDB and #245 of the Top 250. I never read the book, so I can't compare it, but I thought it was very well done. Cinematography looked great even by today's standards, and the performances were also strong. Okay, maybe a little over the top, but that was the style back that, and it didn't distract overall.

4/5 Great Expectations
  by M. Godwin (Nashville, NC USA)
This was bought as a gift, as we had watched together on TV, and decided it was
something we would enjoy owning.

5/5 My Favorite David Lean Film
  by Lynn Ellingwood (Webster, NY United States)
I always found Dickens novels a bit difficult and hard to pay attention to. Great Expectations is one that students often have to read in high school and it can be tough going. I learned to love Great Expectations through this film. David Lean brings out the story in a wonderful way and makes the story clear and meaningful. Both Pip and Estella are born from low beginnings and then brought up to be a gentleman and a lady. Their relationship to the status is based on money and connections. When the money and connections become tenuous, they are laid waste again. To their benefit? Maybe. Great Expectations is a story of hope and social mobility in a society that has little of hope or social mobility. It is a story in which all members dream of it tenuously while trying to ignore their circumstances and birth. This film is wonderful, don't ignore it and if your high school students are complaining that Dickens is too difficult, provide them with this DVD.