4/5 If Romeo and Juliet had brains or maturity, they'd be John and Lorna.
  by M. Feaster (Atlantic Coast, USA)
WHOA, yes, I said it! Not that I don't love Romeo and Juliet, but it's nice, now and then, to see a pair of lovers who are NOT dysfunctional teenagers. Maybe it's just because I've recently watched such excellent but frustrating tragedies as Wuthering Heights and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but this movie was SUCH a breath of fresh air. Both John and Lorna are honest, assertive, and genuinely kind, so there are none of the usual games with characters serially lying to one another until you'd just rather they not get together at all - you ROOT for these two. I know that many people out there will say that Carver is hot/pitiable and if bad boys are your thing, then by all means, enjoy. If, however, you've thought the recent selection of BBC romances somewhat devoid of likable protagonists, I highly recommend Lorna Doone.

I do have a whole host of complaints about the actual execution of this film, which is why it gets only four stars instead of five. The pacing is uneven at times, the action is filmed in such a way that can make it hard to follow, and there are not enough close-up reaction shots during the meatier scenes (just my opinion). Furthermore, this DVD version is most unfortunately NOT widescreen, and it's painfully obvious when beautiful moments are interrupted by the realization that half of a character's face is off-screen. Even so, the excellent story and appealing cast make this DVD well worth owning.

So the next time Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff and Cathy, or Angel and Tess get you down, watch Lorna Doone instead, and you'll remember that some fictional characters still demonstrate the best in humanity.

5/5 Civil war
  by Linda (CT, United States)
R.D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone is a particularly dense novel, containing hundreds of characters and a lot of country philosophizing. This sort of work is not easy to translate to the screen, but there are more than enough adventure, brawling, and love scenes to do the trick. Writer Adrian Hodges has remained true to the original, and together with director Mike Barker, has produced a winner. The casting is superb - look for a caustic Michael Kitchen as the infamous hanging judge Jeffries. Richard Coyle as hero Jack Ridd turns in a pitch perfect performance as a courageous young man who comes of age by refusing to compromise the principles instilled in him by his parents. And Aiden Gillan makes the nefarious Carver Doone the villain you love to hate. The costumes and scenery beautifully evoke late 17th century England, and the blend of romantic drama and plentiful battle scenes is well balanced. The music is a bit cloying, but you can't have everything! A&E and BBC have a winner with Lorna Doone.

4/5 aidan gillen makes this movie
  by D. E. Young (salt lake, utah)
i really really enjoyed this, and i usually don't like made-for-tv movies. honestly, without aidan gillen as the murderous villian "carver doone", it wouldn't be worth watching. but gladly, he is in it, and it is worth seeing!

4/5 very good
  by Kimberly Rose Allmon (Opelousas, LA USA)
This is one of my favorite moives. I have watched it probly 5 times.
It has a good moral to it. But it gets pretty bloody in some senes in which I fast forward through. I deffintly would not recommend children under 13 watching it because of the violence in it.

5/5 Lorna Doone is powerful, well acted, and a great story.
  by William M. Turner (Utah)
If anyone enjoys historic drama and strong film making, this is for you. We first saw it at a friend's after dinner and at first I thought it would be a silly old-time English love story. How wrong I was...

This has powerful story lines, action, violence, war, intrigue, and of course a love story. Many plots and outcomes were completely unexpected. We enjoyed it so much that I had to buy it. Not a dull moment in it's full 2 1/2 hour run.