1/5 They just didn't care
  by Andariel Halo (Phenomynouss@hotmail.com is my real e-mail)
Sign 1 that they just didn't care: Hester's "scarlet" letter is GOLD! So the title is summarily completely smashed into irrelevancy by a mere STUPID DESIGN CHOICE.


There's a very strong implication around the movie that SOMEONE involved in the whole making of this film either did not read the book at all, or did not read the book and received a brief summary from which they began to pick and choose what to film.


And for what? What's the purpose of making a film version of a complex moral tale and classic, and proceed to completely miss the point while crafting their own incoherent tale within a context that not even the director understands---What's so bad about a 17th century (or 19th century, as the director once stated) woman having an affair with a REVEREND, even if her husband is missing?


Unless you and your spouse have an open-relationship where you both have sex with others outside of wedlock and are fine with this, then this is a question that rarely needs to be asked, ESPECIALLY in 1600s PURITANICAL America!


Arbitrary scenes of Hollywood-style sex and sexual titilation are there just for whatever, and the end scene involves TOTALLY RANDOM INDIAN ATTACK! as a Deus Ex Machina to save the cuddly heroes who are too pretty to be executed by stuffy Puritans!


Hilarity reaches peak levels when Demi Moore defends it by claiming "Well, not many people have read the book!" Even given the propensity for some 80-90% of High School Students not reading a REQUIRED READING book by going through cliff notes or relying on other kids to help them, it's a very strong case to say her statement is false to a degree of laughing out loud.


And again, what was the point of making the letter on her dress GOLDEN?! Perhaps as a sign the filmmakers completely didn't even read the book's description, they probably thought it was some kind of symbolic title, instead of even looking at a picture on some editions to see her WEARING A SCARLET LETTER ON HER DRESS!

5/5 SUPER film!!
  by Lovely (France)
Gary Oldman is very very hot, sexy in this film.. there is a scene sex with him that you have never seen it with Gary Olmdan.
I recommand it!

4/5 Entertaining
  by K. Vestal (NC)
This story is an entertaining one if not seen as a representation of Hawthorne's novel. Rated R with good reason: sex, nudity, and violence.

5/5 The Scarlet Letter DVD
  by Jack K. Hartsock (Altoona, Pa)
One of the best videos I've ever seen. The music is outstanding.I highly
reccomend this to anyone who likes a good love story.

3/5 "Who is to say what is a sin in God's eyes?"
  by Roberto Frangie (Leon, Gto. Mexico)
For my point of view "The Scarlet Letter" is a good film with great performances... All the actors do a superb job... I was worried that Demi Moore might not have the range to handle the role of Mistress Prynne, but she is excellent... She is strong, passionate, intelligent and damaged... In another place and time she might have been a leader; in this movie she is quite believable as the woman who defends her love at all costs... Gary Oldman looks perfect as Reverend Dimmesdale... He projects force and sexual magnetism along with the guilt for his sin...

The film opens in 1666 when Hester Prynne (Demi Moore) arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony filled with hope that here, at last, in this new World, would come the freedom to worship without fear or persecution... She didn't suspect that beyond the trees there is a savage land of savage passions dark and untamed, and that soon she will face a scornful community in which she will forever be shamed by the scarlet letter...

Mistress Prynne rejected the idea of staying in the congregation until her husband's arrival and looked for a house of her own... She finds a beautiful and frightening place, just as 'Eden must have been so untouched...'

On one Sabbath morning, Hester met Reverend Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman) who helps her when her cart got stuck in the woods... She truly enjoyed, few minutes later, his sermon ... It was rare, for her, to find a man so young and fiery who could speak with such force of passion... She was moved by his passion...

Dimmesdale thought that comprehending God was going to be his greatest challenge, but--after he met Hester--he was not the man he seems to be... He lost his power before this seductress beautiful woman... He lived in this township his whole life and his purpose was clear... But now he would risk everything--his life, his ministry, his soul--just to spend a few moments alone with her... After he asked her why that morning in the forest, she didn't say that she is married, he wondered how she were able to see so deeply into his nature...

From that moment, two hearts were there struggling against a love that grew stronger with each passing day...

Hester was courteous enough but her tongue knew no rules... She earned more than a few reprimands in her life for speaking too bluntly... With a frightening strength, she challenged her persecutors and stood up to their hypocrisy, refusing to reveal her lover's identity...

"The Scarlet Letter" compels us to recognize the shadow side of our lives, including this passion that pushes us beyond our limits... The climax also compels us to contemplate about whether there is anything that we would be willing to die for...