Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse David Lean's melancholy 1970 romance never achieved the reputation enjoyed by the director's epic dramas, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago among them. And as critic Richard Schickel points out in one of this disc's featurettes, the attacks by reviewers were "immediate and ferocious." Therefore, Ryan's Daughter, featuring Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles in a tale of adultery set against the backdrop of the 1916 Irish Rebellion, seems an unlikely candidate for the deluxe treatment it has been accorded in this remarkably comprehensive special edition. An oddly cast but surprisingly effective Mitchum plays a stolid schoolmaster whose younger, beautiful wife (Miles) carries on a passionate but illicit relationship with a British officer (Christopher Jones) in command of the troops occupying her small village. When word of the affair leaks out, the wife is branded an adulterer and accused of being an informer as well. What really makes this special edition worth having are the various supplemental features.
Digitally remastered from original 65mm film elements and audio-enhanced to 5.1 specifications, the film is accompanied by nearly 90 minutes of new documentary material in the form of three featurettes written, produced, and directed by Laurent Bouzereau. Miles makes significant on-camera contributions to these, as does Lean's biographer Stephen M. Silverman and a host of others, including Mitchum's daughter Petrine and the director's widow, Sandra. Lean and screenwriter Robert Bolt are represented in footage originally shot for a Barry Brown-produced BBC documentary on the film, "The Last of the Traveling Circuses," which is itself included on the bonus disc along with a six-minute "production trailer" narrated by Gregory Peck. The commentary track boasts 13 participants, each of them introduced prior to making his or her contribution; distinguished directors John Boorman and Hugh Hudson are among those heard. It's taken 35 years, but Ryan's Daughter has finally gotten the respect some thought it deserved all along.
All Movie Guide - Craig Butler Ryan's Daughter is one of those films that cries out to be seen on the big screen (and the bigger the better). Director David Lean was right criticized for blowing Robert Bolt's tender little love story way out of proportion, foisting an epic filmmaking style on a tale that is too slight to sustain it. This decision certainly damages the film; but at the same time, no one could do "epic" better than Lean, and so the large trappings that he brought to the film have a strength of their own that is almost independent of the movie -- and that strength is best viewed in a theater rather than at home. Still, whatever the venue, audiences can still appreciate the gorgeous work of cinematographer Freddie Young, whose wind-swept vistas and dark, roiling skies create a drama of their own. Lean has used Young to create a work in which nature is as much a character as any person, and Young does not let Lean down. Unfortunately, the other characters are not treated as sensitively by Lean, who also does not devote enough attention to the specifics of the essential love story.
As a result, the film is both overlong and overwrought, but insufficiently developed. The cast is a bit of mixed bag. Robert Mitchum is cast against type, but his performance is sluggish and a bit dull. Sarah Miles is good in the title role, but not quite a commanding enough presence as is called for. John Mills takes advantage of the showy role to turn in an Oscar performance, and there's also fine work from Trevor Howard, but Christopher Jones is -- his looks aside -- a big mistake. Ryan's Daughter is tremendously uneven, but its virtues finally offset its sins enough to make it worth watching. New York Times - Dave Kehr Watching Warner Home Video's new edition of David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter" is almost enough to make you believe that high-definition DVD has arrived ahead of schedule... this is simply one of the most spectacular video presentations I have ever encountered. The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures.
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