A Christmas Carol (1999)

I'll tell you why so serious

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This remake is the absolute worst remake of the Dickens classic. Watch the fantastic 1938 movie and compare it to this horrid, schlocky, poorly uninspired excise for a tv movie. To make things worse TNT on demand shows so many obnoxious commercials that you cant speed up,its actually painful. What a total waste.

How come I never saw this version before? Patrick Stewart disappears into the "persona" of Scrooge in the opening scene, when Marley is laid-to-rest. The mark of a good actor. He is by far the grumpiest Scrooge ever. Beautifully filmed in England, it uses many real locations in addition to the usual "sets". Fine performances all around. Joel Grey is a stand out as "The Ghost of Christmas Past". Faithful to the book, his presence is put out with a "candle snuffer" cap! The characters do a great deal of talking and expand upon the usual dialog, which is there also. Not a musical by any means, but it has several songs that may be from the actual time period of the story. Many good digital effects, showing Scrooge walking thru walls (with the spirits' help) and visiting both singing miners and seaman. I have yet to see a version literal to the book, but this one tries very hard. The Ghost of Christmas Present makes more critical remarks about Scrooge, and it is very effective! Stewart does a far superior job than the extremely over-rated George C. Scott version! Most unusual scenes are: Poor Tiny Tim in death, still at home, and Scrooge "dead as a doornail" fresh in his coffin! (Of course, Tiny Tim does not die because Scrooge does not die.-It all works out!)The errand boy only gets only 2 shillings for his effort, but the poulterer gets cab fare and a tip to deliver the turkey to Bob Cratchet! A surprisingly enjoyable and satisfying version from Sam Rami and Hallmark. (I own 5 versions of this classic tale. From Mickey-to-Muppets, plus 1938,1951,and 1970.) I might have to buy this as well!

Patrick Stewart stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in this relatively recent version of "A Christmas Carol". It is well acted and well produced--with nice sets and costumes. And, it provides pretty much the same experience as watching any other version of the story. To date, there have been approximately 1,272,347,234,913,948,251 versions and variations of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Few of them are terrible and most do a decent job of conveying the story*. So I say, why make more?! Why don't we just watch of the best ones, such as the 1984 version with George C. Scott or the 1951 version with Alistair Sim? Now the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart is good--but why try to keep re-inventing something that's been done very well already?!?! My advice is no matter how good this version is, what is the point of yet another? Call me a Scrooge, but I say 'bah, humbug' to all the corporate folks who keep re-using this public domain tale instead of trying to create something new. And, 'bah, humbug' to the fact that MOST versions emphasize the Christmas aspect of the story but gloss over the social message originally intended by Dickens.*Horrible versions of this over-used story include many kids' versions such as one starring Mr. Magoo, "A Bugs Bunny Christmas Carol" (I love Looney Tunes, but this one was bad), the Flintstone version (they were alive BEFORE Jesus was born...think about it) and although I haven't yet seen it, I am almost 100% positive the new Smurf version is awful.

First of all, I must say that I "adore" Sir Patrick Stewart, if for no other reason, for the countless hours of pure pleasure watching the best interpretation ever of a Star Trek captain. But having said that, does anybody else feel, as I do, that his Scrooge is a bit too gentle in the first part of the story? Could he have conveyed more nastiness? Also, Marley could have been more scary. It feels like normal daily business that they sit down and have a friendly conversation. And the spirit of Christmas yet to come? Two lights instead of eyes? Strolling along the roads of London? Not very credible. Apart from the above mentioned "minor glitches" this is possibly the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol I have ever seen. There are some incredibly powerful, moving scenes. There is where the Shakespearean actor shows all his unrivaled talent. With other words, it is very much "a one man show". Imagine a lesser actor in the role of Scrooge and this would be a mediocre film.