The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1982/Sony DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Telefilm: C+

 

 

Many versions of Victor Hugo’s classic The Hunchback Of Notre Dame have been made and few have held up, it is interesting how ambitious many of them have been.  Though it is not my favorite version, Michael Tuckner’s 1982 TV movie version has newfound notoriety simply because Quasimodo is played by no less than Anthony Hopkins when even then, he was doing a cycle of interesting films like The Elephant Man and Magic that even then gave him a choice personal for such work.

 

He is joined by no less than John Gielgud, David Suchet, Lesley-Anne Down and Tim Pigott-Smith with other good character actors supporting this.  Part of the problem is maybe this should have actually been longer.  Also, I wondered after looking at it again if there was a longer version.  As it stands, it is decent, but uneven.  However, if you are reading the book, it is a good alternative to view.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is slightly fuzzy throughout despite being shot on film by the great Alun Hume, B.S.C., in between two James Bond films (For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy) but he does a fine job shooting it, making it one of the more convincing looking versions around.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono holds up better and is pretty clean for its age, so they took good care of the materials.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo