MovieChat Forums > The 39 Steps (2008) Discussion > i thought it was actually quite good

i thought it was actually quite good


can't really see why some people are so put off. its obviously not hitchcock-no one will ever be as good, but it was entertaining and much better to watch then a strictly come dancing special or anything else like that!i thought the two leads had great chemistry and delivered the banter well, lydia leonard was particularly good.

anyway enough complaining out of people!

reply

I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought both leads were very good and Rupert was not wooden at all. I thought it was a good twist that the Lydia Leonard character took over, and I wasn't bothered in the slightest that Hannay was a pawn used by the Secret Service. That, and the real life assasination of the Arch Duke, are improvements on what Buchan wrote ( oohh, heresy!!).

reply

I was really looking forward to it, but ultimately thought it was very weak indeed. It lacked any real depth, urgency, or gravitas. The original material is a moderately complex thriller yet this got diluted down to its barest elements and then reconstituted with weak exposition, bland set pieces and unlikely characters with bizarre motivations.

Even the big '39 steps' revelation was a ham-fisted moment, seemingly wedged into the story as an afterthought.

Unfortunately, its fairly typical of BBC drama of late.

reply

It was nice, for television. The "love scene" was a little silly; with the mustard....


---

reply

Yes, the scene with the mustard was rather silly. My sister couldn't stop laughing while we were watching it. But most of the film was decent -even good at times-, except I thought the last ten minutes were a bit too rushed. I haven't seen the Hitchcock version (although I plan to) and I don't know if it was made up for this one, but the whole "return of Victoria" at the end was literally cringe-worthy after the dramatic slow-motion death with violins and everything.

I do think the actors were all quite good (especially Rupert Penry-Jones and Patrick Kennedy). The whole thing was excellent for an hour and a half of escape.

reply

Yeah, I really liked Rupert Penry-Jones.

I did watch the Hitchcock version the fallowing day, and wile I have seen it many times in the past, I am always surprised at the level of detail.


---

reply

Victoria coming back from the dead was probably stuck in in case they made more films with the Hannay character, similar to the Hannay series which starred Robert Powell from the previous cinema outing.

reply

I love the way people complain about changes to the story, citing the Hitchcock film when Hitchcock didn't even read the book.

I thought it was pretty watchable and really enjoyed the Victoria Sinclair character.

reply

Yeah, the folk on this board are obviously very hard to please!

I thought this was a fun, pacey adventure, quite in keeping with the spirit of the book as I remember it.

- - - - - - - -
www.davidlrattigan.blogspot.com
www.dictionaryofhammer.com

reply

I loved it! But I had not been exposed to any previous versions. I think if people would approach it as a stand-alone work, they would be better pleased. I loved how charming with the ladies Hannay was and the chemistry with Victoria was fun! I enjoyed the plot twists and even the Victoria surprise at the end. I would love to see Penry-Jones do more as Hannay and it would be fun to see him interacting more with Victoria too!

reply

[deleted]

"i thought the two leads had great chemistry"

Yes, a bit like a chemistry experiment with a piece of limestone and hydrochloric acid: you get a few fizzing bubbles, and not much else :)

You certainly don't turn a lump of lead (in this case, Penry-Jones) into a gold ingot.

reply

[deleted]

That's not what I said. I am not jealous of Penry-Jones at all - I would not trade places with him even if you paid me.
Nor am I jealous of attractive AND talented actors, and there have been plenty of those, although I wouldn't mind having more of an acting talent than the very modest one that I do have.
I am simply saying that conventional good looks - and that's all that Penry-Jones has, he is not all that stunning - are no substitute for acting talent when you play the lead in such a film.

Coming tonight - a farcical, politically-correct BBC 'adaptation' of The Day of the Triffids, all about alternative energy sources; so once again, fifth-rate BBC scribblers think they can improve on John Wyndham. Oh, dear ...

reply

[deleted]

Errr ... I do have a computer at work, and I am allowed to take a break from time to time :)
Spooks ... oh, yes: another politically correct, ignorant BBC drivel, in which the terrorists beheading people are Christians and Jews. The BBC became a political propaganda outfit a long time ago. AND they are ignorant: it's MI6 who are the spooks, not MI5.
You are not making me 'uncomfortable. If you wish to worship at the shrine of Penry-Jones, go ahead. As far as I am concerned, he is a lump of wood. He is not in the same league as Redford, who IS a good actor.

reply

[deleted]

[deleted]

[deleted]

Thanks, Inconspicuous, much appreciated. We can still be great mates (you don't happen, by any chance, to be a 24-year old, 6' tall blonde, 36-24-36, living 2 miles down the road from me, do you? GD&R).

It's interesting that you know RP-J personally. I am sure he is a great bloke IRL!

Of course, many actors are very different as people from their screen persona (or personae, of course). I was once in a TV drama (I had a tiny part) with John Nettles, and ended up sitting next to him and his on-screen wife for longish periods (as one does, while another scene is being prepared and shot or the crew just faff about waiting for the rain to stop). I made a friendly remark to them. Both just pretended that I didn't exist, because I didn't have top billing.

reply

PS. Re Goodnight Sweetheart:

I didn't. I adore Elizabeth Carling. When the whole Boon canon was shown recently, I watched it all but mainly because I wanted to catch all her episodes.

reply

[deleted]

[deleted]

I liked it too! Glad I'm not the only one~

reply

Caught it by chance on PBS last night, and glad I did. Quite entertaining, several good performances.

reply

i thought this 2008 version was great and rupert penry jones from spooks i thought was perfect for the part. i have seen the hitchcock version and 1978 version and they were excellent as well. i have this arvo went to my local video library and boworred the 2008 version to watch again due to only have seeing it once on abc 1 in 2009. its rare were remakes are just as good as the original, now il have to go back to library and borrow 39 steps book and see how close to screen the adaption is.

reply