Beach, The (UK)

After all the hype i don`t think the beach lived up to it`s expectations, the first hour and twenty minutes keep
you intrigued but the last half hour gets a bit silly `apocalypse now` style! But overall its a film worth watching and i enjoyed it. The video looks great, in widescreen, and shows great colours, the scene when Richard & Co are about to swim to the island looks superb, as does the first love scene involving Richard & Francoise in the sea, in fact all the scenes around the island are pretty breathtaking and the shark attack shows the full extent of the colour. The sound is good too, nothing outstanding, but decent use of the surround sound with some pretty cool music. The features are well above average with plenty deleted scenes with or without commentary, an alternative beginning which i found enjoyable, and ending which is good, but i prefer the ending which has been used, the standard scene select, the All Saints video, bio`s etc... And although i did not listen to the directors commentary first time round, I will be going back to it very soon, and look forward to it! Overall i would say the beach DVD is not a rush out and get it now! but more of a cert to add to your collection, if you are going to get this dvd do it now! in winter, it certainly warms you up, and makes you think about your next holiday in the summer.

This is actually pathetically laughable drivel, that is actually dementedly enjoyable at times, but it`s not the new `Apocalypse Now`

I think I`m unusual in that I approached the movie having read the book (which I was studying for my english course) and therefore I wanted to see which aspects of the book Doyle thought were important.
My first impressions when watching the movie were that it was a slickly-made production. I especially loved the beginning and the direction in that sequence was something I felt the book could have done with. It really gives that opening 15 minutes some atmosphere.
I expected Di Caprio to be poor in his role but he shocked me by putting in a stunning performance - possibly the only performance he`s given in recent years where the character was real and well thought-out. Di Caprio has mastered the character of the book`s "hero", Richard.
The performances from the supporting cast are fine but on the whole unremarkable. However, the scriptwriter made some *really* un-necessary changes to Garland`s original novel and this means that the stronger characters from the book (Jed) are replaced or abandoned.
The film itself is merely a glossy version of the book without the drugs-taking or the satirical take on stereotyping and travelling. The extras are of a fairly high level (including an All Saints music video) and the director`s commentary is of particular note.
My suggestion therefore would be to read the book and if you enjoy that tackle the movie. The book`s much better anyway.