Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I read one of D. H. Lawrence's novel in university as part of an English course I was taking, and I found it utterly boring and not making me want to seek out his other works. The only reason why I rented this Lawrence adaptation was that it was produced by famed schlockmeisters Menahem Golan and Yorman Globus, who made some really entertaining trashy movies. This was one of the few times they tried for "respectability", though they chose a story that could also be mined for exploitation material.But the movie fails both at its serious attempts and with its attempts at exploitation. The script has too many faults that distance the audience. The setup of the situation at the beginning of the movie goes so fast that there's no time to set up characters and make us see what they are feeling. This flaw with the characters continues as the movie goes on, and I was not sure why many times characters did what they did. Oddly, there are also a number of scenes that serve no purpose - if they had eliminated those scenes, and used the extra few minutes to pump up the characters, I'm pretty sure the movie would be a lot better.As for the erotic element of the movie, it's not there. Even for 1981, the idea of taking a lover must have seem old hat to audiences. The nudity and sex in the movie is not the least bit erotic despite full frontal nudity and explicit sex scenes. Some of this might be blamed on the below average production values - the movie has a murky look throughout, and there's not much effort to beef up the backgrounds with extras or anything that might have taken time and expense to make.Even if you are a Golan/Globus fanatic like I am, odds are you'll find this as dreary as I did.

One of literature's most controversial and secretly read novels ever is given a somewhat shallow, but surprisingly faithful and opulent, treatment in this dewy film. Kristel plays a young woman of high social standing whose husband Briant is badly wounded during WWI. He cannot walk nor, more importantly, make love, and the passionless, lonely world Kristel inhabits on their expansive, but bleak estate begins to take its toll on her. Briant encourages her to take a lover, an idea that she finds unpleasant until one day she chances upon the gamesman (Clay) giving himself a soapy wash behind his shelter. Fascinated by what she's seen, yet aware that he is of another class and manner, they embark on a tenuous friendship that eventually turns sexual. Kristel is physically reawakened and finds much solace and pleasure in Clay's company, sexually and otherwise. However, her relationship with Briant suffers when he suspects that she's done what he asked of her, but with someone far beneath them in the social strata. An overbearing nurse (Mitchell) only adds to the estrangement, taking on a maternal role with Briant and wavering between wishing happiness for Kristel while beginning to take her place at the same time. Kristel, not someone who's ever been known for her incredible acting skills, is decent here if a bit vacant at times. She's on hand primarily because of her exotic looks and her lack of modesty about performing nude. She's undeniably striking and does manage to perform several scenes with freshness and commitment. Briant overacts tremendously, not aided at all by two very obnoxious eyebrows, and plays his role with a lack of dimension. He's annoying, nasty and condescending practically all the time, taking most of the chances for compassion or empathy away. Clay is wonderful. Like Kristel, he was never one to shy away from abandoning his clothes, but he also presents a multi-faceted character, one who knows his station in life, but can't help but wish for more. His bathing scene is a real eye-opener. Mitchell is hard to read, perhaps intentionally, but certainly excels at playing the controlling and overstepping nursemaid aspects of her character. Considering the director and producers (and cast), this could have been a lot worse. A decent atmosphere is established thanks to a truly magnificent house filled with many lovely furnishings and with sizeable grounds. Considering the budget, the makers accomplished a lot with a little. Costuming leans toward the impressive too, with only an occasional misstep (Lady Chatterley in pants?!) Though the film does away with some of the supporting characters of the novel and glosses over some of the deeper aspects of it, this remains a pretty valid representation of the story and manages at least a bit of suspense for those who don't know the outcome. This was a staple of pay cable television in the early 80's, affording many folks to pore over the attractive bodies of it's stars in their extended and frank love scenes.

This movie is a good starter for heating up the romance in your life, especially if your female mate is a bit conservative as is my wife. We found the plot acceptable enough to keep our attention, while providing beautiful scenery and cinematography. The acting of the husband was a bit stiff and he occasionally seemed to be reading his lines. The twists along the way kept my wife intrigued and the love scenes did not offend her, as they were done in good taste. The plot is not terribly difficult to predict, but interesting to watch unfold just the same. A good movie to get the romantic fires ignited for a good evening of love making.

Pretty typical Golan & Globus production with better than average art direction and cinematography. The estate is beautiful--as is Sylvia Kristel--but the adaptation is flat and whole thing feels flabby.A bit of sex goes with the story, of course, and it's done well enough; but it's nothing like Kristel's soft core films. The acting is competent thruout, and the filmmakers take pains to maintain the essence of the English class struggle. But some of the jealousy and social indignation feels contrived.I loved Lord Chatterly's gas-powered wheelchair for zipping around the grounds, altho why he didn't install an elevator in the mansion is a mystery.