Best movie of this year hands down!

Why so much hype?

terrible... so disappointed.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

My mother's fond memories of viewing this in the cinema as a teenager lead me to seek out this film on DVD. After seeing it, it's fair to say that the only way a person could enjoy this movie is if they are a dizzy, romantic thirteen year old who can look past the bad acting and weak production. Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall are Heathcliff and Cathy, and their casting is one of the film's main weak points. A young Dalton may look darkly handsome, but he's no match for Laurence Olivier (who director Robert Fuest clearly wants him to channel) in the 1939 William Wyler version, who simply IS Heathcliff. Merle Oberon gets routinely bagged for her work as Cathy in the same film yet next to Calder-Marshall's work she's excellent! As with the 1939 film, the entire second half of the novel is cut out, but that's the least of the film's problems. It just never manages to fire-there is no passion in this movie. The colour is washed out, the script fails in just about every scene and none of the cast are memorable. Case in point is Heathcliff's return to Wuthering Heights, a reborn gentleman after being abroad. Olivier's vengeful return is unforgettable, Dalton just walks through the door and the film continues lagging on.

I first saw this film in 1970 and it had such an effect on me I saw it three times and cried all the way home each time.In fact it still has the power to make me cry now. I remember in the cinema the gasps from the women in the audience when Heathcliffe returned to Wuthering Heights. Wow! The whole movie was so atmospheric right from the beginning with that fantastic scenery and haunting music. Timothy's portrayal of Heathcliffe is by far the most passionate and sensitive I've seen and I would have liked to have seen him in other similar roles. Naturally I have bought the DVD and also the music on vinyl-both are played regularly!One of my daughters is now a huge fan of the movie.

The two leads in this dogs breakfast are two of the worst actors it has been my misfortune to witness. I watched this open-mouthed at the ineptitude of the story telling and Daltons performance. At least he was matched by Anna's Cathy!! I have seen them in other things and they are no better, so it may not be down to the script or director, though I do not absolve them of blame. I cannot believe that anyone still casts them in anything at all. After seeing earlier representations of Wuthering Heights it makes it difficult to divorce oneself from comparing the newer versions. Ralph Fiennes appeared in another dreadful remake which was awful mainly because of the cutting and direction- the name of the actress playing Cathy escapes me. A diabolical travesty - come back Oberon and Olivier - all is forgiven!!!!

Several people have mentioned the music from this film, and for good reason. This was one of a handful of extraordinary scores by the largely forgotten Michel Legrand (THREE MUSKATEER 1974; SUMMER OF '42, BRIAN'S SONG, among others), and is one of my favorite twenty or so film scores ever. This movie, well-photographed as it was, simply reeks of Gothic atmosphere in great part because of this music. Passionate, sensual, beautiful, and tremendously dramatic, it was even released as a record album in 1970 by the short-lived American International Records Label and, unfortunately, has never been made available on CD. It would be worth a purchase on eBay! I also feel that, while Dalton as Heathcliff is by no means in the same acting league as Sir Laurence Olivier, his passion for Calder-Marshall (who is less effective as Cathy than was Merle Oberon) is nonetheless more urgent and less studied than Oliver's was in the '39 version.I enjoy the original film for its moody black and white imagery and its fine romantic score (by Alfred Newman, also not available on CD); but, though it's admittedly a lesser film, by a small margin I prefer this 1970 take which, without Legrand's evocative scoring, would probably have been a bust.