Moonfleet Online

My family sat down to watch this two-parter quite excited. The advertisements had looked good, the title was interesting and it was a Christmas special. But by the end of the first hour-long episode (including advert breaks) we were very much hoping there were at least two more episodes to come. At the end of the second episode, we sat back and looked at each other disappointedly with one thought: this is what happens when you try and cram a story into two blocks of 45 minutes.

I have not read the novel this is based on, and am rather tempted to do so now in the hope that the story will redeem itself. The problem was not with the story, you see. Enough happened to make you believe the book to be quite thrilling. But too much happened too quickly and with too little explanation. The actors were good, but the characters were underdeveloped. The love story was there, but barely so. Why would finding this treasure change everything? What was this curse? Why were the Mahoons so evil? Why was there a contraband ring? The questions continue...

If you want a synopsis of the story of Moonfleet before you read it, this is perfect. But that is all this is - the skeleton of a story. I may be wrong, and maybe the book is no better, but from what I can tell, an extra two hours would have made a world of difference in taking this from substandard, to brilliant British television.

I always enjoy the Sky produced made for TV movies that are released around Christmas time. They always seem to get the balance right between a good but not excessive amount of story telling and action and adventure. Anyone who saw 2012s Treasure Island will know what I'm talking about. Aside from a few slightly dodgy performances from ex-Eastenders actors Moonfleet does not disappoint. The story flows nicely and at a good pace and the writing is generally of a very high standard. Aneurin Barnard and Ray Winstone are fantastic as the leads and work well as the characters they are portraying. If you have a few hours to spare and are looking for something light-hearted but highly entertaining I would highly recommend Moonfleet.

I really don't know where to start - did any member of the cast, crew, producers, directors or any of their friends/family/children bother to read the book? I can only vouch for Ray Winstone as an actor (as I don't know the rest of the cast) but to me it seems that SKY has rounded up a bunch of 'extras' from Chelsea (Sloan Rangers) and poor Ray has been left to carry the film alone - unfortunately, he doesn't... It is without doubt the worse production I've ever seen him in (he has a cockney accent but the story is set in Dorset - 140 miles, four counties and a 150 years away!) Even sad but funnier is the character portrayal of John Trenchard who is supposed to be an orphan country boy but has diction like a member of the royal family! Away from all this the production is rushed, leaving no time to develop any of the characters, you get the feeling that they are trying to cram a 300 page book into a 30min 'quickie'.

I first read this book as a child; Fritz Lang in 1955 made another dreadful copy of this film - I can't help wondering what's so hard with reading the book and filming a production that script stays at least as close to the original to allow anyone that has read it realise there was some common ground! I don't think anyone involved in the production should be concerned about Blackbeards curse, as I am sure J Meade Falkner will rise from his grave and dash their simple brains out and perhaps throw SKYS budget off Chesil Beach (Dorset)!

I am not a professional reviewer and would normally not endeavour to add my thoughts to a public forum, however I felt so strongly about this that I felt I had to pipe up.

I was really excited to see the advert for this adaptation on Moonfleet on Sky over Xmas as I am a lifelong fan of the book. I was however a bit perturbed that there would not be enough time to define the characters and plot sufficiently over 2 episodes. But I was determined not to be put off as I had been surprised in the past by Sky's delivery of treasure island, I waited with anticipation for the day when Moonfleet would be shown.

Sadly within the first few scenes, as soon as I heard the magistrate refer to himself as Magistrate Mohune and not Magistate Maskew as he is properly known, I knew that severe artistic license had been taken.

The middle was a mish-mash of scene jumps attempting purely to try and cover each chapter in the book as quickly as possible without explaining hardly any of the thought processes of the characters.

There was absolutely no time given to establishing the nature of the contrabandiers (right word??) or the peril experienced at the local beach. No history of previous ships being wrecked and attempts to save poor souls from the beach, making the ending completely lack lustre.

add to this that fact that they skipped that part where John and Elzevir spend 10 years plus in a jail / work camp in Holland, and you can see how the integrity of the book is completely destroyed.

the worst part was the completely faked ending of John throwing the diamond into the sea, completely ignoring how the book actually ends.

I realise that you can only cram so much into a TV show, however this could have been done so much better over three or four episodes.

Couple this with a generally weak cast and acting presence and I was left Sadly Disappointed. I didn't even think Ray Winstone did anything to lift the experience, not matching that character of Elzevir Block at all.

As another reviewer has said, I wonder if anyone associated to this production has ever read the book?

I gave it four out of ten as the cinematography was quite good and my kids who have not read the book (although I have recommended that they now do so) quite liked it meaning that for the uninitiated it might have been a passable bit of Xmas TV. Sadly not for me.

This recent version reunites Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels who carved out their early careers together in gritty British reality films Scum and Quadraphenia J. Meade Falkner's novel, on which this outing is based, was once a perennial favourite along among such classic family adventures as Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. The 1956 movie deviated a long way from the original storyline and it took until 1984 for the three hour TV miniseries to do it any justice on screen. This included filming at the genuine castle at Carisbrooke featured in the book.

This latest version has less time to fill out detail, but has no than many feature films have managed to portray novels of similar length. The result is, however, a journey that moves though each part of the plot like a box ticking exercise to moved all too (implausibly) fast. The character development was shallow and, alongside the mediocre performances, left me with no feeling of empathy. Not all of me puts the blame on the acting though. The role taken on by Winstone is easily suited to his type cast manner and Aneurin Barnard is believable. I think the real problem for me was in the screenplay itself and the inane dialogue made available to the players. An underwhelming, but honest, four out of ten for me

I think I wrote a review once on this film on the Amazon Lovefilm site, now defunct. This just didn't "do it" for me. The setting and costumes are good and atmospheric for this classic story but the treatment falls stunningly flat. Winstone stumbles through this, mumbling his lines (so I couldn't make out half the dialogue) and looking like he wished he wasn't there. The Dorset accents are laughable. I fast forwarded through it to say I'd "seen" it, and sent it back. Oh dear. A mess. Might be OK for the kiddies.

When I heard that Sky were making this as an Xmas special I was very excited but after watching it I am left very disappointed.

The story felt so rushed that at times I wasn't sure if I was watching the actual feature or a trailer with all the action and none of the story. There was no time to build the characters or properly explain what was happening and I think that viewers who are not familiar with the book will be left confused.

This could have been twice as long and should have been in order to tell the story properly.

Whoever is responsible for this mess deserves no less than Blackbeard's curse!

This film has the appearance of being poorly financed and badly produced. The love angle between John Trenchard and Grace Mulhoon is as realistic as that at the sharp end of Titanic! John Trenchard should be portrayed by a sallow youth, yet Aneurin Barnard is plainly a grown man in his late 20's - Totally miscast. Barrels of brandy being carried off the beach are plainly empty. Muskets fired at some 30 yards from their targets by professional solders would have been lethal. Hangings were not carried out round the back of a building but were great public affairs, usually carried out on public holidays for the entertainment and instruction of the masses. Thousands could be expected to attend, not half a dozen yokels with straw hanging from their hats. Even the professional acting qualities of Phil Daniels and Ray Winston cannot rescue this one.