A Man For All Seasons Reviews

brilliant historical drama

I found this gripping, chilling and brilliantly acted - a must for history buffs

Brilliant relax and enjoy

Great actors,great acting, great story, a feast of superb dialogue,that very few present day films can match.

Superb Script

Paul Schofield at his best with a fantastic supporting cast. I've watched this film a lot of times over the years and never got bored, the script is superb

A Film for All Seasons

Forty years on and this masterpiece still holds me riveted. They just don't make movies like this these days - OK put away the violins! Acting, screenplay, production values, costumes - par exellence.

These were indeed the golden days of film-making and thanks to the wonder of video and DVD we can wallow in the stuff for evermore.

I have seen this film a couple of times before, some years ago , but found that I could recite most of Sir Thomas Moore's lines, they are as classic and well written as Shakespeare.

This is a true tale of a man with a concience which can not be budged. It took a very brave man to stand up to Henry Tudor and his army of double dealing cronies. Thomas Moore is a supreme hero.

The star studied cast is suberb, especially John Hurt as the pivitol traitor.

Quality all the way

It’s almost impossible to fault this film. All the actors are first class, the settings are realistic, at times beautiful, and the story keeps you tied in. I don’t think that Sir Thomas Moore was altogether as saintly as its made out - he did send people to be burnt at the stake after all - but its still great.

Bit dull and hard to relate to

Not especially historically accurate (More was not a good man and was actually personally responsible for burning dozens of Protestants). I also find it hard in a secular age to relate to a 'hero' who abandons his friends and family for a religion that executed 8 million innocent people as witches. Even if religious martyrs is your thing, Becket with Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole is much better than this which is a tad staid.

I thought this movie was perfectly written and beautifully acted. It was a lush presentation with wonderful locations. A young John Hurt made a completely believable Richard Rich showing all his opportunism and potential for evil, and the the film presented the mindset of King Henry VIII as he moved from youth to early middle age and realised that his wife of over twenty years would not be able to give him the son that he needed to carry on the dynasty started by his father. He needed to have a legal wife who would give him a legal heir and for this he had to divorce his current wife, Katherine of Aragon, but the reigning Catholic Church could not permit this. This film showed his dilemma brilliantly while never moving from its basic premise of the moral dilemma faced by Thomas More, torn between his religious scruples, his conscience and his loyalty to the King.

Paul Schofield is sublime

What a voice. A restrained performance by Paul Scofield packs a powerful punch, the best I've seen by any actor. A fantastic supporting cast, particularly John Hurt, is the icing on the cake. One of those rare films that deserves its Oscars (6 in all: Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design)