The Far Pavilions

What a disappointment in every way. After having been wonderfully spoiled by productions such as The Jewel in the Crown, the movie Passage to India, and more recent ones such as Indian Summers, Far Pavilions was simply put, awful. It seems that plenty of empty space was filled with overly drawn out battle scenes and the wedding ceremony was short of painful. The syrupy dialogue between the two main characters was hard to bear along with an unnecessarily limited storyline so highly predictable one is tempted to fast forward to get the whole thing over with. The casting of Amy Irving was a complete failure as she appears wooden and certainly dull. A waste of money.

QUALITY OF MINI-SERIES: While not on par with The Thornbirds, Shogun, or North and South, The Far Pavilions is nevertheless an enjoyable romp through British India in 1865-1979.PROS:- We enjoyed it.- It provides a good overview of British India in that era.- We like the love story.- Cast includes some serious heavyweights.CONS:- The quality of the video is horrendous. It's not the worst I've seen, but it comes close. Everything looks washed out and grainy.- The battle scenes are too long.- Too much time is spent on Ash's backstory and too little on Anjuli's.- I love Amy Irving. But is it okay to question casting her as a 3/4 Indian woman?- Amy Irving's skin makeup is atrocious, like the brown was melting in the heat.- Not enough time is spent on the love story.My daughter watched this miniseries for her Intro to Hinduism class, and I watched it with her. Watching it while thinking about religion leads to the following observation: Hindus and Muslims were awfully friendly in this miniseries. In fact, at times I think the filmmakers may have mixed and matched religious facts. I question accuracy all around.

British Raj & Indian RomanceI've enjoyed `The Far Pavilions' since its original release as a television miniseries almost 30 years ago. I'm intrigued by India, the British Raj and military history inherent, and the associative romantic storyline between Ash and Juli that serves as one of the central threads to the film overall.I've always been of the opinion both Ben Cross and Amy Irving were miscast; yet curiously I hold that both portrayed their respective parts rather well. It's a form of cognitive dissonance I suppose. Supporting Cast were well-selected and seem have held their integrity over time. Locations and Sets range from quite good to superior.As to quality of the DVD specifically, the audio hold its own most of the time but is diminished in volume and clarity here and there. The video is washed and grainy and often disappoints despite the splendor and obvious expense of so many scenes. Darker/Nighttime scenes have not held up well at all. I doubt there was any focused effort to clean up the film, which is indicative of lack of sufficient funding and possibly shortage of interest as well. Too bad, that.I would love to see what a remake would look like but this version is still worth your investment and time. I'll allow Four Stars.Russell de Ville9 May 2013

I saw this movie many years ago but forgot most of the story. I enjoyed rewatching it but as most films in that era they have British actors as the main Indians instead of all Indian cast. Story is interesting and fairly well adapted from the book. It was a little slow when they were travelling, I felt like they would never get there. Received quickly and in perfect condition.

Read the book about 40+ years ago. This DVD offering was familiar with what I remember of the story. I enjoyed viewing this program.

I read the book years ago. The production to film is quite spectacular. Shooting it on locationjust adds to the story line. It is an eye-opener for those who are not aware of the racial tensionsthat existed then. I deeply appreciate the fact that she wrote her main character as british-born, butIndian raised. That aspect helps one appreciate what happened there

Great mini series made from an absolutely terrific book. I can recommend both immensely. You can tell it was filmed many years ago because it is grainy but, story, locations, and acting are for the most part wonderful. Ben Cross who plays Sarak in the new Star Trek movies is one of the main characters and I have followed his career since this.

I have this mini series on a videotape but my videotape player no longer works or are available so I wanted the dvd to be able to view this wonderful mini series v

I think if I’d watched this in the eighties when I watched similar productions like The Jewel in the Crown and A Passage to India, I’d have enjoyed it more, because the whole style is very dated now. It’s well acted but I can’t say I really enjoyed it much, although I made myself watch it to the end. Perhaps epic romances are not my thing, but from the reviews I had thought it would grip me and it just didn’t. I don’t know why - something about the main characters I didn’t find very attractive, and I didn’t think they were well enough developed. It is very long drawn out and pretty obvious right from the beginning what the end is going to be like. The most interesting bits were the period details and social commentary - the wars and the local customs, like suttee, which British Indian law had banned but which still happened, showing the lack of understanding on the part of the occupying Raj. The story and romance I found simplistic and highly unlikely. It’s not a patch on the two productions I mentioned above, but then it’s not meant to be the same sort of thing.

I watched the original TV series and read the book by M M Kaye back in, I think, the 70s and had wondered for a number of years whether it was as good as I remembered it. It is! I watched the whole DVD series over two days.A mixture of romance, comment on the arrogance of empire and snobbery, the dedication of men doing their duty in appalling conditions all against the back ground of stunning scenery. Well acted by a large cast of well known actors.

I saw this production when it came out as a miniseries in the mid 1980s. I liked it then and I still do. It is a great story and an excellent cast.. It has a blend of romance and sweeping action. What more can you ask from a mini series ? With excellent performances in Chariots of Fire and the Far Pavilions and Icon Ben Cross established himself as a star.Gerry Mc Menemy.

This book seems somehow to have been eclipsed by the film/dvd of The Jewel in the Crown. I see no reason for this, the book is beautifully written by a lady who was married to a senior British Officer of the old school - she really knew her stuff!In the dvd this is shown by some lavish scenes such as the Royal procession taking the two Indian Princesses to the "bad" Prince's lair.Very few films about India in Victorian days really express the sheer size and scale of baggage trains which followed both military and civilian expeditions, they literally stretched for miles and were lucky if they managed more than 10 miles per day.The love interest is nicely done as are the fight and travel scenes. As someone who is familiar with the mountains of the North-West Province of what used to be British India (now split between Pakistan and India)I can say the filming is well upto my standards and expectations.If you like lavish love stories interspersed with military derring-do, super costumes and scenery - this is for you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I'd forgotten how much I'd enjoyed this piece of romantic tosh when it first appeared, but it still doesn't disappoint. Strong cast, big budget, spectacular scenery, more elephants than Billy Smart ever had, well filmed - grab a bottle of wine,turn off the phone and wallow in a gripping romance.