The Jewel in the Crown (1984)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I first read all the books which are just marvelous and then I saw the TV adaptation. Can't count the number of times I have watched it. Watched the series rebroadcast on local public TV station and then binge watched it all over again.The characters are unforgettable and so very realistic. The line "there's nothing I can do" appears over and over again to portray the impossibility of standing in the way of the change about to come over India.Scott did a superb job of portraying the Raj, the Muslims, the Hindus, the English air of superiority and the class system of the English, all the while depicting the end of the Raj and the beginning of the new India.It is also a feast for the eyes, showing many beautiful locations in India and depicting the railroad travel of the day in a fascinating way.

The Jewel in the Crown is in my opinion one of the best series ever. The story unfolds, characters come in and out the only common denominator in all episodes is a despicable man, viewed from other nuclear stories. The acting is superb and contrary to many comments here, quite genuine, certain British people WERE like that. The gestures, actions and facial expressions mean more than what is actually being said. What is hilarious, however, is reading some comments posted here as if all stories should follow a strictly "physical-action-sequence" of A kills B and jealous C falls in love with D, but in the end all marry and are happy ever after. Thanks to BBC, Granada and others, there are series and films that make us interpret, feel and think beyond what we see on the screen or else we'll all end up left watching "Th Incredible Hulk"

This miniseries is compelling, well-told, beautifully filmed, and superbly acted. With a powerfully moving script, it tells the story of the complex relationship between the British and Indian people at the end of British rule of the subcontinent. It has history, romance, action, mystery, and even a mild dose of sex and violence. ;-) It definitely has something for everyone.I cried, laughed, was amazed, and said "Oh my God!" and "I knew it!" several times. I was glued to the screen and later watched my favorite scenes a second or third time.Absolutely its only shortcoming was that there were no subtitles. Being as old as it is and with the many accents, it's sometimes a bit hard to make out the exact lines. But it's so easy to follow (yet never dull) that I was never lost. If A&E ever re-releases this with enhanced sound and subtitles, I'll snag it up in a New York minute! Even my husband (who normally hates British films) really enjoyed this. He hated to miss a minute; by Chapter 3, he was utterly hooked.See this wonderful piece of work if you can. It's well worth every hour.

Apologies but those above who have slated the series by rubbishing the acting I feel, are seriously mistaken. Those who have said that the British characters were too reserved and meandering are quite correct - it is how British people were and definitely how they were portrayed in Paul Scotts original book. The beauty of the piece lies in its tender subtlety which provides in itself enough drama without constant high adrenaline action so common to the Hollywood Blockbuster. Tim Pigott Smith was just beautiful with his sadistic menacing Ronald Merrick who definitely goes top on my list of all time favourites. The whole piece when watched one after the other definitely gives the sense of time and place which - living in modern times it is often easy to lose sight of. Thumbs up to all the cast I feel that the acting from all members was superb.As the show progresses the viewer gets gradually enveloped and involved in the lives of these people the thing to remember about this piece is that it is not necessarily the action which enhances the show but more importantly the psychological development of every single character ( maybe with the exception on Aunt Fenny - funny but was only there for convenience - to introduce Sarah to Jimmy the soldier)