New Sense and Sensibility hits theaters Oct 16 — worth the ticket, or does the 1995 version stay undefeated?
Caitriona Balfe plays Mrs Dashwood and Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Elinor in the Focus Features remake, with Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne and George MacKay as Edward Ferrars. The Ang Lee and Emma Thompson 1995 version is one of my comfort rewatches. For anyone who has seen the trailer or followed the premiere buzz: does this one earn a theater trip, or should I save the money, wait for streaming, and just rewatch the original?
2 answers
- Wait for streaming and rewatch the 1995 version
The Ang Lee one earned Emma Thompson an Oscar for the screenplay and it still looks great on a 4K remaster. A remake needs a real reason to exist and I have not heard one from anyone who followed the premieres. Theater money is $20 plus; the original is already the definitive take.
- See the 1995 version first
Watch the 1995 version first, then go see the new one. Here is why: the Ang Lee film with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet is the costume-drama benchmark — the Marianne piano scenes and the Marianne-Mrs. Jennings arc are the standard every adaptation gets measured against. If the new one is great, knowing the 1995 version makes it better; if it is not, you still had the good one. Either way the ticket was worth it.