Search - The Scarlet Letter on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1995 DVD Release: 06/04/2002 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Drama, Historical Film, Romance, Erotic Drama

Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel of hypocrisy among America's pilgrims was brought to the screen by director Roland Joffe in this 1995 feature. Demi Moore stars as Hester Prynne, a new arrival to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1666. Prynne, who interacts freely with slaves and Quakers and wears revealing garb, is something of a free thinker and off-putting to the uptight locals. She awaits the arrival of her husband, Roger (Robert Duvall), but he is reported killed. One person who does not find Prynne unsettling is the new preacher, Arthur Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman). A torrid encounter between them produces a child, Pearl, and Hester is condemned by the colony, forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" (for "adultery"). Roger reappears; he had been living with a native tribe -- an experience that has driven him mad. He masquerades as "Roger Chillingsworth," trying to discover the identity of Pearl's father. When Hester is about to be executed, Dimmesdale confesses, but a timely Indian raid intervenes, saving him and Hester. The Scarlet Letter was widely derided by critics for sexualizing and changing Hawthorne's novel to an absurd degree. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Demi Moore - Hester Prynne
Gary Oldman - Arthur Dimmesdale
Robert Duvall - Roger Chillingworth
Robert Prosky - Horace Stonehall
Edward Hardwicke - John Bellingham

Roland Joffé's infamous adaptation of The Scarlet Letter comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that fails to preserve the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no subtitles, but the soundtrack is closed-captioned. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence. Seeing as this was one of the most reviled films of the nineties, it is easy to understand why Disney/Buena Vista would release such a sparse DVD. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide