1984 is an adaptation of the classic novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell. Taking place in a terrible and totalitarian new world, the ruling party, led by the mysterious Big Brother, re-writes the past in order to control its population. Independent thought, or Thought Crime has become punishable by death. One man though, Winston Smith (Hurt), remembers fragments of the past and in desperation chooses to risk everything, even his life, in order to get his hands on evidence that history is not as Big Brother says.

Despite adhering rather faithfully to the plot of the novel on which it's based, Michael Radford's adaptation unfortunately fails to convey the feelings of desperation of Orwell's modern classic. Present in the movie are accurate visual depictions of Oceania, of the different Ministries that oversee the rule of Big Brother but gone are the slow, simmering hatred Winston Smith feels toward the leadership. Gone also is his hatred for Julia (Hamilton) that eventually turns into passionate lust. One has to hand it to Radford for giving the old college try to the adaptation of a novel with very little dialogue, very few characters and much description of human feelings and instincts though. The most important loss occurring during the trip between book and film is the feeling of the overwhelming control Big Brother holds over society, a feeling that never quite makes it to the screen.

The saving grace of the piece is a pair of performances by a pair of great actors though. Both Hurt and Burton are simply fantastic throughout and were it not for them, it would have been difficult to get any glimpse of the living nightmare that ensues Winston's decision to take control of his own life. Burton, appearing in his final movie before his passing fits the bill magnificently as O'Brien, Winston's only hope and Hurt is once again equal to himself in portraying the troubled "hero" of 1984. It's unfortunate that this movie didn't succeed because the story itself is utterly terrific and deserves to be heard (or read rather). Overall, the effort here isn't a terrible one, but I don't know how its message would be conveyed to anyone who hasn't read Orwell's work yet. For anyone who has read it...it simply doesn't compare.

(Note: To any Pink Floyd fans out there, be on the lookout for a quick shot of the cool four smokestack British factory that appears on the cover of "Animals")

Video: The film is presented in widescreen format in 1.85:1 ration and is enhanced for 16x9 screens. Although it displays many great looking scenes, it still comes from a transfer that's almost two decades old and had more than its fair share of scratches and blurry scenes.

Audio: The only available option is unfortunately mono and only in English so you know what to expect.

The original theatrical trailer is the only feature on the DVD.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and wanted so badly to like this film, but it unfortunately fell a bit flat. Added to the fact that the DVD doesn't contain anything in terms of extras, I can only suggest that you take the hour and a half you'd spend watching the film and drive to your book store to pick up the novel instead.