they could have spared us melanie griffith who is probably the worst actress in hollywood, but the rest of the cast was superb!

Although I thoroughly enjoyed this re-adaptation of Nabokov's classic novel Lolita, I'm mostly writing this review in praise of the extra features on this DVD. The DVD contains nearly a half-hour of footage cut from the movie, and all of it is well-edited and of a high enough quality that it very well could have been included in the movie. The deleted scenes are complete with voice-overs from the narrator and in some cases special effects, adapting memorable scenes from the novel that weren't included in the final cut of the movie. There's also casting footage of Irons and Swain rehearsing scenes off-set, which isn't much to write home about but still a nice addition. There's definitely much more bonus content to this DVD than I'm used to seeing in DVD releases.

Note: The DVD edition of this movie I purchased is from the Lion's Gate "Signature Series" and has a maroon border around the cover image with a picture of Adrian Lyne's signature at the bottom. I believe the actual DVD content is the same as the one sold here, but I'm not absolutely certain.

Now while I love Kubricks version I strongly believe that this is the best "Lolita" film. Kubricks version was funny, it was less graphic and it wasn't as sad. Another thing that played a large part in my liking of the film is the fact that Dominique Swain is hotter than Sue Lyons. Melanie Griffith isn't as hot as the original actress. Frank Langella is a lot more mysterious than Peter Sellers. Jeremy Irons performance is a lot sadder than James Mason's. I though that this movie was terrific. One thing I liked was director Adrian Lynes choice not to show Langellas face until the end. And one thing I didn't like was Lyne's choice not to show Swain naked except for (quite literally) a split second. Nudity, is necessary for a film like this, The film is about a man named Humbert Humbert (Irons), who has received a teaching job in America and needs a place to stay for the summer. So, he moves in with Charlotte Haze (Griffith) who takes quite a liking to Humbert. Humbert however dislikes Charlotte, but is smitten with her daughter, Dolores,
whom he calls Lolita. Lolita reminds Humbert of a girl in his younger years who died. But the love Humbert has for Lolita is not a pedophiles lust, but a deep love he has for her as a person. This love however is challened by playwright Clare Quilty
(Langella). Irons is great in his best performance and this is one of the saddest films I have viewed. I liked Kubricks, but there is one thing I need to add. At the end of Kubricks it tells you what happened to Humbert, not Lolita. In Lyne's version it tells you what happened to Lolita, which seems to soften the blow. But only makes the film sadder. Great Film. A+.

This movie is terrible. Whoever made it turned Kubric's masterpiece into a piece of trash.

Its one saving grace was the director's seeming foresight to avoid emulating the original Quilty, as emulating Sellers' performance properly would have been an impossiblity. But they even mess that up in the last few minutes of the movie with a horrible rendition of the original character. And then you see a [...]. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse and you can't wait for the movie to be over, they have to show you a [...].

The music is inappropriate. The mood is overly sentimental. The acting is sub-par.

The narration is a cop-out. Instead of telling Nabokov's story through subtle twists in the interaction between Humbert and Lolita, they use an annoying narration to make up for what the acting can't do. And they add and change a couple small things about the plot, which only makes things worse. Some say Kubric butchered the original screenplay in his adaptation, but it doesn't matter if that's true because it made for a very good movie.

One positive thing about this movie is that Dominique Swain (Lolita) is made to look very young and very attractive, as is essential. But this movie isn't supposed to be about the audience getting turned on by a 14-year-old; feeling uncomfortable is the suitable reaction.

I would give this movie no stars if I could. Consider that one for Kubric. Kubric's Lolita was a great, amazing movie. And for some reason, this guy comes along and decides to redo it, as if there were something to be redone. If it ain't broke, make your own damn movie.

Don't even waste your time looking at the cover of the DVD. Buy the 1962 version. Then watch the original Planet of the Apes or the original Godfather. I know that no one redid the Godfather, but go watch it anyways. Watch any number of movies that is not this one.

I must say, when I saw this film I felt like this did not do justice to Nabokov's Lolita. Most of the actors are not that great, with the exception of Jeremy Irons who makes a good Humbert. Our Lolita (Dominique Swain) is too old. When Humbert first meets Lolita in the novel she is 12 going on 13. Lolita realizes the power she has over Humbert and plays with him, so to say. I don't see that coming across here. In this movie, we know that Lolita and Humberts relationship is consentual, but most often, Swain makes Lolita seem like a whiney little brat. I did not like Melanie Griffath in the role of Charlotte Haze, the lonely widow desparate for Humberts affections. She doesn't come off with as much desparation and annoyance as she should. This film focusses too much on the sexual relations of Lo and Humbert. For example, when Mrs. Haze comes in after Lolita has skipped back to her room and asks Humbert, "is she keeping you up?"