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What's the best adaptation of Les Mis?

CharlesAznable

CharlesAznable

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,653
Watching Hamilton actually got me into a musical mood for the first time in my life. Figured I should finally give Les Mis a shot. I've heard mixed things about 2012 adaption, hut is it worth giving it a shot? I've also heard that the recent BBC adaption was really good, should I watch that one instead?

Edit: just to clarify. I don't care if it's a musical or non muscial adaptation.
 
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Speevy

Speevy

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,406
The 2012 adaptation has the music, but some iffy singing and acting choices as well as Tom Hooper's directing choices will make it hold up less well on repeated viewings.

Movie musicals usually don't work. Musicals are magical when you see it live.
 

Jest

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,565
As far as I know the 2012 is the only musical adaptation. The Liam Neeson one was an adaptation from the novel, I think? The BBC one is a novel adaptation as well. Outside of those there's the 10th Anniversary and 25th Anniversary versions of the musical, both use "Dream" casts and are quite good.
 
jph139

jph139

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,448
The 2012 one is definitely worth watching. It has issues from pretty much every angle - the direction, the casting, the choices in adaptation, the way the performances were done, you name it - but it makes it on the strength of the material and some key roles. When it's good, it's REALLY good.

Will it be as good as watching a great cast live? Of course not. But as something trying to thread the needle between Hollywood and Broadway, it's does its job well enough.
 
OP
OP
CharlesAznable

CharlesAznable

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,653
Speevy said:
The 2012 adaptation has the music, but some iffy singing and acting choices as well as Tom Hooper's directing choices will make it hold up less well on repeated viewings.

Movie musicals usually don't work. Musicals are magical when you see it live.
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Jest said:
As far as I know the 2012 is the only musical adaptation. The Liam Neeson one was an adaptation from the novel, I think? The BBC one is a novel adaptation as well. Outside of those there's the 10th Anniversary and 25th Anniversary versions of the musical, both use "Dream" casts and are quite good.
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Gotcha, I don't mind not watching a muscial version. Just want to watch the best adaptation.
 
Chojin

Chojin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,627
The one with Lea Solanga as Eponine. She made me "get" Les Miserables when I hated the book so much in high school. Now the book is beloved and the run when she was in it.

So uh... Yeah Broadway "adaptation". Then original book.



Seriously, this shit is magical.
 
grang

grang

Member
Nov 13, 2017
10,120
There honestly isn't really a good one you can watch. I'd recommend listening to the Complete Symphonic Recording, this uploader has every track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qqg2elMVaM

edit: this link will take you to a full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00P5Zc6lRlU&list=PL8f_ACV3dM08n8OUsPLwpDJQ94Gd77DTf

This not only has the big songs, but all of the sung dialogue so you get the entire story


edit: gonna edit this and also say I really don't have much against the 2012 version, I just think the performances are waaaaay better in the one I linked. I still watch the 2012 movie when it comes on TV and enjoy it fine.
 
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HardTimesFamilyPride

HardTimesFamilyPride

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,055
Appalachia
grang said:
There honestly isn't really a good one you can watch. I'd recommend listening to the Complete Symphonic Recording, this uploader has every track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qqg2elMVaM

This not only has the big songs, but all of the sung dialogue so you get the entire story
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This is the one I grew up with. Most of the actors playing these roles are my favourite (Philip Quast!).

Some of them are in this performance which my mom played constantly:


EDIT: ayyy lmao

Chojin said:
The one with Lea Solanga as Eponine. She made me "get" Les Miserables when I hated the book so much in high school. Now the book is beloved and the run when she was in it.

So uh... Yeah Broadway "adaptation". Then original book.



Seriously, this shit is magical.
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Click to shrink...

She's pretty good but the lady they got for the recording quoted above just takes the cake for me. She's from the Japanese production; the producers for the Complete Symphonic Recording heard her perform in her native language and were so struck they cast her on the spot:


But she didn't know a lick of English! So she learned the lines phonetically and still knocked it out of the park:


Damnit listening to these tracks always gets me emotional!
 
UraMallas

UraMallas

Member
Nov 1, 2017
19,374
United States
It's the 2012 version. It's so great. I just watched in on Friday and it holds up. I actually like the Crowe casting as Javert because his singing voice isn't spectacular.

It was one of my favorite films of the decade. I watch it all the time.
 
lenovox1

lenovox1

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,995
CharlesAznable said:
Watching Hamilton actually got me into a musical mood for the first time in my life. Figured I should finally give Les Mis a shot. I've heard mixed things about 2012 adaption, hut is it worth giving it a shot? I've also heard that the recent BBC adaption was really good, should I watch that one instead?
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The book or the musical? For the book, I don't think there's anything that's a better total adaptation that the recent BBC work.

For the musical, you'll want to find or listen to the Les Miserables: The Dream Cast. That was the 10th(?) Anniversary Concert with Michael Ball as Marius, Lea Solanga as Fantine, and Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean. It is truly the definitive cast. I think it's on YouTube.

ETA: I do agree with up above that the Complete Symphonic Recording is pretty great, too.
 

blackw0lf48

Member
Jan 2, 2019
3,013
Man why couldn't the film version of Les Mis just have been filming the stage version, like Hamilton?
 
HardTimesFamilyPride

HardTimesFamilyPride

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,055
Appalachia
To be honest if you're trying to get into Les Mis you'll probably be easiest served watching the film adaptation, although I am not a fan. It has the strong songs, keeps it succinct, has some good performances (Anne Hathaway makes it worth a watch alone). Then watch that 10th Anniversary performance if you want to keep going. If you still wish to dig further, there are so many awesome clips of so many talented folks playing these roles that I think it's worth looking up songs you like to find people you think nail the roles.

If you want to move past just the musical, the Liam Neeson film was pretty good imo. Haven't seen other adaptations but I should!


Fun fact: the guy who recorded Valjean's parts for the Complete Symphonic Recording was a country singer named Gary Morris!
 
Mistle

Mistle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
994
Melbourne, Australia
grang said:
There honestly isn't really a good one you can watch. I'd recommend listening to the Complete Symphonic Recording, this uploader has every track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qqg2elMVaM

edit: this link will take you to a full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00P5Zc6lRlU&list=PL8f_ACV3dM08n8OUsPLwpDJQ94Gd77DTf

This not only has the big songs, but all of the sung dialogue so you get the entire story


edit: gonna edit this and also say I really don't have much against the 2012 version, I just think the performances are waaaaay better in the one I linked. I still watch the 2012 movie when it comes on TV and enjoy it fine.
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yeah this one is great! though colm wilkinson to me just can't be topped as valjean so it's still not perfect :P
 
Gunny T Highway

Gunny T Highway

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,120
Canada
The 10th anniversary Dream Cast version is truly the best musical adaptation. Like how can you top these performances?



 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,403
Speevy said:
The 2012 adaptation has the music, but some iffy singing and acting choices
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e0c.gif
 

Jest

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,565
As I expected, there's a lot of love for the 10th Anniversary but for my money, I'll take the 25th Anniversary every time.

Alfie Boe and Norm Lewis are phenomenal.


And if you get the Blu-Ray you get some incredible extras

The Valjean Quartet
 
Zen

Zen

"This guy are sick" says The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 1, 2017
9,669
Hi OP, I just want to let you know your thread has made my girlfriend, who is a huge Les Miserables fangirl, smile like an idiot. Thanks

Oh she would probably recommend the all star dream cast 10th anniversary version of the play
 
maxmedina

maxmedina

Member
Jun 24, 2020
7
Chojin said:
The one with Lea Solanga as Eponine. She made me "get" Les Miserables when I hated the book so much in high school. Now the book is beloved and the run when she was in it.

So uh... Yeah Broadway "adaptation". Then original book.



Seriously, this shit is magical.
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Click to shrink...

Absolutely. Watch the dream cast concert. The tenth anniversary one. It's the best musically.
 
Vincent Alexander

Vincent Alexander

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,842
Jest said:
As I expected, there's a lot of love for the 10th Anniversary but for my money, I'll take the 25th Anniversary every time.

Alfie Boe and Norm Lewis are phenomenal.


And if you get the Blu-Ray you get some incredible extras

The Valjean Quartet
Click to expand...
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Yes! I remember watching the 25th live on GAF. It's my favorite and I rewatch it at least once a year.
 

blackw0lf48

Member
Jan 2, 2019
3,013
If people want a non musical version the 2018 miniseries with Dominic West as Valjean is really good.

Also thanks to this thread I'm listening to the entire soundtrack again haha.
 

BigWeather

Member
Nov 4, 2017
1,426
I was fortunate to see it at the Palace while visiting London from NC in 1991. Became my favorite musical for years, until I saw Hamilton live in 2018 (oddly enough, while visiting London from NC).
 

blackw0lf48

Member
Jan 2, 2019
3,013
Honestly if you're looking for a musical version of Les Mis this high school performance might be your best bet. Some of the performances, especially Eponine, are astonishingly good considering they're teenagers. The young woman who played Eponine is better than some professional versions I saw. Seriously people need to check out her rendition of On My Own. Also check out Valjean's Bring Him Home, as he's also incredible.

Honestly I think it's better than the movie. Only real issue is the recording could be better. Of course the professional performances are better. But given that if you want video of the full musical we have either the movie or this I'll take this version any day.

 
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Pbae

Pbae

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,273
I liked the 2012 movie. People give me shit for it and I know where they're coming from but I like it.
 
Bane

Bane

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
5,906
I tried watching the 2012 movie as my first exposure to it years ago and didn't get more than 20 minutes in before stopping. Buy fiancée is a theater nut and asked me to give it another shot two weeks ago and she chose the 25th anniversary concert. It had a hell of a cast and while the production aspect is toned down and some things were harder to follow without set changes and stage directions, the performances were just phenomenal. Afterwards we watched clips of the 2012 movie and I didn't like any bit of it. The editing, and cinematography were both awful and the singing was pretty inferior to the theater casts.

My understanding is the 10th anniversary concert is fantastic as well, I'd choose one of those.
 
hiredhand

hiredhand

Member
Feb 6, 2019
3,181
The 1934 French adaptation by Raymond Bernard is very good. Word of warning: it's also really long at 4h 41min.

It has a high quality UK blu-ray release by Eureka. Criterion has also released it on dvd as part of their Eclipse series.

81gl8wK8x-L._SL1500_.jpg
 
excelsiorlef

excelsiorlef

Bad Praxis
Member
Oct 25, 2017
73,358
www.theaterjones.com

Review: Les Miserables | Dallas Theater Center

Revolutionary Road - Dallas Theater Center's inventive take on Les Miserables will go down as one for the history books.
www.theaterjones.com

The Dallas Re-imagining

It's a spectacular translation of the eternal spirit of revolution and highlights that Hugo's themes of his era apply now just as intensely
 
Khanimus

Khanimus

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
40,437
Greater Vancouver
The 2012 version is full of obnoxious, grotesque choices, with musical performances that range from good to "what the fuck was that?"

The 1998 dramatic adaptation is atleast solid with Geoffrey Rush being a sneering bastard.
 
Bing147

Bing147

Member
Jun 13, 2018
3,713
Personally I feel the 2012 version is REALLY bad. Trying to tell this epic tale in close ups is still one of the most bizarre film making choices I've ever seen. Hooper is just a downright bad director for my money and he ruins it. That said, if you want a non musical version, the 1935 version with Fredric March and Charles Laughton is pretty excellent. If you want a musical, I'm a huge fan of the 10th anniversary cast recording.
 
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