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House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut)
BBC Warner Product Details |
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/22/2005 Run time: 640 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Connoisseurs of political chicanery will relish House of Cards, the mordantly funny story of Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson), a British politician with his eye on the top job. Urquhart is the chief whip of the Conservative Party and his job is to maintain party discipline, or, as he likes to say, "put a bit of stick about." This means that he has intimate knowledge of his colleagues' foibles, knowledge that he uses to further his own political ambitions. Aided by his equally ruthless wife and drawing on a network of accomplices, Urquhart forces the prime minister to resign then sets out to discredit each of his rivals for the party leadership. Although it is strongly cast throughout, House of Cards belongs to Ian Richardson. Without his perfectly balanced performance, Urquhart might have become no more than a two-dimensional villain, but Richardson finds exactly the right tone to make his character as attractive as he is wicked. Thanks to Richardson, and a superb script by Andrew Davies, this brilliant political satire is sure to delight anyone who has wondered what might be going on in the darker corners of our democratic institutions. In To Play the King, Urquhart appears to have everything he wants. He is the prime minister, he has no immediate rivals, and everyone who knows of his crimes is either on his side or dead. But a new challenge arises when the queen dies and the new king (Michael Kitchen doing a perfect Prince Charles) proves to be a thorn in Urquhart's side. Urquhart may be a staunch defender of the monarchy as a concept, but an individual sovereign is fair game if he proves to be a threat. With a Davies script that pokes fun at British politics and the antics of the royal family as well as a terrific cast led again by Ian Richardson, To Play the King maintains the high standard set by House of Cards. The Final Cut, the last installment of the trilogy, strikes a more somber note than its predecessors. Urquhart has almost overtaken Margaret Thatcher to become Britain's longest serving postwar leader, but the public is tiring of him and there are rumblings of dissent in the Conservative Party. Urquhart and his wife plot to secure both their place in history and their financial future. Once again, writer Andrew Davies has created a satire to relish, one that confirms all of our doubts about the motives of politicians. Ian Richardson's wonderful performance--filled with sly asides and winks to the camera--makes Francis Urquhart as fascinating as he is wicked, and we find ourselves rooting for this terrible man. The world would certainly be a duller place without him. --Simon Leake
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House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut)
- DVD: 0 pages (2003-08-26)
- Publisher: BBC Warner
- Label: BBC Warner
- Starring: Ian Richardson, Susannah Harker, Miles Anderson, Colin Jeavons, Damien Thomas
- Director: Mike Vardy, Paul Seed
- Encoding: Region 1
- Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1,
- Rated: NR (Not Rated)
- Studio: BBC Warner
- DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26
- Run Time: 640
- ISBN: 0790777606
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 70 reviews
- Sales Rank in DVD: #8209
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantanstic political satire 2008-12-22
Comment: This BBC series is a dramatic satire of high political life and political power. It is set in the 1990's in the U.K., but it's plot and characters are universal. It portrays the rise of power of a Maciavelian power broker after the fall of Margaret Thatcher. It also presents a new king, clearly meant to be Charles. It's cleverness walks between hysterical and unnerving. Ian Richardson's portrayal of the main character, Francis Urquhart ("F.U.!") is absolutely brilliant. His "Lady McBeth" wife is great too. I recommend this to anyone interested in politics, power, and satire.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: The bigger they come, the harder they fall..or will they? 2008-12-14
Comment: House of Cards has to be one of the most intriguing BBC series I've seen in quite some time. I'm not one who finds politics compelling, but this series manages to draw you in to the "games" politicians love to play, in this case, with each other. There is absolutely nothing they won't do. They'll ruin marriages, set up the occasional "necessary" murder, and blackmail each other with explicit photos. Ian Richardson is at the heart of this drama as Francis Urquhart, the scheming British Prime Minister who loves to "put a bit of stick about." He's deliciously evil but throughout the series, I loathed his character. Really. He gets away with EVERYTHING. He's too smart and too clever and he's 100 steps in front of his enemies. Will his reign of terror ever end? That's really the kicker for this series: who has the guts to bring him down??? The writing for this series is brilliantly adapted by Andrew Davies who's talent also extends to other BBC productions like Vanity Fair, Pride and Prejudice, and Bleak House. All of the supporting characters are marvelously cast-especially Colin Jeavons as F.U.'s toady, Tim Stamper. House of Cards is an absolute masterpiece. Beware: you will get sucked in!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: House Of Cards Ian Richardson 2008-09-16
Comment: We could hardly wait to recieve this Video set.
We rented the first one from the Wallingford library and it had to be collected from a different library. It is a wonderful offering.
Sharon Cioffi
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A pragmatic lesson in politics 2008-06-25
Comment: After many years of having been filmed, this trilogy remains a powerful lesson in pragmatic politics. In spite of his evilness, you end up admiring Frances Urkhart for his strategically political thinking, always geared towards pragmatism for achieving his very personal goals. Whoever or whatever stands in his way for reaching his objectives, he always finds a wat out-even if this means corruption and murder.
Definitely any young aspiring politician should watch the series, not for emulating Mr Urkhart, but for aquiring the knowledge of the intricating web of politics and interpersonal relationships that derive from it. A strong lesson in politics, indeed.
Extraordinary performances, very well filmed, and a truly close adaptation from the book.
Every two years I watch the trilogy, and every time I discover new aspects about the plot and complex personality of Mr Urkhart. What a political thriller!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful 2008-06-23
Comment: This is simply one of the best TV series ever made, and BBC has made lots of them. It is classy, sophisticated and hilarious.
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