Lists: Top 10 Favorite Heroes

Due to the great response to my "Top 10 Favorite Heroines" post, I put together my Top 10 Favorite Heroes! Enjoy!

1. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) 
Probably a very obvious answer from me! I didn't always like Mr. Darcy (c'mon, he was a bit of a jerk at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice), but after a while he grew on me once his character improved, and now he's my favorite hero! Yes, he was a bit arrogant at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, but his arrogance decreases as the plot progresses; he's also a good brother and takes it upon himself to bring about the marriage of Lydia and Wickham after their scandal.

To me, Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy, period. He has the look of arrogance in the beginning, but then as Pride and Prejudice goes on, he has that more of a caring look. He also did all of Mr. Darcy subtle looks really well.

2. Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility)

While reading/watching Sense and Sensibility, how can you not feel sorry for Colonel Brandon? All the stuff that he had to go through and yet he doesn't complain about it. As much as I like Marianne Dashwood, I still thought she was really mean about Colonel Brandon (Willoughby made fun of him and she went along with it). He was able to act like a gentleman while Willoughby was apart of the party.

I did like David Morrissey's Colonel Brandon, but it seemed like something was missing for him in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. To me, Alan Rickman did a better job in the 1995 movie.

3. George Knightley (Emma)
Oh, Mr. Knightley. He tries to help Emma by telling her that she is wrong, but she doesn't listen (well, most of the time). Mr. Knightley is very caring, a great brother-in-law to Emma, a great uncle to John and Isabella's children, and (we can be sure) a great husband for Emma. He helps out his neighbors whenever he can (sending Mrs. and Miss Bates food, saving Harriet during the dance when Mr. Elton snubbed her, etc.). Overall, Mr. Knightley is a great guy and a gentleman!

Johnny Lee Miller is my favorite Mr. Knightley. I did also like Jeremy Northam's Mr. Knightley, but I think Johnny Lee Miller's was closer to the Mr. Knightley in the book... at least to my memory.

4. Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey)

When you first see Mr. Tilney in Northanger Abbey, you might find him a little odd (I know I did), but in a good way. When you get to know him more, you can see that he likes to tease his sister Eleanor and Catherine a little bit in a friendly way. Once you know more about him, you can see that he's a caring brother and a great husband for Catherine.

I've only seen the 2007 version of Northanger Abbey (unless the Wishbone episode counts), and despite the problems it had with the screenplay, the actors were well cast. J.J. Field's Mr. Tilney was very well done.

5. Arthur Clennam (Little Dorrit)
I like how Mr. Clennam tries to help out the Dorrits: he's trying to right a wrong that he thinks his family business may have done, and how many people would go through the trouble of finding out who they wronged? Plus, when he loses all his money and is in debt, he doesn't run away from his obligations, but faces them and is accountable for them. He messed up and took the consequences of it. In this world where people tend to run away from their responsibilities and obligations, Arthur Clennam is a good example of what people should do: accept responsibility and face the consequences of your actions.

I've seen both the new and older version of Little Dorrit, and I think Matthew McFayden's Arthur Clennam is the better one. His was much better acted than Derek Jacobi's Arthur Clennam, plus Derek Jacobi was just too old.

6. Edward Ferrars (Sense and Sensibility)

I don't like that Edward had Elinor like him when he wasn't supposed to, but I will say that he does do the honorable thing by staying engaged to Lucy even though he doesn't love Lucy anymore, but instead loves Elinor. He sticks to his duty even when it becomes very hard.

I prefer Dan Stevens's Edward to Hugh Grant's. Hugh Grant just looked too sickly for the role.

7. Septimas Harding (The Barchester Chronicles)
Mr. Harding was such a sweet old man! I felt sorry that in the first part of The Barchester Chronicles that Mr. Bold was going to sue him because of his salary. He was almost instantly likable, which is what you need in a series/miniseries/movie/etc. in order for people to like it. And, considering The Barchester Chronicles is an 80s miniseries, the acting has to be very good since there aren't the effects that newer period dramas have. Donald Pleasance played Mr. Harding very well. I'll definitely have to watch The Barchester Chronicles again to see what I've missed.

8/9/10 (Tied). Robert Crawley, Lord of Grantham (Downton Abbey)

I've got three heroes from Downton Abbey that I like, but couldn't choose in what order. Robert is a great master of Downton. He cares for all of his employees and the surrounding area. He doesn't mope around about the entail, but instead teaches the way to run Downton to his third cousin and heir of Downton, Matthew Crawley. He also tries to be a good father to his three children and a good husband to Cora.

Hugh Bonneville played Robert in Downton Abbey. Hugh Bonneville does a very good job acting here. I can't wait to see what's in store for Robert in Series 2

8/9/10 (Tied). John Bates (Downton Abbey)
Poor Mr. Bates... He arrives at Downton with a limp and most of the staff thinks he can't do his job... But he persists at his job and he gains everyone's respect (well except for a few). He's almost in an Edward Ferrars position except he's actually married instead of engaged: he loves Anna, one of the maids, but he remembers his duty to his wife. He tries to do the honorable thing while at Downton. I wonder what will happen with him in Season 2 (I'm hoping they don't ruin his character like what sometimes happens when series go on).

John Bates is played by Brenden Coyle. I first saw Brenden Coyle in Lark Rise to Candleford as Laura Timmins's father, Robert. I must say that I like John Bates better than Robert Timmins: Robert became too much of a jerk after awhile.

8/9/10 (Tied). Matthew Crawley (Downton Abbey)

At first, you have to warm up to Matthew a little bit since he tries so hard not to change (and since the Crawleys at Downton Abbey are one of the first characters we've seen, it might be a little easier to side with them). But then when Matthew gets settled in near Downton, he really tries hard to learn how to run the estate. He takes an interest in fixing up the cottages in the surrounding area and as Robert's family likes him more and more, we start to like him more and more.

Dan Stevens, who also played Edward Ferrars in the 2008 Sense and Sensibility, plays Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey.

I will say that I started to read Mansfield Park a little while ago and Edmund Bertram looks promising. Maybe he might bump someone off the list in the future? But as for now, this is the list of my top favorite heroes!


What do you think of my list? Are there some heroes in my list that you would include in your top favorite heroes? Who would you include in your list? Leave a comment!

 God Bless,
 

Review: The Barchester Chronicles

Next in the Anthony Trollope Collection, my mother and I watched The Barchester Chronicles. At first I didn't think that it was going to amount to much, but was I wrong! I really enjoyed it. Here are some of my thoughts.

Synopsis
The Barchester Chronicles is taken from two books in The Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope. Episodes 1 and 2 are taken from The Warden. John Bold, a doctor, takes legal action against Mr. Septimus Harding (Donald Pleasence), a clergyman and warden of Hirams Hospital. While John Bold is good friends with Mr. Harding and in love with his daughter, Eleanor, he still believes that Mr. Harding is making too much money and is in violation of a will.

Episodes 3 through 7 are taken from Barchester Towers. When the bishop of Barchester dies, a new bishop is appointed. Bishop Proudie (Clive Swift) is a weak man controlled by his wife and chaplain, Mr. Slope (Alan Rickman). The plot's of episodes 3 through 7 revolve around the clergymen of Barchester and their relation to Bishop Proudie and Mr. Slope.

Characters

There are some very recognizable actors and actresses in The Barchester Chronicles: Donald Pleasance as Mr. Harding, Alan Rickman (Sense and Sensibility) as Mr. Slope, Clive Swift (Keeping Up Appearances) as Bishop Proudie.

Mr. Harding was such a lovable character! He was such a sweet old man that I couldn't believe that John Bold was making trouble about him. It wasn't like he was a greedy, mean man: he was a nice, old man who liked music and he would spend his time training the choir for church. He was one of my favorite characters throught this whole miniseries.

Mr. Slope seemed to just ooze his way onto the screen, and it worked for him. You really got the impression that this man is a scheming, controlling man who is out to better his position. He would call on the women of Barchester, even Eleanor and Mary Bold, her friend, however they did not like him calling on them and would laugh at how he was so full of himself. He was almost comical on how "odious" he was.

Poor Bishop Proudie... I recognized Clive Swift from Keeping Up Appearances, and it seems that he's stuck in a similar role. In Keeping Up Appearances, he played the quiet, pushover (it's sounds so cruel, but it's true) husband of Hyacinth Bucket. Here he had practically the same role, except here he was more of a puppet.

Scenery

Mr. Slope (Alan Rickman) talking to Mrs. Bold (Janet Maw).

The scenery was not the best compared to more recent BBC productions. Though The Barchester Chronicles is a BBC production, it was made in the early 80's; the cameras were not as good then as they are today and most of the scenes were usually filmed on a set.. Some of the scenes did, as I have read in other reviews, look more like a play than a miniseries. The outside scenes did not appear to take place on a set, though.

Costumes

The costumes were nice, but there was a concern that I had. In episodes 3 through 7, it looked like Eleanor was wearing the same *Spoiler* mourning dress. *End of Spoiler* For episodes 1 and 2, she had some varying dresses, which were nice, but in episodes 3 through 7, her clothes barely changed at all. She might have had another mourning dress on once or twice, but for the most part, she had the same dress on for most of the miniseries. It could have been that there wasn't that big of a costume budget.

Signora Neroni (Susan Hampshire) did have some nice dresses. They were very elaborate and pretty, although there was one that was a little low cut. I also loved some of the hair decorations that she had. Though I did not really like her character, she did look pretty.

Music
There really isn't too much music to speak of for The Barchester Chronicles. The music that is there is made up of very nice choir music. There was not much music during the episodes excepting the choir scenes and maybe the party scenes, maybe. In short, if you were expecting a full soundtrack, you won't find one here.

Overall: 4/5

Signora Neroni (Susan Hampshire) sitting with guests,some
of which are Mr. Slope and Dr. Arabin (Derek New).

This was very interesting to watch. The first two episodes were a little boring, though: they spent too much time on the legal affairs, so there was a lot of dialogue about law. Once you get past the first two episodes, the rest was humorous and entertaining! There weren't any questionable scenes throughout the whole miniseries, and wouldn't be inappropriate to show in a class. It does come across as more of a play than a movie possibly due to the cameras (this was made in the 80s). Other than that, it is a good quality film that could be watched together as a family.

The Barchester Chronicles is available on DVD and is one of three miniseries in The Anthony Trollope Collection, though you can buy it separately from the collection. It is 385 minutes long, made up of seven 55 minute episodes on two disks.