Ivanhoe, 1982 version

The old 1952 version, with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor has been a favorite movie ever since I saw it as a child in the old Cinema at Shopper's World in Framingham MA better than 60 years ago.  So, when I saw the 1982 remake on Netflix I ordered it, thinking it wouldn't measure up to the old classic.
Well, surprise.  It was pretty good.  It has James Mason as Isaac of York, John Rhys-Davies as Front de Boeuf, and Anthony Andrews as Ivanhoe himself.  Andrews is a good looking hunk.  "Production values" are first rate, costumes, sets, locations.  Sound is good, I could hear all the dialog.  The cameraman used a tripod, no annoying shake the camera shots, and he turned on the lights for filming. They used a real medieval castle for Torquilstone.  In this version, Rowena comes off a very cute, just as cute as Rebecca of York.  The story gets changed around some from the 1952 version, but it doesn't seem to hurt anything.  I read the book once, but that was a long time ago and I don't remember anymore just  how the book went.  Plus, movies are a different medium than books, and some changes are often required to make a good movie from a book.
   It's far better than a BBC remake of some years ago.  The BBC got on a medieval realism kick.  Everyone's costume was homespun brown or butternut, making it extremely difficult to tell who was who.  Except for Isaac of York's silly looking straw hat, costumes for this one were convincing enough for me.  I'm not an expert on medieval fashions, so I'm not the last word, but I say they were plenty good enough for the purposes of a movie.  
    They changed Ivanhoe's final duel with Bois Gilbert.  In the 1952 flick, Bois Gilbert used mace and chain, Ivanhoe used an axe (from horseback no less)  When the duel was over, my younger brother said, very seriously, "The guy with the axe always wins."  In this version, both fighters use swords, and we see that Ivanhoe is not fully recovered from wounds received from tournament.  Bois Gilbert nearly kills him, but Ivanhoe gets lucky and pulls out a win at the last minute.
   Anyhow, if you are into medieval romantic movies, with lots of action, Ivanhoe is good, either the original 1952 flick or the 1982 remake for TV flick.