I came to this two part, near four-hour telling of the story of France's great heroine after reading a biography of her short life and so was really looking forward to it. However, while it had some good points, in the end, I think it failed its noble subject for some fairly blatant reasons. For one thing, I'm not sure the story told here was historically accurate. Things like her testy relationship with her father, the sacrifice of her brother and her "relationship" with Jean Le Metz had the whiff of contrivance about them, inserted for dramatic purposes, plus while I could just about accept the mixture of accents, few of which were authentically French, all speaking in everyday English, more than a few times phrases from the present day jarring my ears, crept in to the dialogue. Though there was little stinting on locations, crowd scenes and battle sequences, with smoke and mud abounding, there was little actual blood on show (apart from when Joan herself takes an arrow in the shoulder) which again detracted from credibility. I thought Leelee Sobieski looked the part in the title role and acted reasonably well while as the hired heavyweight support, Peter O'Toole unsurprisingly dominates as the conflicted Bishop Couchin.The special effects used for Joan's visions of her saints I considered a little on the tacky side, all soft focus and wing-bearing and felt that the climax of her trial and execution by burning might have been extended and made more of. At other times I felt I was watching a period-set MTV music video of the 80's, with the slo-mo camera much in evidence, this impression aided by an over-obtrusive soundtrack too. Even the descriptions offered by scene-setting graphics were over fussy.Nevertheless, Joan's wonderful story just about breaks through but on the whole this made-for-TV movie betrayed its target audience ambitions and was guilty of over-dramatising a story which has more than enough real-life content to not need such artificial aid.

This is easily the best Joan of Arc I have ever seen. Leelee Sobieski, at a very young age (17, which is how old the real Joan of Arc was) does a very mature job of portraying the strength of character, immense leadership qualities, high intelligence, natural military ability, and great faith of the real Joan of Arc.I think the medieval castles and the great battle scenes were very realistic. I know the movie takes liberties with the actual history of some of the events (for instance, Sir William Glasdale drowned in the moat trying to escape, he wasn't actually ordered to be killed by Joan), although I liked the way the movie did it, it was much more dramatic than what actually happened.Other actors in the movie also did a marvelous job, especially Peter O'Toole, Chad Willett, and Neil Patrick Harris, who I thought was very good as the cunning King Charles. The coronation scene was very well done with the glorious music and magnificent cathedral.What I didn't like about the movie was that in most of the second half too many liberties were taken with the real history of Joan's capture and mock trial. Joan didn't just give herself up to the Burgundians, she was trapped outside the town of Compiegne, which had raised its drawbridge before Joan could escape from the Burgundians she was fighting. Joan was not raped in prison as they strongly imply in this movie, although her guards tried many times to do so. Joan's final moments were too sad to watch. What happened was that she was convicted of heresy for wearing men's clothing (she only did so to keep from being raped). The whole trial was a mockery engineered by the English who wanted her dead no matter what. They feared and hated Joan for defeating them in battle. The English had complete control over the pro-English clergy who tried and judged Joan.This was a great movie. It's a shame that it was made for TV and not the big screen. I think more people would have seen it. For anyone with little or no knowledge of Joan of Arc, this movie is a must.

I watched this just the other day, about 10 years since i first saw it, and have to admit its still a good watch.Sobieski was really a stand out for me, and considering how young she was when this was shot, she really did the role justice. I couldn't have seen anyone else playing this role with such maturity.I also liked the way this movie portrayed Joan, as the other film starring Milla Jovovich had her conveyed in a more schizophrenic manner. In this movie, Joan was shown to be a compassionate, intelligent, strong-willed young woman who was guided completely by her solid faith. It was really inspiring and a great insight into the life & struggles of one of the great saints.A good movie for the family, with an even better message behind it - truly captivating and faithful to the history.

The movie is set in ¨Hundred years' war¨ developed between 1337 and 1453 (downfall date of Constantinopla by Turks). The historical deeds are the followings : Henry V vanquishes Charles VI in Agincourt (1415) that was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War . The battle occurred on Friday , 25 October 1415 and Henry V takes over Normandy . Charles VI of France signs ¨Troyes treatise¨ in which Henry V is wedded to Charles's daughter . Later on , Henry VI of England proclaims himself king of France but then Joan of Arc , being nineteen years old , proclaims in Bourges to Charles VII as king , after being crowned in Reims . Joan of Arc acting as a divine mission defeats the English army in Orleans . But she's captured by the Borgoneses and is handed over the English authorities and they fire her for heretic and witch in Rouen .Runtime movie is overlong , approx. three hours , but is neither boring , nor dull , but entertaining . The battle scenarios are very well designed , there are thousands of extras and the struggles are breathtaking . The ending trial in which she's condemned is very interesting and the sentence at the burning pole is overwhelming . Lelee Sobieski , who was only sixteen when shooting , gives a good interpretation , likeness to Neal Patrick Harris as Charles VII . Furthermore , Peter O'Toole as the cunning Bishop is excellent . The support cast is satisfying : Jacqueline Bisset (the mother) , Powers Boothe (the father) , Olimpia Dukakis (the nun) and Peter Strauss (the captain). The motion picture was well directed by Christian Duguay , an expert filmmaker of TV movies . The yarn will appeal to historic event buffs . Rating : 7/10 . Worth viewing the TV picture .