DVD Review: John Steinbeck’s East of Eden

By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 2/17/2009

ACORN
Street: March 3
Prebook: now
> Sprawling ’80s miniseries of Steinbeck’s multi-generational epic.

A literature-based miniseries of the early ’80s, East of Eden is a lavishly produced saga that remains true to the text of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck’s classic, as it follows the biblically-metaphorical lives of three generations of California’s Trask and Hamilton families. Like many miniseries of its era, East of Eden is overlong and occasionally overwrought, but it remains a very respectable small-screen adaptation and offers a memorable cast filled with many recognizable faces, from leading players Timothy Bottoms, Jane Seymour and Bruce Boxleitner to supporting cast members Karen Allen, Hart Bochner and the great Warren Oates.

Shelf Talk: Nominated for a bunch of Emmys (it only won one for art direction) and Golden Globes (Seymour picked up an acting award), this TV epic is still a beloved fixture to those who saw it for the first time nearly 30 years ago. Between that audience and others who’ve read the masterful novel and are curious to see what a six-plus-hour adaptation of it looks like, East of Eden is sure to get some attention.

Drama, color, NR (mature themes), 382 min., DVD $59.99
Extras: interview with Seymour
Director: Harvey Hart
First Run: ABC-TV, Feb. 1981