For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I like the book very much, and love the Jeremy Brett version. This film was very entertaining and fresh, plus it was faithful while taking some strange liberties(ie. Small hiding the jewels in his wooden leg). The production values are excellent, the score haunting, the script well written, the river sequence superbly staged and the final solution magnificent. Then we have a great cast, Ian Richardon is suitably sly and sardonic which is what I mean by the adaptation's freshness, Cherie Lunghi is charming and David Healy is good as Watson. Joe Melia was the only disappointment for me, his Small lacked the wonderful understated approach that John Thaw conveyed so well in the Brett version. Then there are one or two scenes that are slightly lacking in atmosphere(Tonga wasn't as scary or as imposing this time around) and the direction is occasionally a little too slight. Overall, it is a good film and a solid adaptation. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The original story had all the ingredients to make a thoroughly gripping Film. But failed miserably in this version as even Cherie Lunghi was a pale imitation of what she was to become - so much so that I suspected that she must turn out to be an accomplice right to the end. Sherlock Holmes was turned into a warrior quite unlike anything every suggested by Sir Arthur Conn Doyle ? In fact it was Doctor Watson who showed what little common sense that was going. The boot blacked midget from the Andoman islands looked as though he could not fight his way out of a paper bag and what the villain was doing taking tea in Baker Street for a denouement was beyond anything that the old Scotland Yard could ever have dreamed up. So consign this TV Film to their Black Museum please.

Having been a long time fan of both Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett in their portrayal of the world famous detective Sherlock Holmes, I always measure anyone playing the detective against these two. Ian Richardson has one very distinctive feature on his face, his nose, which was also the part I first noticed on Rathbone and Brett. So Richardson had the nose but could he be a Holmes? My answer is yes. The Sign of Four was an enjoyable film. The characters Jonathan Small and little Tonga were also very well cast. I know the story well and this film was very close to the story. Revenge, murder and the chase were all featured as well as the Bakersteet Irregulars. So if you like Holmes, give this feature a look.

It really is a disaster that only SIGN and HOUN were filmed with Ian Richardson. No other has been portraying Holmes in such a smooth and witty way - not even Rathbone whom I always considered a bit too perfect and too cold. The setting and the costumes in the Sign of the Four are brilliant and the acting of all the characters is quite convincing. Unfortunately Watson is a shade too Brucian. Few changes were made to the story, but for the worse and therefore quite acceptable. It has been said more than once so far but I must repeat it: The boat chase is brilliant. I must give credit to another point. Although we do see Holmes in his Deerstalker and Inverness cape in some scenes, he mainly is dressed like a gentleman would be in those days. Richardson is not an all-cliche Holmes. 9 out of 10.