Cinderella or Ever After ?

Definitely Ever After.

Both very different films, Ever After was grounded in realism whereas this is a fairy tale. I usually prefer fairy tales and fantasies than attempts to make classic stories realistic as they often end up becoming very bland, boring, and lifeless. I'm thinking of King Arthur's story in Excalibur vs King Arthur, the magical legendary mythical nature of the first is incomparable to the lifeless thing that was the 2nd. But Ever After is different, it has it's only magical quality in a way, and the chemistry between Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott is more palpable. So I prefer Ever After though this is good too.

I have yet to dislike a version of Cinderella. Even A Cinderella Story with Hillary Duff had its moments. But Ever After is the unrivalled best version of Cinderella for me. It isn't even close.

Lizzie

To love another person is to see the face of God! - Les Miserables

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I like "Ever After" way more than Cinderella (2015), but my all time favorite Cinderella movie is the Czech version from 1973 Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella (translation of the original title) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070832/ "Tri orísky pro Popelku". That movie is a classic and very popular in Germany. It's a must see on every Christmas. It is just wonderful. Popelku (Cinderella) shows backbone like Drew Barrymore in "Ever After" but there is also magic (the three hazelnuts and the helping doves). That is by far the best Cinderella movie I have ever seen and I have seen a lot.

I love both of them but I think I like Ever After a little more.

Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.

I prefer Ever After and Slipper and the Rose over this. It wasn't bad, but it didn't strike the chord that the other two did

Let me begin by saying that "Ever After" is one of my top-10 favorite films of all time. I loved the prologue where the Brothers Grimm are shown that amazing metal and glass slipper and the portrait of the "real" Cinderella, as well as the originality of the story, especially the beginning when young Danielle runs after her dying father; totally heartbreaking. I adored Drew Barrymore, Dougray Scott, the DaVinci character, of course, Angelica Huston, and much of the humor in the movie and Danielle's strength and gumption. The chemistry between Danielle and Henry starts off being confrontational, but their chemistry is constantly there and evolving as she "teaches" him that people are people and not to be separated by the class system. The winged gown, the stepmother ripping it to shreds, and everything about this version of the Cinderella story still blows me away to this day. And George Fenton's score is one of my all-time favorite film scores (I even bought the CD when I purchased the DVD).

However, this Disney version, while VERY different, took me to a place in my mind and heart I had never been before. This was actually more of a love story than anything else. The first time Ella and Kit meet in the woods you can see immediately that they have already fallen for each other...HARD. And when she finally shows up at the ball after everyone else and they spot each other from afar and walk toward each other to meet in the middle of the dance floor...my God, the look in their eyes, especially Kit's; he's practically in freaking tears when he sees her. And then when they start dancing, she's gasping as if she's (forgive the expression) "moist."

And don't even get me started on the costumes (especially that gorgeous blue multi-layered gown with the 10,000 Swarovski crystals), the glass slippers, scenery, CGI, that amazing gilded carriage and the rest of the production design. No wonder the budget for this film was so huge.

And Cate Blanchett was absolutely the most horrid character since Voldemort; even more vicious than Angelica Huston who was cruel enough to actually have her stepdaughter flogged. An amazing performance. And the relationship between Derek Jacobi and Kit was so loving, especially at the King's deathbed. Richard Madden was amazing in that scene. And the two stepsisters were so much comic relief it made portions of the movie hilarious.

And this new version is the first Cinderella story I have ever come upon that involved Cinderella's mother before and after her death, which I believe brought a whole new dimension to the story for me.

I must admit, though, that while I have always loved Drew Barrymore and everything I've ever seen her in, and while Lily James (and her character in this film) is very different, I loved her and her vibrant character in "Downton Abbey" so much for six seasons that I adore her even more as this "different" Cinderella. Some have mentioned that her Cinderella was "weak" compared to Danielle, but that was because of what her mother had instilled in her since childhood. And that Vivien Leigh 17" waist...what young woman is built like that nowadays and still has a buxom bosom?

However, one of the best scenes in this movie (which is probably what causes me to place it on par with "Ever After") is the scene where Cate Blachett finds the glass slipper hidden in the attic and tells her "fairy tale" with the unhappy ending, Cinderella confronts her, Blanchett breaks the glass slipper, and then when Cinderella asks her how she can be so cruel and she replies that it is because Cinderella is young and innocent and good and she can't even bring herself to say what *she* is...what writing. An amazing script all around.

Anyway, as others have already noted, these are completely different tellings of the same story and comparing them is like comparing apples and avocados. However, this one is up there in my top-10 list with "Ever After" forever after. Branagh, Chris Weitz who wrote the screenplay, and Disney truly outdid themselves with this one. With all that said, I love them both equally for different reasons.