William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Kenneth Branagh
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DVD details
Actor: Billy Crystal, G?rard Depardieu, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Kenneth BranaghDirector: Kenneth Branagh
Brand: Warner Brothers
Primary Contributor: Kenneth Branagh
Primary Contributor: Julie Christie
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.20:1
Running Time: 242 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
DVD Review: Shakespeare the way it was meant to be exeperienced
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I go into the visual and interpretive masterpiece that is Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, let me begin by asserting my firm belief that Shakespeare was meant to be experienced, not merely poured over. While the language is obviously crucial to understanding the play as a whole, simply watching the emotional interactions and contemplations of this play can be just as powerful. If you don't have the opportunity to see a live performance of Hamlet (which would be the real tragedy) Branagh's adaptation is probably the next best way to experience Shakespeare's masterpiece. The majesty of the Edwardian set blends perfectly with the mysterious plot and shrouded characters and the visuals add life that viewers would expect of any performance.
Branaugh's adaptation, the full text of the original play, is consistent with basic interpretations of the plays but plays down the idea of Hamlet as truly crazy. While Branagh certainly performs as a madman would, we clearly see it is little more than that, a performance-- something left to the interpretation of those who only read the text. While the play may be a little melodramatic at times (namely during all the soliloquies) and the final confrontation is overly dramatized (since when was a chandelier involved?), Branagh's Hamlet is definitely the best filmed adaptation of Shakespeare's memorable tragedy.
Viewers will enjoy this film even if they haven't read the play and it is certainly coupled well with the text for those who have!
DVD Review: Know when to step aside.
Summary: 3 Stars
Yes, this is one of Kenneth Branagh's productions of Shakespeare; and he typically saves the most interresting role for himself. He is a good actor, but in my opinion, the multi-emotional role of Hamlet is beyond his ability. When Hamlet is instructing the actors he hires for the play within the play, he begins to act, but then stops himself in deference to the troupe of real actors, headed by none other than Charlton Heston. Branagh should have taken a cue from Hamlet.DVD Review: Branagh
Summary: 5 Stars
Amazing version. Branagh makes Hamlet enjoyable for the Shakespeare buff or the reluctant viewer. Easy to follow, incredibly visual, epic performances from an all star cast. Highly, highly recommended. DVD Review: Beautiful, Lavish, Magnficent: a Must See-- five stars
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of the greatest productions of Shakespeare I've ever seen, and I heartily recommend it to any student of Hamlet. I think seeing this breathtaking and magnificent film will greatly help high school students and college students who are approaching the play for the first time. Branagh is a genius and once again here he delivers Shakespeare's glorious lines in a way that makes them clear, and brings them to life with incalculable power. I know of no Shakespeare film that equals this film. I dream of what Branagh will do next. We need him to give us more of the Bard. ---- There is much else that could be said about this film. Every performance is wonderful, including that of Charlton Heston, and the sensitivity with which the play is interpreted is breathtaking. The spectacle alone is worth seeing. This is one of those feasts for the eyes and ears like Amadeus or Immortal Beloved. Or the Red Shoes. It is grand in the finest sense. It will be enjoyed and treasured as long as film is enjoyed and treasured. DVD Review: Visually sumptous, a spellbinding cast, lovely soundtrack, but Branagh as Hamlet is dreadful
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a huge Shakespeare fan, and HAMLET is my favorite of the Bard's work. So, logically, as a Shakespeare buff and an English major, you would expect Branagh's HAMLET to be my favorite cinematic version of the tale. Well, you would be wrong: Franco Zefferelli's HAMLET starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close is my favorite, not Branagh's, and I'll tell you why: Branagh may be an immensely talented director with ground-breaking visions for Shakespeare's work, but he is an over-the-top and dreadfully melodramatic actor whose performances on screen are absolutely terrible. On stage, his moody, sulking, emo and whiny Hamlet would work because stage acting requires a larger-than life performance because as an actor, you have to perform to the back balcony, but on film that sort of acting doesn't work - the two mediums are too vastly different. For an actor who is so technically trained, you think Branagh would know this, but, he either doesn't or his ego is so big he does whatever he pleases. Whatever the case, his performance as Hamlet is what soured this wonderful film for me. Besides Kenneth, the rest of the cast is excellent, especially Julie Christie as a touchingly poignant Gertrude, Derek Jacobi's deliciously vile Claudius (my favorite screen portrayal of the character), Richard Briers manages to make Polonius both a secondary villain and comic relief in the way that only an excellent actor can, and Billy Crystal's cameo as the gravedigger is wonderfully funny. While I don't fault Kate Winslet one bit, her Ophelia is especially weak and can be very trying on one's nerves, but I blame this more on the director's choice than I do the actress. Kate is amazingly talented and can definitely make even weakly-written roles come off as strong. I just wish Branagh would have let her do so here. Helena Bonham Carter's Ophelia is decidedly better, making her Ophelia strong, even rebellious in her maddness. Anyway, the look of the film, in the grand tradition of Branagh movies, is stunning. The costumes, the sets, esp. the interiors of Elsinore, are vivid and pulsing with life. In my opinion, if Branagh would sacrifice his ego and stay behind the camera and do what he does well (directing), all of his films would be not just good, but brilliant. Hopefully he will figure this out soon.
Description of William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Studio: Castle Rock Hm Video Release Date: 08/14/2007 Run time: 242 minutesIt's the greatest work of literature, but nobody had ever filmed Hamlet uncut--until Kenneth Branagh went about the task for his lavish 1996 production. The result is a sumptuous, star-studded version that scores a palpable hit on its avowed goal: to make the text as clear and urgent as possible. Branagh himself plays the melancholy son of the Danish court, caught in a famous muddle about whether to seek revenge against his royal father's presumed slayer. the man who now sits on the throne and shares the bed of Hamlet's mother. (Or, as the song "That's Entertainment" summarizes the plot: "A ghost and a prince meet / And everyone winds up mincemeat.") As a director, Branagh (who shot the movie in 70 mm.) uses the vast, cold interiors of a vaguely 19th-century manor to gorgeous effect; the story might scurry down this hallway, into that back chamber, or sprawl out into the enormous main room. With its endless collection of mirrors, the place is as big and empty as Citizen Kane's Xanadu.
That all works; what doesn't work is Branagh's tendency to over-direct the big dramatic moments. He indulges in quick cutting and flashbacks as though to fend off the audience's objections to the four-hour running time, and the style sometimes looks like wasted energy. The experienced Shakespearians in the cast come off nicely; Derek Jacobi's Claudius, Richard Briers' Polonius, and Michael Maloney's Laertes are just terrific. Julie Christie is a suitably attractive Gertrude, and Kate Winslet makes the most of Ophelia's mad scenes. Branagh's habit of folding in unexpected American performers is on the mark, too: Billy Crystal is surprisingly good as the Gravedigger, Robin Williams predictably camps up Osric, and Charlton Heston is an inspired choice as the grandiloquent Player King. The biggest irony here is that Branagh himself is not quite spot-on as Hamlet. Of course he speaks the lines beautifully, but Branagh's screen personality radiates certainty and clarity of vision; there's little of the doubt that might make him Hamlet-esque. Still, tremendous credit for fending off slings and arrows to get the movie made. --Robert Horton
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