Modern dress interpretations of Shakespeare’s classic plays aren’t a new trend; it’s been done on stage for years, and the movies are merely catching up to what stage directors have been doing for centuries. The 1995 version of Richard III may plop everyone into 1930s clothes and stage it in a martial manner with the duplicitous title character mounting war in tanks and pre-World War II artillery, but the language and story remain the same only neatly condensed to fit a less than two-hour running time. The slate of actors lined up for this version is impressive indeed, and even if some of them aren’t quite up to the task, it’s still a marvelously entertaining retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most popular history plays.
Studio: MGM
Distributed By: Twilight Time
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: R
Run Time: 1 Hr. 44 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
clear keep caseDisc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: All
Release Date: 04/14/2015
MSRP: $29.95
The Production Rating: 4/5
Star Ian McKellen and director Richard Loncraine have collaborated on the script for the movie and have skillfully pared down Shakespeare’s four-hour play to a screenplay that runs less than two hours. While that eliminates an enormous amount of verbiage (Olivier’s 1956 period dress version ran two-and-a-half hours), the story doesn’t suffer as a result, and Richard’s devious maneuvers to eliminate his rivals and capture the crown remain sharp and clear. Director Loncraine also keeps the movie from ever becoming a static play. While the leading character continues to address the camera/audience to reveal the machinations of his mind before his plans are carried out, Loncraine takes the action outdoors whenever possible (some stunning seaside shots in Bristol are really impressive), and the battle scenes which open and close the film are much more expansive than one might be expecting. He also plots some startling camera angles (a hanging murder comes right into our faces filmed from below) and stages the murders gruesomely but without excessive gore. There are some other concessions to modern day tastes: a couple of sex scenes (one which precedes a murder), some drug usage, and the continual smoking by almost everyone in the cast (whoever controlled the tobacco concessions on this movie made a fortune; McKellen is rarely without a cigarette in his hand or mouth and often lights one from another).
It’s a marathon role for Ian McKellen, of course, but he’s more than up to the challenge and does the part proud with his scheming and insincerity barely masking the vile monster that he is. And, his realization that loyalty to him can only be gained through threats and intimidation rather than through love is rather touching near the end as all his dreams turn to ash. Many among the large cast do outstanding work including Nigel Hawthorne as the trusting Clarence, Jim Broadbent as the scheming Buckingham, and most especially Annette Bening as Queen Elizabeth, by far the best of the American actors hired to play foreigners in the company. Robert Downey Jr. as her brother Earl Rivers is less successful (though, to be fair, his role is a rather small one in the finished script). Maggie Smith’s role as the Duchess of York is likewise small, but you won’t soon forget her couple of dozen lines as she plays them with growing passion and barely controlled fury.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 4.5/5
Special Features Rating: 2.5/5
Theatrical Trailer (2:48, HD)
MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (2:06, HD)
Six-Page Booklet: contains pages of impressive color stills, the original poster art on the back cover, and film historian Julie Kirgo’s lively essay on the film’s brilliant qualities.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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