Best Shakespeare on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[TheLongshot]

The '99 Midsummer Night's Dream is horrendous. Not worth the $6 I spent on it. Terribly staged and performed.

I don't remember it being that bad. It seemed like a decent adaptation when I saw it in the theaters.

A couple of modern adaptations with teens (Neither of which I've seen, so take it with a grain of salt.):

"10 Things I Hate About You": A loose adaptation of "Taming Of The Shrew". A friend of mine though it was surprisingly good.

"O": Adaptation of Othello. It seemed decently reviewed.

Jason

 

[Matt_P]

I forgot about Twelfth Night with Carter...

I still haven't got around to seeing Titus. I'll have to check it out soon.

Why are alot of these titles still unreleased? Many of them feature top shelf stars. I would think Gibson's Hamlet would be out there just so they could have another title with an oversized head shot of Mel on the cover--that's bound to lead to more sales, right?

10 Things I Hate About You was directed by Tom Hanks, wasn't it?

 

[John Berggren]

Gibson's Macbeth

Gibson was in Hamlet, not MacBeth. Largely, I disliked the film. Glenn Close was the sole bright spot. I'd far prefer to see Kenneth Brannagh's version if it ever makes it's way to DVD.

 

[JustinCleveland]

You have GOT to check out Scottland, PA. It's an adaptation of Macbeth set in Penn state in the 60s-70s, that involves a McDonald's-style restaurant. It's a stitch. Good DVD, too.

10 things was directed by a Gil Junger.

 

[Lew Crippen]

With the inclusion of West Side Story and Kiss Me Kate, I’ll add a bit more on the (slightly more serious) music side:

Otello (Verdi)—Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Georg Solti conducting, Placido Domingo in the title role and Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona. There are several other versions on DVD, plus Franco Zeffirelli’s version, that is visually stunning, but not so good if you think that Verdi’s music is the point.

Falstaff (Verdi)—Salzberg Festival, Herbert von Karajan conducting with Giusseppe Tadei in the title role. If you are not familiar with his last opera, Verdi combined elements of a couple of Shakespeare plays, notably The Merry Wives of Windsor to produce his last opera.

Falstaff (Salieri)—while not nearly as fine an opera as Verdi’s, this work puts the lie to Salieri’s characterization in Amadeus.

Macbeth (Verdi)—not as finely realized as his two other works taken from the Bard, this is still well worth watching. There is not really a standout version on DVD—look for one by Deutsche Oper Berlin.

 

[Matt_P]

Thanks for the correction, John. I said Gibson's Hamlet earlier, but for some reason I had Macbeth on the brain when I wrote that later reply.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Kultur has a DVD series called The Plays of William Shakespeare, actual theatrical productions: "Antony and Cleopatra," "King Lear," "King Richard II," "Macbeth," "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "Othello," "Romeo and Juliet," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Tempest." They all are touted as being presented in their original 16th-century stagings. Name actors include John Carradine, Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Alex Hyde-White and--are you ready for this?--Nichelle Nichols.

 

[MarkBourne]

Easily one my faves is the Broadway Theatre Archive's King Lear with James Earl Jones, Raul Julia, and Rene Auberjonois. It's from PBS's "Great Performances" in 1974. Review

 

[DouglasBr]

Oh, and there was the "Taming of the Shrew" with John Cleese from PBS in 1982 (I think), though it's probably not on DVD. I guess it wouldn't hurt to check. . . .

 

[Darrel Johansen]

Glad to see JustinCleveland mention Scotland, PA. A very witty adaptation of Macbeth.

Seems like we're all waiting for Branagh's Hamlet.

I would not discount Shakespeare in love, since it has some sly humor if you are familiar with the various theories about Shakespeare (that his sonnets were written to a man and that Bacon really wrote his plays). I've always enjoyed it, since it seems faithful to the period, and is a nice romantic comedy.

Haven't seen MST3K version of any Shakespeare. Does it really exist?

I didn't see the film "O" listed. A recent Othello adaptation.

 

[Brian PB]

I think many films haven't been listed because Matt_P's original question concerned "the best Shakespeare adaptations on DVD." For me, it's hard to talk about O in the same breath with Olivier's or Welles' Othello and keep a straight face.

IMDb lists over 525 filmed adaptations of Shakespeare--some unfairly neglected, many unavailable on DVD, and quite a few best forgotten.

 

[Matt_P]

Hmm...another error on my part. I was thinking of That Thing You Do, directed by Hanks.....I really need to scrutinize my responses before posting....:b

I saw the '99 Midsummer Night's Dream in the theater...it was not up to snuff. The stage production put on at my university last year was better!

Well said, Brain PB.

However, if one truly feels that "O" stands as one of the best adaptations, then by all means, mention it and discuss it. For instance, I mentioned 1999's Midsummer and Baz's Romeo and Juliet because I know some think very highly of those films, even though I don't.

 

[MarkBourne]

The MST3K Hamlet with Maximilian Schell -- here's its IMDB page -- aired just this past weekend. I caught it in the middle while channel-flipping and couldn't turn away. Several MST3K laffs (plus a cute Ophelia).

 

[Rick Blaine]

For My money, and I have spent it here, the BBC productions are the best - if you are a purist.
I own both the Tragedies and Comedies sets and watch them more than most of the movies I own.
For some strange reason British actors seem to have a better affinity with Shakespeare's language than American actors, Also these versions of the plays are more true to the "Language" than the many MOVIEIZED versions. And they are UN-edited.

Ultimately my favorites are the History Plays and I hope they do a set with
Richard II
Henry IV Pt1
Henry IV Pt2
Henry V
Richard III
They cleverly use the same actors through the entire series. The actor playing Henry IV (Jon Finch) is in Richard II thru Henry IV pt2 where he dies. Prince Hal, David Gwillim (Henry V) of course plays through both Henry IV plays to Henry V. Anthony Quayle is a great Falstaff.

So if you are a REAL Shakespeare buff, as far as I am concerned the BBC is the Place to Be.

Rick

 

[JustinCleveland]

That Thing You Do, directed by Hanks

Ah, yes... the Shakespearian Beatles picture

 

[Joe Caps]

I have a very old Beta tape that is wearing out of a wonderful performance of Midsummer Nights Dream - a Joseph Papp production done in 1982 live in central Park starring Willaim Hurt (as Oberon) and Christine Baranski. I hve no clue who would own this but it is a phenomal performance.

 

[Matt_P]

Be kind, Justin. I've never seen Hanks' picture.

They both have a form of "thing" in the title, don't they?

 

[Bill Williams]

What I would give to see a very solid SE DVD of Zeffirelli's Hamlet! When I was in graduate school, I took a course on Shakespeare, and I was assigned to study Hamlet because of the movie that came out at that time. It remains my favorite version of the play to date.

If and when Warner Home Video should get around to doing a SE, they need to include the 30-minute HBO special "Classic Mel Gibson: The Making of Hamlet" and the 60-minute special "Mel Gibson Goes Back to School", in which he goes to a California high school and subs as a guest teacher for a few days in teaching the students about Hamlet. Both of these are really insightful looks into the play and the movie and deserve to be included on the SE.

Another HBO-related version of Hamlet I enjoyed was the 30-minute episode from Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, hosted by Robin Williams. That one was good.

Other interesting versions of Hamlet that I know have been on video or TV, but should be also on DVD, are:

- 1969 Columbia Pictures' release with Nicol Williamson
- the 1980's PBS staging of Hamlet from the New York Shakespeare Festival starring Kevin Kline
- and of course, Kenneth Branagh's 4-hour epic adaptation.

As a side note, if you want to read a really interesting and offbeat adaptation of the play, pick up Pocket Books' release The Klingon Hamlet, translated by the Klingon Language Institute in Pennsylvania. It's set up based on the line from Star Trek VI where Gorkon says, "You've not truly experienced Shakespeare until you've read him in the original Klingon." They have the "original" Klingon version of the play as well as the "debased" English adaptation, as well as a "history" of the play's significance in Klingon culture. It's definitely worth looking at!

 

[Jeff_HR]

If you have a fat wallet check HERE

 

[Matt_P]

Great looking series, Jeff, but DEAR GOD....that's quite a price tag.

Also, that picture of Anthony Hopkins is creeping me out...