Kenneth Branagh's HAMLET -- the ultimate, merged, when-oh-when thread (1 Viewer)

[Robert Holloway]

I have a large loft, Sony Pearl, 10 foot screen.......

Sounds like a good idea.

Rob

 

[Stephen_J_H]

It may now be impossible to resist upgrading to HD. If I can do it for under $3K, I may not mind so much.

 

[Robert Holloway]

I don't think you should have too many problems upgrading to HD Front Projection for $3k in the summer

You won't regret it

Rob

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Except that I don't have room for a front projector at this point. My HT "room" (and I use that term loosely) is currently about 9 x 9. I'd have to go flat panel @ this point, plus the purchase of either BD or HD DVD player, PLUS a new HDMI compliant receiver = you get my drift. I think I'll be buying a house before I go HD.

 

[oscar_merkx]

As I started this thread about five years ago let me announce the joyous news
From Warner's on the chat tonight
Hamlet this summer in SD, HD DVD and Blu Ray
Rejoice, this is a great day!
Rob

Very pleased to hear this.
Cannot wait

 

[David_B_K]

Except that I don't have room for a front projector at this point. My HT "room" (and I use that term loosely) is currently about 9 x 9. I'd have to go flat panel @ this point, plus the purchase of either BD or HD DVD player, PLUS a new HDMI compliant receiver = you get my drift. I think I'll be buying a house before I go HD.

You don't have to get all that stuff right away. In spite of what you hear from HDDVD and BD fans, you would really see a great improvement watching SDDVD discs on a quality HD monitor. I would start there, at least, and with your space limitations, a flat panel would work nicely. If you are watching cable or dish, you can upgrade your receiver and service to the HD versions. So, you'd be getting some great HD prgramming even if you do not upgrade your players to the new format(s).

I bet Branagh's HAMLET is gonna look great in SDDVD.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I'm trying to convince my wife that an LCD display is a good investment, but so far it's not working. :frowning:

 

[Robert Holloway]

The problem with the upgrade path at the moment is that everything is moving scarily quiclkly on the display front.

You should strat a new thread in another part of this forum

Another great resource is at AVS

Good luck

Rob

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Thanks. I'll look into that.

 

[Chad R]

I'm trying to convince my wife that an LCD display is a good investment, but so far it's not working. :frowning:

I've convinced my wife that a nice new LCD will make her beloved Lex, Clark, Dr. McDreamy, et al, look especially big and shiny.
All in time for this beautiful film to finally make its way to DVD.

 

[Robert Holloway]

I started this thread several years ago.....

This has been a long time coming and a seeming endless session of posts and asks.

IMHO this release is all and more than we could ever have hoped for.

Thanks again to Warners

Rob

Quartet of Great Films from the Bard’s Greatest Works

THE SHAKESPEARE COLLECTION

Branagh’s Hamlet 2-Disc Special Edition ~

Reinhardt’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream ~

Olivier’s Othello & Thalberg’s Romeo and Juliet

All Debut August 14

Burbank, Calif. May 7, 2007 – Warner Home Video will debut a four title collection of William Shakespeare’s most famous screen adaptations on August 14. Leading the group of the Bard’s masterworks will be the long-awaited DVD debut of Kenneth’s Branagh’s Hamlet 2- Disc Special Edition, the unforgettable and highly acclaimed full text version of Shakespeare’s powerful tragedy, featuring a magnificent all-star cast. The collection also includes three other famous Shakespeare screen translations, all making their highly-demanded premieres on DVD

-- Max Reinhardt’s legendary production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which featured virtually the entire Warner Bros. stable of stars circa 1935, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Othello, and the lavish M-G-M version of Romeo and Juliet starring Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer. Among the galaxy of famous stars in these films are Maggie Smith, James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Mickey Rooney, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.

The Shakespeare Collection, with all films carefully remastered to showcase their lush production values, includes new commentaries, vintage featurettes and more. The Collection will be available both as a five-disc set for $59.92 SRP, and as individual titles. The Hamlet 2-Disc Special Edition DVD will sell for $26.99 SRP. The individual titles are available for $19.97 SRP each.

Hamlet 2-Disc Special Edition (1996)

In this first-ever full-text film of Shakespeare’s greatest work, nominated for 4 Academy Awards®, the power surges through every scene. The timeless tale of murder, corruption and revenge is reset in an opulent 19th-century world, using sprawling Blenheim Palace as Elsinore with much of the action staged in shimmering mirrored and gold-filled interiors. The luminous cast includes actor/director Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal and Charlton Heston.

The excitement of the Bard’s words and Branagh’s adventurous filmmaking style lift the story from its often shadowy ambience to fully-lit pageantry and rage. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, “In the 80 years that works of world literature have been adapted for the screen, few filmmakers have attempted so much and with such success.”

DVD Special Features:

· Introduction by director/star Kenneth Branagh

· Commentary by Kenneth Branagh and Shakespeare scholar Russell Jackson

· New digital transfer from original 70mm elements

· Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1

· Featurette To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet

· 1996 Cannes Film Festival promo

· Shakespeare movies trailer gallery

Hamlet ’96

Julius Caesar ‘53

Othello ‘65

Othello ‘95

Romeo and Juliet ‘37

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ‘35

Hamlet ’90

· Subtitles: English, French and Spanish subtitles. (feature film only)

 

[Stephen_J_H]

About bloody time. I'll buy the box.

 

[DouglasBr]

deleted

 

[Darrell Bratz]

I started this thread several years ago.....
This has been a long time coming and a seeming endless session of posts and asks.

I feel like there should be some sort of commemorative service or something. Maybe the thread should be locked now, sort of like retiring a player's number. The only thing left to do is to campaign to have Robert's name added to the DVD's credits.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Wow -- "Not only are we gussying up the A/V and adding a commentary and featurette, we're tossing in three more classic Shakespeare adaptations.
"Oh yeah. . .and releasing a 4-disc Blade Runner set while we're at it."
Warner. . .I wuv wou.

 

[Dougieha]

Miracles can and do happen. Warner...thank you.

 

[Robert Holloway]

Darrell,
No need for that. Since the format started I have fought two crusade. The Big Blue and now this.
The true champions are Ron and his team for keeping forums like this going that enablke our views to appear in front of the studios. Twenty years ago it was all so different.
I simply cannot wait to see this in HD from my Pearl.
Rob

I feel like there should be some sort of commemorative service or something. Maybe the thread should be locked now, sort of like retiring a player's number. The only thing left to do is to campaign to have Robert's name added to the DVD's credits.

 

[Adam_WM]

I am so there.

 

[Roger Rollins]

AT LAST!

Warner promised..and Warner delivered. Well worth waiting for!

I'm particularly pleased at the boxed-set presentation, for each film has unique virtues.

I love the WB MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and it will be great to have the roadshow version, no less to see Olivia de Havilland's screen test.

..but I'm sure today belongs to hundreds of thousands of Kenneth Branagh fans around the world who are cheering the DVD arrival of his amazing presentation of HAMLET.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Finally. Wonderful news - I am overjoyed. We've pretty much known this was coming for a while, but to have it finally confirmed is nice.

Looking forward to having this in my hands.