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Whistle Stopper - William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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List Price: $26.99
Our Price: $14.45
Your Save: $ 12.54 ( 46% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Gérard Depardieu, Kate Winslet
Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0053939268324
Format: AC-3
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-08-14
Running Time: 242
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1996-12-25
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Branagh
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, Lavish, Magnficent: a Must See-- five stars
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Visually sumptous, a spellbinding cast, lovely soundtrack, but Branagh as Hamlet is dreadful
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hamlet review
Comment: Hamlet is very true to the Shakespearean play. There are only a few rearragements of the placement of the words. Very well done.
Customer Rating:
Summary: comparison
Comment: not as good as olivier but interesting because the complete text is used,a little too much sawing the air and loud talk.w/u/
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Editorial Reviews:
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Hamlet has the kind of power energy and excitement that movies can truly exploit' award-winning actor/director Kenneth Branagh says. In this first-ever full-text film of William Shakespeare's greatest work 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 and staging much of the action in shimmering-mirrored gold-filled interiors. The excitement of the Bard's words and an adventurous filmmaking style lift the story from its often shadowy ambiance to a fully-lit pageantry and rage. Now presented in an amazing 2-Disc Special Edition.System Requirements:Running Time: 242 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 053939268324 Manufacturer No: C2683
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