Snappy Shakespeare adaptation has guts, gloss and glorious performances.
Richard III (1995)
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:39
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8/10
Consensus: This re-imagining of Shakespeare's Crookback King relocates the story in 1930 and features an indelible star turn for Ian McKellen as the monstrous and magnetic King Richard.
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This unique adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Richard III" switches the story's setting from the 1480s to the 1930s and imagines what a fascist coup in England might have been like. Despite... This unique adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Richard III" switches the story's setting from the 1480s to the 1930s and imagines what a fascist coup in England might have been like. Despite the change in milieu, the story remains the same. The malformed, evil Richard III wants to gain control of the throne and brutally kills anyone who gets in his way -- including the members of his royal family. Among Richard's victims are his overly-trusting brother, Clarence, and Queen Elizabeth's brother, Rivers. And their murders are just the beginning of Richard's devious plan to gain power. The film's many offbeat touches include Richard giving his famous "winter of our discontent" speech as a public political address, and uttering his classic line "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" when his jeep gets stuck in mud. [More]
Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey
Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey, Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood
Director: Richard Loncraine
Director: Richard Loncraine
Story: William Shakespeare, Richard Eyre
Screenwriter: Ian McKellen, Richard Loncraine
Composer: Trevor Jones
Producer: Lisa Katselas Pare, Stephen Bayly
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Reviews for Richard III
This is Shakespeare exciting enough for even the most dubious, which, after all, is no less than the man deserves.
Few English actors can speak verse with the rhythmic ease and assurance of McKellen and Maggie Smith.
Setting Richard III in a fictional fascist England of the 1930s is inspired...
Flourish is the name of the game, and even what seems like unintentional comedy may be more purposeful than it appears.
A film of rare visual and intellectual vigour, one that challenges while it involves.
The actors are uniformly good, including Broadbent's unctuous Buckingham and Hawthorne's sweet, unsuspecting Clarence.
While this curious clash between a near-modern setting and the much older source material might seem confounding, it actually serves to energize the play, as well as making it more palatable to present-day audiences.
McKellen's enormous performance as Richard represents the film's biggest tinkering with theatrical canon.
Overall, this version of Richard III is an entrancing interpretation.
Stylistically the film has some terrific moments, oozing period feel.
Combines a shrewd understanding of Shakespeare with a healthy, low-brow approach to cinema.
The updating is the kind of fanciful exercise far better suited to the stage than to the literal confines of the screen.
The film's look, opulent with Deco, is stunning, but is never an end in itself.
Latest News for Richard III
January 18, 2006:
Trailer Bulletin: Firewall
Good ol' Harrison Ford never gets too old to stop kicking some serious butt, and the 63-year-old actor shows off his stuff in a new action thriller from director Richard... More...
November 15, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Firewall
It's been a while since we've had a good Harrison Ford flick, so it's with hopeful optimism that we point you towards the all-new trailer for Mr. Ford's next film, the crime... More...
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|---|---|
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|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
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| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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