Branagh has one-upped Olivier again by making his Hamlet a bold spectacle: big and loud and colorful.
Hamlet (1996)
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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:49
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: Kenneth Branagh's sprawling, finely textured adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece lives up to its source material, using strong performances and a sharp cinematic focus to create a powerfully resonant film that wastes none of its 246 minutes.
Runtime: 4 hrs 26 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Kenneth Branagh returns to Shakespeare following his ground-breaking HENRY V and whimsical production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. This classic tale tells the story of Hamlet (Kenneth... Director Kenneth Branagh returns to Shakespeare following his ground-breaking HENRY V and whimsical production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. This classic tale tells the story of Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh), the prince of Denmark, a man suffering from grief at the death of his father, the king. His mother (Julie Christie) has quickly married Claudius (Derek Jacobi), Hamlet's uncle, who now reigns as the new king. Late one night Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost, who comes to tell him that Claudius poisoned him in his garden to win the crown, and that Hamlet, as his son, must now avenge his death. The prince's course of action sets the wheels of this great tragedy in motion, as the corruption of the Danish court begins to engulf everyone around it, including, finally, Hamlet himself. Branagh has assembled a stellar cast (including Kate Winslet, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams) for this titanic enterprise, which presents HAMLET in its four hour entirety. Shot in 70-millimeter film, Branagh's HAMLET takes on the epic sweep associated with the films of Cecil B. DeMille or David Lean. By restoring Shakespeare's tragedy to its full length, Branagh has created a film of striking size and scope. [More]
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Charlton Heston, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Charlton Heston, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, John Gielgud, Rosemary Harris
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Story: William Shakespeare
Screenwriter: Kenneth Branagh
Producer: David Barron
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Reviews for Hamlet
Viewers patient enough to sit through four hours of this film are going to be rewarded with a memorable experience.
Moviegoers who applauded the vigilante justice in such recent films as Joel Schumacher's A Time To Kill and Barry Levinson's Sleepers should be totally in sync with the action and have no trouble surmounting the verbiage.
I have seen dozens of versions of this play (either on screen or on stage), and none has ever held me in such a grip of awe.
Hamlet is vast but manageable, gorgeous, and tragic on a very personal level. And every moment is riveting.
Stars Kenneth Branagh as a vigorous man of action who sets out to accomplish his mission with firm resolve.
Branagh's version moved me, entertained me and made me feel for the first time at home in that doomed royal court.
Die-hard Bard students may quibble, but this gargantuan and glorious Hamlet is a movie-lover's paradise.
Not since Akira Kurosawa's Ran (a Japanese King Lear) has there been such an energetic, visually exciting presentation of a Shakespearean play.
His reach extends his grasp and the film stumbles along the way, but Branagh's audacious vision, coupled with Shakespeare's dazzling prose, delivers many substantial rewards.
Branagh confirms what was known from the opening shot of Henry V: he has fine cinematic skills.
Not many filmmakers would dare to film and then market a four-hour film like this, but Branagh pulls it off marvelously.
Branagh's performance as the tired, troubled prince of Denmark is one of the great achievements in modern cinema.
A vigorous, four-hour adaptation that's 100 percent Shakespeare and 100 percent cinema.
It is a flawed adaptation, but still probably the best cinematic theatrical release of Shakespeare's Hamlet
If you're willing to sit through Branah's 4-hour Hamlet, you'll be rewarded with a lavishly mounted, full-bodied version that brings new dimensions to the time-honored play, done before by Olivier (among others) in a 1948 Oscar-winning film.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
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| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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