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Movies / On DVD / Hamlet
Hamlet

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Hamlet (2000)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:47

Rotten:37

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Stiff performances fail to produce any tension onscreen.

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Ethan Hawke stars in this modern update of Shakespeare's classic play. He portrays a young filmmaker in New York City who struggles to gain power of his deceased father's company, even as the new... Ethan Hawke stars in this modern update of Shakespeare's classic play. He portrays a young filmmaker in New York City who struggles to gain power of his deceased father's company, even as the new boss (Kyle MacLachlan) manages to take total control of the proceedings. Michael Almereyda's (NADJA) film is another stylized adaptation of the Bard's words, featuring standout performances by the entire cast. For other modern Shakespeare adaptations, see Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO AND JULIET and Julie Taymor's TITUS. [More]

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Sam Shepard, Casey Affleck, Karl Geary, Steve Zahn, Jeffrey Wright, Dechen Thurman, Paul Bartel

Director: Michael Almereyda

Director: Michael Almereyda
Screenwriter: Michael Almereyda
Story: William Shakespeare
Producer: Andrew Fierberg, Amy Hobby
Composer: Carter Burwell

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 17, 2001

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Hamlet
  • Hot Hollywood star Ethan Hawke (GATTACA) is joined by Julia Stiles (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU) and Bill Murray (RUSHMORE) in a hip, thoroughly contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare's epic story of passion, betrayal, and revenge! The president of the Denmark Corporation is dead ... and already his wife is remarried to the man suspected of his murder! Nobody is more troubled than her son, Hamlet (Hawke). Now, after this hostile takeover, trust is impossible, passion is on the rise, and revenge is in the air! Also featuring Kyle MacLachlan (ONE NIGHT STAND), Liev Schreiber (SCREAM 3), Diane Venora (THE INSIDER), and Sam Shepard (THE PELICAN BRIEF) in an outstanding ensemble -- the power of Shakespeare's timeless words is matched by the stunningly modern look and feel of this widely acclaimed, highly entertaining big-screen event!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Hamlet

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
    09/10/09
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    At the Movies
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Janet Branagan
    Janet Branagan
    Apollo Guide

    It could prove almost as definitive -- and far more easily digestible -- than Branagh's textually complete version.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    07/06/08
    Ken Eisner
    Ken Eisner
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Almereyda pares the drama down to its bloody core, leaving a potent tale of despair, madness and loss.

    Full Review Source: Film4 | comment Comment
    07/06/08
    Film4

    The movie is almost playful in its mission to burrow around inside Hamlet and discover what's still relevant about it.

    Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
    09/17/07
    Rob Gonsalves
    Rob Gonsalves
    eFilmCritic.com

    The lines are read for the most part with more feeling for the angry-stepchild plot than for the iambic pentameter.

    Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
    04/27/07
    Andrew Sarris
    Andrew Sarris
    New York Observer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Almereyda modernises and streamlines without trivializing, and amplifies poetic melodrama with regular ingenuity and energy.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    06/03/06
    Derek Adams
    Derek Adams
    Time Out

    [This is] an imaginative and exciting update, lacking only the decent swordfight the ending demands.

    Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
    06/03/06
    Matthew Turner
    Matthew Turner
    ViewLondon

    The city becomes a living emblem of the tense coexistence of art and corporatism, an uneasy relationship which Almereyda emphasizes as the core conflict of his picture.

    Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
    06/03/06
    Nick Davis
    Nick Davis
    Nick's Flick Picks

    I guess Johnny Depp was busy, so they got the one that can't act.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    06/03/06
    Chris Gore
    Chris Gore
    Film Threat

    No, Ethan Hawke can't do Shakespeare.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    06/03/06
    Merle Bertrand
    Merle Bertrand
    Film Threat

    In a sense, it's B-movie Shakespeare, the same as Orson Welles' inspired version of Macbeth (1948), which was produced on a skimpy budget for a B-picture studio.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    05/26/04
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid

    Hamlet is supposed to be melancholy, but Hawke plays him as a disturbed loner who is more likely to infect the world's computers with an e-mail virus than avenge his father's murder.

    Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
    06/06/03
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

    Consider it a primer for Kenneth Branagh's four and a half hour Hamlet opus.

    Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
    04/19/03
    David Nusair
    David Nusair
    Reel Film Reviews

    Fear not. This Bard is anything but boring!

    Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
    09/20/02
    Robert Nuņez
    Robert Nuņez
    Hollywood.com

    This film is a refreshing contrast to the latest batch of Shakespeare films.

    Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
    07/12/02
    Hollywood.com

    Icy-cold in its palette and unwaveringly cool in its application of modern settings and gizmos to a text that stands up to endless reinvention, this is a Hamlet that brings imagination matched by thoughtfulness to its appeal to both eye and ear.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    04/11/02
    Susan Stark
    Susan Stark
    Detroit News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The result is more than a mere gimmick and less than an unqualifed success, but yes -- it's always watchable.

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    03/19/02
    Rick Groen
    Rick Groen
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Visually the film is riveting, using the setting with real style and emotion.

    Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
    12/10/01
    Rich Cline
    Rich Cline
    Shadows on the Wall

    A disappointment because it failed to peak my interest like Baz Luhrman's Romeo & Juliet did.

    Full Review Source: Trades | comment Comment
    11/03/01
    Alex Keen
    Alex Keen
    Trades
     
     
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