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10/18/08
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996)
70 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 50
Fresh: 35
Rotten:15
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Consensus: Baz Luhrmann's visual aesthetic is as divisive as it is fresh and inventive.
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This ambitious undertaking, adapting William Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers and setting the story in a glossy music-video style in 1990s Florida. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire... [More]
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Miriam Margolyes, Harold Perrineau
Director: Baz Luhrmann
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Reviews for William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
Top CriticA sexy, innovative and memorable sumptuous feast for eye and ear.
07/03/08
Top CriticIt's a genuinely fresh take on an oft-told tale.
07/03/08
Top CriticDoesn't approach the emotional resonance of Franco Zeffirelli's immensely popular 1968 screen version.
06/11/08
Top CriticWhen the filmmakers decide to jazz it up with crazy camera angles and rapid cutting, along with screaming and shooting, it just gets lost.
07/22/06
Luhrmann's gleefully cinematic version of the play is so relentlessly inventive and innovative, it takes 20 minutes to get a grasp on how appropriate is his approach to the material.
02/09/06
Tries so hard to be hip that it loses the soul of the story.
04/09/05
Despite a flawed start, Romeo & Juliet proves the story deserves an adjective often attached to it: 'timeless.'
06/06/03
Where is the audience willing to watch a classic play thrown in the path of a subway train?
05/20/03
Top CriticA psychedelic assault on the senses; a trip of unparalleled originality.
05/14/03
Keeps the integrity of Shakespeare's text, but mostly thanks to the actors speaking the very same lines of iambic pentameter as written four centuries ago.
05/07/03
The hyperactive movie seems goofy and gimmicky at first, but it acquires real power when the cinematography settles down enough for Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes to do some excellent acting, helped by a superb supporting cast.
04/02/03
It's just a little too jarring to be top notch, but it sure is powerful.
03/16/03
An amazing feat of ambition and imagination.
10/15/02
Deeply entertaining, from the gripping opening to the breath-taking finale.
09/10/02
Fast-paced and juiced-up version of this classic drama.
08/28/02
Puts Shakespeare’s greatest romance in a choke-hold and takes it slam-dancing.
08/28/02
Top CriticClick to read the article
08/09/02
Top CriticA monumental disaster.
06/18/02
Top CriticClick to read the article
06/05/02
Latest News for William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
April 05, 2006:
Luhrman's Period Piece Gets Bumped from Production Slate
Baz Luhrmann, director of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, was planning to get his 1930's period piece underway this September, but budgeting woes, and the tenuous availability... More...
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