Hamlet

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Wayne B Positives: Full text; beautiful people, costumes and sets; fairly clear delivery. Derek Jacobi is excellent as Claudius, as is Julie Christie as Gertrude. Negatives: Frenetic to point of being exhausting, probably necessary to come in at 4 hours. Some in the "all star cast" were never considered "Shakespearean actors" (and never should be, e.g., Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, bless them). Judy Dench and Sir John Gilgud who helped make the cast list sound really fancy simply did a pantomime. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/05/25 Full Review Julian Rex M Valiantly striving for the epic scope, characters, and emotion of Shakespeare's iconic source material, Kenneth Branagh brings Hamlet together into a grand cinematic masterwork due to the massive talent of his combined cast, crew, and own assured performance. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/20/25 Full Review Michael H The best Shakespeare adaptation of all time and the second greatest film ever. Epic, thrilling, exquisitely acted, Ken Branagh takes the greatest play ever written and creates a masterpiece of epic proportions. Stunning, magnificent, exquisite, mind blowing, a film everyone should see and then some. Masterpiece doesn't do it justice. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/24/24 Full Review Nicholas L Hamlet's madness is portrayed well. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/17/24 Full Review Umatsu O The best adaptation of the best play (including screenplay) ever penned to paper. Shakespeare's work is deeply profound, thought provoking, and timeless, speaking to subjects that are relevant to the human condition in all times and places, and doing so in ways that touch and rend the heart, and Kenneth Branagh absolutely does it justice. Contains SOME unfortunate casting choices (Marcellus definitely just reading straight off the script, for example), but it can't dull the accomplishment achieved here. I first watched this film at a mere 10 years old, and though Shakespeare's writing baffled me at the time, the sheer acting prowess and emotive delivery of the lines allowed me even then to understand most of what was happening and being discussed and found it compelling even for a child. Today as I watch it for the couple dozenth time with a nearly fluent grasp on the language, it moves me to tears. Hollywood has done wrong by Shakespeare for ages with adaptation after adaptation of stale, emotionless line deliveries from actors who very obviously don't understand what they're even saying, but Kenneth Branagh blows all other adaptations out of the water and delivers a performance that I believe even Shakespeare himself would have applauded. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/01/24 Full Review Teddy B Kenneth Branagh's masterwork, 'Hamlet' doesn't waste any time with its unique interpretation of the story that somehow manages to fit the entire playscript in it's lengthy runtime. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/01/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Hamlet

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