A Midsummer Night's Dream

PG-13

1996

1h 45m

Comedy

List

40%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

45%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

In this film version of Adrian Noble's inventive staging of Shakespeare's classic play, a young boy (Osheen Jones) dreams all that follows. While the Duke of Athens and the Queen of the Amazons prepare to marry, the King and Queen of the Fairies bicker. Four young lovers have their tangled romances further complicated by fairy magic. Meanwhile, a band of amateur actors rehearses a play in the enchanted forest, until one of them, Nick Bottom (Desmond Barrit), is transformed into a half-donkey.

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Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

The Bard-by-way-of-Cirque-du-Soleil approach is more of a distraction than an enhancement.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 16, 2009

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Sep 5, 2005

Full Review

Michelle Alexandria

Eclipse Magazine

Rated: 1/5

Nov 20, 2003

Full Review

Michael Szymanski

Zap2it.com

Rated: 3/5

Sep 23, 2003

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Dan Jardine

Apollo Guide

Rated: 76/100

Jan 1, 2000

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Audience Member

Whimsical set design, well-spoken actors.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

Shakespeare's hard enough to understand, but add in bizarre and you get a not very good movie.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

One of my favorite Shakespearean plays, however this adaptation didn't impress me. I hated the faeries costumes and the whole little boy watching/dreaming about the play. It did get better towards the end, but the first 40 minutes or so dragged out for me... and that's the best part of the play. I'd rather just read the play than watch this again.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

It was ok -- the best part of it is at the end, the play within the play. The frame of being in the dream of a boy did not really work for me.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

A truely brilliant adaption. Som of the acting was slightly lax but performances by Kevin Klein and Michelle Pfeiffer more than made up for it. I might go so far as to call it a masterpiece!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

BAD. The only redeeming thing about it was that Alex Jennings' Oberon bore a strong resemblance to Jareth from Labyrinth, but without the singing. LAME.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Adrian Noble

Director

Lindsay Duncan

Hippolyta

Alex Jennings

Theseus

Desmond Barrit

Nick Bottom

Barry Lynch

Philostrate

Osheen Jones

The Boy

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Synopsis

In this film version of Adrian Noble's inventive staging of Shakespeare's classic play, a young boy (Osheen Jones) dreams all that follows. While the Duke of Athens and the Queen of the Amazons prepare to marry, the King and Queen of the Fairies bicker. Four young lovers have their tangled romances further complicated by fairy magic. Meanwhile, a band of amateur actors rehearses a play in the enchanted forest, until one of them, Nick Bottom (Desmond Barrit), is transformed into a half-donkey.

Director: Adrian Noble
Screenwriter: Adrian Noble
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 6, 2017
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Surround

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