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William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet PG-13 Released Nov 1, 1996 2h 0m Romance Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 69 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona Beach. In this version, the Capulets and the Montagues are two rival gangs. Juliet (Claire Danes) is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents. Her father Fulgencio Capulet (Paul Sorvino) has arranged her marriage to the boorish Paris (Paul Rudd) as part of a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the masked ball and he and Juliet fall in love.
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William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

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Critics Consensus

Baz Luhrmann's visual aesthetic is as divisive as it is fresh and inventive.

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Critics Reviews

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Wendy Ide Times (UK) Despite a hip Miami backdrop, and the quarrel between the Montagues and Capulets being played out like a gang feud, the director retained the play’s original text. It works beautifully... Nov 7, 2023 Full Review Anna Coatman Little White Lies Look back on your first love, without it making you wince. Rated: 4/5 Feb 14, 2013 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly A slick blast of ''decadence,'' the kind of violent swank-trash music video that may make you feel like reaching for the remote control. Rated: C+ Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Cory Woodroof 615 Film You really get the whole Baz experience here. Jul 17, 2022 Full Review Mel Campbell ScreenHub Luhrmann's style simply defibrillates Shakespeare's text. ... For me, it's the overblown carnality that makes it such a perfect adaptation of the source material, and that still leaps from the screen today. Rated: 5/5 Nov 9, 2021 Full Review Yasmin Omar Harper's Bazaar This glitter bomb of a film explodes the play and builds it back up again... result[ing] in a truly unforgettable cinematic experience. Rated: 5/5 Nov 5, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Evangaline E The most stupidest movie ever never watch it DONT WATCH Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/14/25 Full Review Blu : this film was beyond dumb 😭😭 Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/12/25 Full Review Nimal C I am officially appalled at the lack of care for Shakespeare's great work. This scrappy, rushed excuse for a film strips all the emotional depth and intimacy of Shakespeare's play. Firstly I must discuss the acting. It feels like the actors are reading off a sheet in front of the camera, devoid of any humanism that these characters beg for. Most of the fight scenes are overdone and comical, prompting more of an unintentional comedy than a play. Leonardo di Caprio and Clare Dane's acting, while still quite sub-par, far outweighs any efforts of the other 'actors' in this saddeningly bad production. Secondly I will take a look at the visuals. Or should I say I would rather not take a look at the visuals. The production team for this film were clearly on a strict budget. The eye-wateringly grainy camera quality mixed with a confused grasp (or not so) on the speed of camera angle switching. Many a time was I left with no clue of what just happened on my screen due to the blurry and fast moving graphics. Just pathetic in general. Finally, I will look at the soundtrack. Oh god. Would have been better done by a three year old left with a computer and a script. I don't quite know what possessed these production crew(s) to put such disjointed and inappropriate music on the film. Jumping from an intimate love scene underscored by what should be old medieval music (lyre, flute, harp maybe) we hear a butchered children's choir followed by a gun-ho rock mashup better suited to Hot Fuzz than romeo and juliet. Total defamation to one of the best love stories ever written. In conclusion, this film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" misses the mark like Romeo missing Juliet’s balcony on a foggy night after a few martinis. With performances so lackluster they could put a sloth to sleep, visuals that seem like they were designed by a toddler on a sugar high, and a soundtrack that sounds like it was assembled from a broken jukebox, it feels less like a celebration of love and more like a chaotic circus where the clowns forgot their lines. It’s truly disheartening to see such a classic reduced to a spectacle that leaves true fans of the play more heartbroken than Romeo when he found out he wasn’t going to get a sequel! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/11/25 Full Review Zamya F The soundtrack is amazing. My favorite part is the fish tank scene. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/25 Full Review Rosana B Meu Deus, que tristeza de filme horrível e desnecessário, uma paródia bem exagerada, mas nem toda do mundo foi suficiente opara alegrar a pobre película insossamente sonífera... Dito isso, sua trilha sonora complementar atingiram com sucesso a " Geração MTV ": um público jovem de idade semelhante à dos personagens da história. A única coisa que fez o filme valer a pena é o frescor da juventude e beleza associada a química entre Leonardo DiCaprio e Claire Danes... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/30/24 Full Review Simon G I first watched this film in school for drama class, which I didn’t choose to participate in at the time, and everyone (the kids) thought it was a weird film because they couldn’t understand what was being said or the sometimes strange videography. cough* the petrol station scene cough*. However I remember my teachers saying that this is the best film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet ever made and they are completely bang on about that. I’ve since watched it several times now I’ve grown up and can understand it, and it really is exquisite. The soundtrack particularly brings a certain nostalgic energy to the film that’s strangely comforting considering the storyline. The setting couldn’t have been more appropriate and the modern take on it is just incredible. Such a clever and creative work of art. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/25/24 Full Review Read all reviews
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

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Movie Info

Synopsis Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona Beach. In this version, the Capulets and the Montagues are two rival gangs. Juliet (Claire Danes) is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents. Her father Fulgencio Capulet (Paul Sorvino) has arranged her marriage to the boorish Paris (Paul Rudd) as part of a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the masked ball and he and Juliet fall in love.
Director
Baz Luhrmann
Producer
Baz Luhrmann, Gabriella Martinelli
Screenwriter
William Shakespeare, Craig Pearce, Baz Luhrmann
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox, Bazmark Films
Rating
PG-13 (Some Sensuality|Contemporary Violence)
Genre
Romance, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 1, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$46.4M
Runtime
2h 0m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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