10 Great Films Inspired By Shakespeare (10 titles)

S'blood! A fine collection!

by: Here's Johnny from London

95% from 4 members

Throne Of Blood

Kurosawa's take on Macbeth is just fantastic - well acted, well paced, well shot... And you know why the samurai at the end looks so scared? Real frickin' arrows, that's why.

- our price: £12.93
Throne Of Blood on DVD (1957)
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Certificate:
Macbeth is reimagined as a samurai in feudal Japan in director Akira Kurosawa's classic adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy. Familiar with Orson Welles's more faithful adaptation, Kurosawa chose to place a more personal stamp on his version by translating the events and characters to historical ..read more »

Rate this: 72% from 5,014 members

My Kingdom

Richard Harris' last film is a punchy version of 'King Lear'.

- our price: £13.93
My Kingdom on DVD (2001)
Starring: Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave, Emma Catherwood
Director: Don Boyd
Certificate:
Bringing together two recent trends--British gangster movies and modern-dress Shakespeare--My Kingdom is King Lear in contemporary Liverpool. Richard Harris, who ought to be giving his real Lear about now, is fine in the early sections as the complacent gang boss who thinks he's above the street-..read more »

Rate this: 54% from 462 members

What a complete luvvie-fest. Still, it uses Shakespeare's language and it's very watchable... apart from a truly god-awful performance Keanu Reeves. Still, wasn't Kate Beckinsale lovely before she went all plastic and Hollywood?

- our price: £5.43
Much Ado About Nothing on DVD (1993)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Richard Briers, Michael Keaton
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
When gallant Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), his nefarious brother Don John (Keanu Reeves), and close confidantes Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) and Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) ride thunderously into the Sicilian village of Messina, romance, gaiety, and suspicion abound. The men have returned safely ..read more »

Rate this: 69% from 6,759 members

Looking For Richard

Al Pachino wanders round with a hunch wondering what all the fuss is about when actors pick up a play by the Bard.

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Looking For Richard on DVD
Starring: Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey
Director: Al Pacino
Certificate:
Behind the scenes of an all-star cast rehearsing the play Richard III.

Rate this: 61% from 898 members

Titus

Fun and gory.

- our price: £3.93
Titus on DVD (1999)
Starring: Osheen Jones, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Julie Taymor
Certificate:
Adaptation of William Shakespeare's revenge play, Titus Andronicus.

Rate this: 62% from 1,227 member

Romeo And Juliet

Baz brings it back up to date... it's like the RSC doing Grand Theft Auto.

- our price: £4.93
Romeo And Juliet on DVD (1996)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Certificate:
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 Danes play the famous lovers kept apart by rival industrialist families. Bookended by newscastsers ..read more »

Rate this: 69% from 21,208 members

Richard III

Gandalf plays the bunch-backed toad as he plans to seize the crown.

Richard III on DVD (1995)
Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent
Director: Richard Loncraine
Certificate:
This updating of Shakespeare's classic history sets the tale in a stark version of 1930's Europe and features Sir Ian McKellen as the titular ruthless malcontent out to wrest control of the throne of England from any who would oppose him. Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best Art Direction ..read more »

Rate this: 67% from 2,001 members

West Side Story

Mar-iii-a... Mar-i-a, Mar-i-a. The Jets and the Sharks may be up there with the gang from Michael Jackson's 'Bad' video in terms of toughness, but this is still great.

West Side Story on DVD (1961)
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Certificate:
Considered one of the most popular musicals of all time, WEST SIDE STORY earned director Robert Wise an Oscar for Best Director as well as nine other Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Realistically portrayed characters and their surroundings and expert editing complementing innovative dance ..read more »

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My Own Private Idaho

Before you get all 'What's the hell has this got to do with Shaespeare', Scott is based on Prince Hal from 'Henry IV'. So there.

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My Own Private Idaho on DVD (1991)
Starring: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo
Director: Gus Van Sant
Certificate:
Two street hustlers from the Northwest, one abandoned as a child, the other rebellious scion of a wealthy and powerful family, travel as far as Rome, Italy in search of the former's missing mother.

Rate this: 59% from 6,927 members

Henry V

Branagh's debut.

- our price: £3.93
Henry V on DVD (1989)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Paul Scofield
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Kenneth Branagh makes his directorial debut and also plays the title role in HENRY V, an ambitious film that began a resurgence of interest in films of Shakespeare's plays. Henry is a young king seeking a way to make his mark on history. He gets his chance when he learns he can make a legal claim ..read more »

Rate this: 67% from 2,676 members