Best Shakespeare movie adaptation (with original dialogue)?
by Freshly_Squeezed_Human_Spirit | created - 08 Sep 2015 | updated - 17 Sep 2015 | PublicWhich of these Shakespeare movie adaptations is your favorite?
Discuss or suggest entries here. The poll is here.
Rules:
1) No tv movies.
2) The dialogue has to be original. There should be (mostly) no added or rewritten dialogue, although omissions are ok. Changes in the setting (era/location) are not a problem.
List order: first the comedies, then the histories, then the tragedies.
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1. The Tempest (1979)
R | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy
Banished to a forsaken island, the Right Duke of Milan and Sorcerer Prospero gets the chance to take his revenge on the King of Naples with the assistance of his airy spirit-servant, Ariel.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Peter Bull, David Meyer, Neil Cunningham, Heathcote Williams
Votes: 1,243
2. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale
Votes: 51,969 | Gross: $22.55M
3. Much Ado About Nothing (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese
Votes: 17,085 | Gross: $4.33M
4. Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
PG | 93 min | Romance, Comedy, Musical
An update of the classic Shakespeare story, director Kenneth Branagh shot the film like a classic 1930s musical. It tells the story of four best friends who swear off love.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone, Natascha McElhone, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 4,900 | Gross: $0.28M
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Approved | 133 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Two couples and a troupe of actors have an encounter with some mischievous fairies in the forest.
Directors: William Dieterle, Max Reinhardt | Stars: James Cagney, Dick Powell, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale
Votes: 3,884
6. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Lovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 26,961 | Gross: $16.07M
7. The Merchant of Venice (2004)
R | 131 min | Drama, Romance
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 38,240 | Gross: $3.77M
8. Twelfth Night (1996)
PG | 134 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Director: Trevor Nunn | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Imogen Stubbs, Steven Mackintosh
Votes: 6,402 | Gross: $0.59M
9. Henry V (1944)
Not Rated | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer
Votes: 7,067
10. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,647 | Gross: $10.16M
11. Richard III (1995)
R | 110 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, War
The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, Edward Jewesbury
Votes: 15,564 | Gross: $2.60M
12. Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, History
When King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, John Gielgud
Votes: 10,143 | Gross: $0.12M
Mash-up of the Falstaff scenes from Richard II, Henry IV (parts one and two), Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Only original text from these Shakespeare plays is used.
13. Coriolanus (2011)
R | 123 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Lubna Azabal
Votes: 33,512 | Gross: $0.76M
14. Titus (1999)
R | 162 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Titus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Osheen Jones, Dario D'Ambrosi
Votes: 21,460 | Gross: $1.92M
Based on Titus Andronicus
15. Romeo and Juliet (1968)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Romance
When two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 34,757 | Gross: $38.90M
16. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,692 | Gross: $46.35M
17. Julius Caesar (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, History
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Louis Calhern, Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud
Votes: 12,863
18. Macbeth (1971)
R | 140 min | Drama, History
A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord seizes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler
Votes: 14,960
19. Macbeth (I) (2015)
R | 113 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan
Votes: 59,491 | Gross: $1.11M
20. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,385 | Gross: $7.09M
21. Hamlet (1990)
PG | 135 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Paul Scofield
Votes: 23,599 | Gross: $20.71M
22. Hamlet (1996)
PG-13 | 242 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Votes: 40,044 | Gross: $4.41M
23. King Lear (1970)
GP | 137 min | Drama
King Lear divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia refuses to idly flatter the old man, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters.
Director: Peter Brook | Stars: Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Cyril Cusack, Susan Engel
Votes: 936
24. Othello (1951)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, Romance
The Moorish General Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his Lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality, it is all part of the scheme of a bitter Ensign named Iago.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Micheál MacLiammóir, Robert Coote, Suzanne Cloutier
Votes: 9,448
25. Othello (1995)
R | 123 min | Drama, Romance
The Moorish General Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his Lieutenant Michael Cassio, when in reality, it is all part of the scheme of a bitter Ensign named Iago.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 10,172 | Gross: $2.11M
Added on 17 Sept. '15, shortly after poll publication.
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