One great virtue of this production is that it includes considerably more of Shakespeare's dialogue than do most other versions. Quite a number of lines have been excised -- including my favourite lines "For, though I am not splenitive and rash/Yet have I in me something dangerous,/Which let thy wisdom fear" -- but the excisions are fewer and less sizeable than in virtually any other production.
Most of the performances range from good to excellent. The previous reviews on this site are either strongly critical or effusively laudatory in their assessments of Derek Jacobi's performance. My own assessment is more favourable than negative, but the queries raised by the critical reviewers are genuine. Jacobi does overact terribly at a few junctures, and he does often convey the impression that he is holding up a mirror to himself rather than to nature. Nonetheless, his acting is largely adept when he keeps himself under control. (In fairness to Jacobi, I should note that over-the-top moments in a performance of the character of Hamlet are virtually inevitable.) He articulates the lines in his major soliloquies deftly, but he is patently addressing the audience rather than himself. With such searingly introspective soliloquies, an actor should be addressing himself -- as Bob Hoskins so skillfully does in the role of Iago in "Othello."
My other main reservations concern Patrick Stewart (one of my favourite Shakespearean actors). Stewart is two years younger than Jacobi, and -- as one of the previous reviewers on this site has remarked -- he is far too handsome and regal in his bearing to be suitable as the "king of shreds and patches". Moreover, in the key soliloquy in III.iii and in his colloquy with Laertes in IV.vii, Stewart races unintelligibly through some of his lines. (In IV.vii, the problem is compounded by a temporary degeneration in the quality of the sound on the DVD. I recommend that you keep the subtitles on at all times.) Stewart's performance is excellent for the most part, but one has to query whether he really belonged in the role of Claudius at that stage in his career.
Most of the performances range from good to excellent. The previous reviews on this site are either strongly critical or effusively laudatory in their assessments of Derek Jacobi's performance. My own assessment is more favourable than negative, but the queries raised by the critical reviewers are genuine. Jacobi does overact terribly at a few junctures, and he does often convey the impression that he is holding up a mirror to himself rather than to nature. Nonetheless, his acting is largely adept when he keeps himself under control. (In fairness to Jacobi, I should note that over-the-top moments in a performance of the character of Hamlet are virtually inevitable.) He articulates the lines in his major soliloquies deftly, but he is patently addressing the audience rather than himself. With such searingly introspective soliloquies, an actor should be addressing himself -- as Bob Hoskins so skillfully does in the role of Iago in "Othello."
My other main reservations concern Patrick Stewart (one of my favourite Shakespearean actors). Stewart is two years younger than Jacobi, and -- as one of the previous reviewers on this site has remarked -- he is far too handsome and regal in his bearing to be suitable as the "king of shreds and patches". Moreover, in the key soliloquy in III.iii and in his colloquy with Laertes in IV.vii, Stewart races unintelligibly through some of his lines. (In IV.vii, the problem is compounded by a temporary degeneration in the quality of the sound on the DVD. I recommend that you keep the subtitles on at all times.) Stewart's performance is excellent for the most part, but one has to query whether he really belonged in the role of Claudius at that stage in his career.