 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 6143
Released: March 28, 2000 |
| Our Price: $5.69 |
| Used Price: $5.68 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Shakespeare's immortal tale of ambition, lust and murderous treachery is brilliantly updated and brought to life in this riveting, 20th-century masterpiece. Boasting breathtaking performances, unforgettable imagery and two OscarÂ(r) nominations*, this astounding wartime spectacle is mesmerizing...it will rivet you and shock you (Jeffrey Lyons, 'sneak Previews ). In 1930s Britain, a savage, civil war between two royal families has just concluded. But even as the newly installed King Edward (John Wood) takes the reins of power, his ruthless, younger brother Richard (Ian McKellen) sets in motion a monstrous scheme to claim the crown for himself. Enlisting the aid of equally duplicitous allies in the court, Richard embarks on a merciless, single-minded campaign of betrayal, seduction and cold-blooded murder to achieve the goal that has obsessed him all of his tortured life: to beking...at any price. *1995: Costume Design, Art Direction
Description of Richard III:
This film adaptation of a critically acclaimed stage production of Shakespeare's historical drama stars Ian McKellen in the title role. The setting is a comic-book vision of 1930s London: part art deco, part Third Reich, part industrial-age rust and rot. The play's force is turned into a synthetic high by art directors and storyboard sketchers, all of whom have a field day condensing the material into disposable pop imagery. This is a fun film, more than anything, so infatuated with its own monstrous stitchery that even the most awkward casting (Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr.) seems a part of the ridiculous design. McKellen is the best thing about the movie, his mesmerizing portrayal of freakish despotism and poisoned desire a thing to behold. Directed by Richard Loncraine (Bellman and True). --Tom Keogh
Richard III Reviews:
no great shakes 
2009-11-09 - I friend foisted this on me, declaring that if I didn't love it he would curse me for a Philistine.
It was okay, but I'm not crazy about it. The interpretation itself was serviceable: as Richard gets more and more evil, the set takes on the trappings of an overtly fascist state. Nice visuals, but I'm not sure what more can be made of this: I submit the circumstances that enabled the depredations of this foul toad and those which installed the mustachioed one in 1933 are only superficially similar, so I'm not sure what deeper point can legitimately be made.
Part of the problem with Richard III, I have always felt, lies not in interpretations and actors, but in Shakespeare's text itself. Richard's hijinks are so kooky (e.g., hitting on Ms. Neville as she accompanies the corpse of her husband) that they border on the comical, so it's hard to take the play seriously. It probably should have been a comedy. But after you get about halfway in, the laughs have stopped and it's a just one dreary chronicle of vile deeds without relief or apparent purpose. Not sure what I'm supposed to conclude, other than "evil is evil". And other scenes go on way too long: e.g., the one where his mother curses him. Yow! We got the point pages ago.
Also: hate to say this, but even the brilliant McKellen was too old for this role. Oh come on. The play starts just after the Battle of Tewkesbury, which was in 1871. At that time, Richard was 18! Sir McKellen don't look no 18.
Heart stopping action 
2009-09-13 - I love Shakespeare and I especially love to see Ian McKellen performing it. Though this adaptation moves the story to 1930's Britan, I was in no way disappointed. I found the the use of the script, as it adjusted to the new environments, fascinating. But even if you are unfamiliar with a more traditional Richard III, you will find this story compelling and exciting. Richard is one of the Bards worst "Bad Guys"...a real stinker. Like Iago in Othello, he must show one face to the public, but in private be ruthless and murderous. It takes a very strong actor to carry a role like Richard III and Sir Ian is certainly of that caliber. This film is visually stunning, fast paced and shocking. It does not have to add anything to the story for shock value, it is all there in the original Shakespeare. This could be a "Guy" film...there are sexual situations, Annette Benning, Robert Downey Jr. and many things blow up. True they speak in Shakespearean English, but it is done as naturally as possible. So take a chance and check out Richard the III in more modern garb.
Richard The III (Reich)
2009-08-14 -
RE: Richard The III (Reich)
Why do I keep thinking the title role could/should have been played (better) by Peter O'Toole?
(Too Aryan-looking perhaps ?)
Or that, with it's dark and almost mezmerizing (post-morgue) hallway 'frivolity', it could
very well have been scored as a grand musicale; i.e., shades of "Springtime for Richard".
Or that it all-too-very-well could have been directed by Stanley ("Full Metal Richard") Kubrick !
Or that the gangland-style (domestic-family) slayings reminded me more of "The Godfather"
grand finale interspersed instead with slow-motion Royal Family pageantry ?
Shakespeare has always rocked me to the depth of bony soul if my soul had bones,
let alone the almost greater impossibilty of reason anyone could memerize and
deliver such characterizations, let alone write them to begin with !
By the way, has anyone here seen "Scotland, PA" ?
It's a highly homeogenized, yet creative low-buck adaptation of Macbeth c. 1975,
based on the murder of a Manager/Owner of a future fast-food chain kingdom by
Mr. & Mrs. Macbeth.
With Christopher Walken as Detective Macduff, it's spellbinding (no offence to
Weird Sisters ) to say the least, let alone how Lady Macbeth's blood-stained hand
is updated as an intractable GREASE spot from the french frier-splash when they
killed the 'King' !
I only wish they would have used more lines from the play itself, as perhaps
a grander, Richard III budget (or at least half) would have helped . . .
P.S. "Would you like a chicken MacBeth with your order ?"
check regional code 
2009-03-05 - You should include a note that dvd may not function in your country. Better still, you could advice what shoul be done to be able to watch the dvd one may have bought.
Richard III DVD
2009-03-03 - This is a 1995 cut down version of Shakespeare's popular play Richard III. The condensing of the play and some of the characters was probably not popular with Shakespearean purists and those who are familiar with, and love, the full play. The setting has also been changed from the last half of the 1400's to about the 1930's and the images strongly and deliberately resemble the nazis of WW2. The ending has also changed. Sir Ian McKellen's performance is outstanding and the change of the opening line from a monologue to a speech is brilliantly inspired as is the change of venue when he talks about King Edward bedding other women. The film's concept was based on a stage production directed by Richard Eyre for the Royal National Theatre, which also starred McKellen. The production was adapted for the screen by McKellen and directed by Richard Loncraine.
The play also stars Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas , Dame Maggie Smith, John Wood and Dominic West. I have nothing bad to say about this version of the play, other than to state the acting of the two token Americans (Queen Elizabeth and her merged family members) painfully stands out as being over the top.
I think this is a brilliantly clever introduction to Richard III. The cutting down and re-staging the play means it is instantly understandable and accessible to people who are just starting to expose themselves to Shakespeare's plays. I would recommend this version of the play to everyone and am very glad to finally be able to purchase it. I will watch it regularly and commit some of the opening scene to memory.
I would also recommend the DVD, Looking For Richard, as another way to have more of the play's text and context explained.
