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List Price: $12.95 | | Label: A&E Home Video
Salesrank: 3463
Released: November 16, 2004 |
| Our Price: $6.35 |
| Used Price: $6.32 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Murder, prophecy, and witches! MACBETH returns, starring Academy Award®-nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Academy Award®-winner Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love), on DVD for the first time anywhere. First broadcast on Britain's Thame
Description of Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection):
Two of England's greatest actors, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, electrify in this lean, stripped-down production of Shakespeare's darkest tragedy. In the wake of a battle, the Scottish warrior Macbeth (McKellen, Gods and Monsters, Lord of the Rings) receives a prophecy from a trio of witches: He shall be king. When fate doesn't unfold quickly enough, Macbeth and his even more ambitious wife (Dench, Shakespeare in Love, Iris) decide to give it a push. McKellen sweats anxiously and oozes a creeping lust for power, while Dench is hypnotically vicious from her first moment. For audiences used to their film careers, this grand pair will seem young as pups (this TV movie is from 1979, adapted from an acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production)--but that only gives them an added edge of sex and vigor. Extras include the older McKellen thoughtfully commenting on the play and this classic production. --Bret Fetzer
Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection) Reviews:
MacBravo for Macbeth 
2009-12-05 - McKellen and Dench are amazing. The entire ensemble is terrific. This production focuses on performance over spectacle, with little to no set design and a combination of period and modern costuming. The darkness of the lighting design supports the themes of light/dark. At some points, the actors look directly at the camera, which can be a jolting convention for some. For Macbeth fans, this is a must.
Excellent
2009-11-30 - All performances are top notch, but McKellen and Dench deliver amazing characterizations. McKellen is almost hypnotic as he delivers the "Tomorrow and tomorrow" solliloquy. Dench is Lady M from the very center of her being. Macbeth at its best.
Is this a dagger?
2009-09-07 - Can "Macbeth" be in better hands than those of Sir Ian McKellan and Dame Judi Dench? This is something of a bare bones production from the Royal Shakespeare Company with little background scenery and staging. However, we do get some fine acting (including John Woodvine as Banquo) and lovers of the bard cannot complain. If you love Shakespeare, you must have this DVD.
Perhaps I'm just not an intellectual... 
2009-06-17 - ...but I have loved and read Shakespeare for fifty years. I did so want to love this movie, and based on the two principals, I was thrilled to find and purchase it! Oh, Goody, I thought! Celebrated Ian McKellen and "Chubby little Judy Dench" How I adore watching them!
And it STANK. It was so nothing---so absolutely nothing---I was not in any way moved throughout the production except to stifle my gag reflexes each time the cast's apparent obsession with drooling was indulged. And finally, I was moved to turn off the set a few minutes after MacDuff's pretty chicken and its dam were snuffed. I didn't CARE that they were snuffed---they were stupid, uncaring, lifeless and boring. I really, really hated this production. Hated it. Boring, Boring, Boring. You'd think, given the parts, that the whole could not have been BORING---but it is. Imagine MacBeth performed by the worst community theatre group you've ever been subjected to, but they are all tanked up on valium. No, that's too entertaining. You CAN'T imagine it. Don't try. Steer clear.
The definitive "Macbeth."
2009-05-23 - I saw this production onstage in London in the warehouse where it was produced by Trevor Nunn in the 1970's. Nunn had been trying for years to get "Macbeth" right, but kept missing the mark till this one. It is shattering. Once you've experienced Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth, none other will ever do. This petite woman's enormous power is all-encompassing, and Ian McKellan is equally fine in the title role. All the supporting players are stunning as this was a true ensemble production, and many have gone on to have major film careers. If you want a Macbeth, this is THE one to get.
