Hamlet

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Kyle Maclachlan, Bill Murray, et al.

Ethan Hawke (The Magnificent Seven) is joined by Julia Stiles (Hustlers) and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) in a thoroughly contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare's epic story of passion, betrayal and revenge. The president of the Denmark Corporation is dead... and already his wife is remarried to the man suspected of his murder. Nobody is more troubled by this than her son, Hamlet (Hawke). Now, after this hostile takeover, trust is impossible, passion is on the rise and vengeance is in the air. The power of Shakespeare's timeless words is matched by the stunningly modern look and feel of this widely acclaimed, highly entertaining thriller.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 717951004994
• Release Date: April 2001
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Publisher: Miramax
• Director: Michael Almereyda
• Starring: Ethan Hawke, Kyle Maclachlan, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Sam Shepard, Julia Stiles, Diane Venora, Tim Blake Nelson
• Runtime: 2 hours, 3 minutes
• Number of Disks: 1
• Other Video Info: multiple_formats
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Worst Hamlet Adaptation I Have Ever Seen

This is a complete dumpster fire.

To be innovative or to be very trite? (Not worth it)

Well, here we are, folks. A production that does not know what it wants to be or wants not to be. Usually, I like to compare it to other versions of the written play. In this case, it is not worth the effort. When they updated Romeo and Juliet, they at least had the innovation to change the dialogue to match the situation, as in "West Side Story” (1961). The combination of old English (Denmark) concepts added to NY. Reminds me of the housing project in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" (1949) ... Adding a few Greek columns to make people comfortable. Michael Almereyda talks like he sees the authentic way Hamlet is meant to be portrayed, then does this hatchet job on it, and turns it into a bunch of Sound Bites. If you like the actors, then watch something that they did well and not force them into (probably for scale). If you like Hamlet, then watch or read just about anything else, and it will not be so polluted. This is not a good example of getting your peanut butter on my chocolate. It is more of getting something rotten on your bagel.