Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-04
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
While perhaps not the defining moment in the making of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career, his appearance in this dazzling take on William Shakepeare’s Romeo & Juliet back in 1996 did the careers of both Clare Danes and himself no harm at all. Perhaps the real star of the show here though is director Baz Luhrmann, who employs a frenetic, at times downright-brilliant style to the age-old tale of tale of star-crossed lovers. Luhrmann would go on to make Moulin Rouge a few years’ later.

From the off, his take on Romeo & Juliet explodes unpredictably onto the screen, bubbling with vision and originality, accompanied throughout by an excellent score and soundtrack that rightly spawned two spin-off CDs. There are sacrifices made along the way to support Luhrmann’s vision though, with the text being stripped down to leave the core of the story in tact, and that’s just one of a number of complaints that Shakespeare purists may have.

And yet, perhaps more than any other attempt to bring the work of the Bard to the screen of late, this is an extremely accessible entry-point to Shakepeare’s work. That it’s also by turns breathtaking, dazzling and a sheer joy to watch doesn’t harm its cause either. The two leads are charming, the support cast backs them up superbly, and the end result is one of the most interesting visual treats that Hollywood mustered up throughout the 1990s.--Simon Brew

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English\Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital 2.0
Commentary By Baz Luhrmann Catherine Martin Don McAlpine And Craig Pearce
Cast And Crew Interviews
Directors Gallery Go Behind The Scenes With Baz Luhrmann
Cinematographers Gallery Scene Studies By Don McAlpine
Design Gallery Production Stills Narrated By Catherine Martin
Music Videos Young Hearts Run Free By Kym Mazelle And Kissing You By Desree
DVD ROM Screenplay Comparison Excerpts
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
English

Synopsis
Shakespeare's immortal tale of star-crossed young lovers gets a music video-style updating in this hip, Florida-set, pistol-packing adaptation featuring DiCaprio and Danes as the doomed teenaged children of rival industrialists. Academy Award Nominations: Best Art Direction.

Customer Reviews

Too brash and too American
I usually enjoy Shakespeare "done modern" but this was awful! It was Shakespeare meets Westside story, Moulin Rouge and greasy was the word that came to mind. The film kept to the traditional language of Shakespeare but it does not suit American accents. The words grated, uttered thoughtlessly for the most part from the mouths of Hawaiian shirted American gang youth. Even Peter Postlethwaite seemed preoccupied with maintaining his American accent over what he was saying.
Dicaprio and Clare Danes however do make a charming couple and you cannot help wishing that their love would survive the maelstrom of brutish hate that the two families have for each other. The film gets its reputation for being "good" from this simple alchemy and possibly from the misguided wow factor of the Moulin rouge esc way in which it is directed. It is full of brash lights, surreal modern music, fast shots to unnerve the audience and the fight scenes are filmed as a cross between a spaghetti western and those Japanese marshal arts films where people make daft noises as they square upto each other! It didn't work for me, go and buy "Shakespeare in love" instead.

Not Bard At All
So Shakespeare, boring or not boring? Definitely NOT in my opinion and this adaptation of a classic play proves it beyond doubt. Were the bard himself alive today, I have absolutely no doubt this would be how he would like to see his plays represented on film.

At the time the play was written, Shakespeare was limited to a wooden, prop-starved theatre stage. Baz Luhrmann, four hundred years later, has a vast cinemascope on which to depict his story. Consequently, he floods the screen with panoramic scenes that boggle the senses, but in no way fail to excite the emotions. A total triumph!

a modern take on classic tale
In an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragic love story, Romeo falls for Juliet, a beautiful woman born in the Capulet family, a family which his Montague family is destined to hate.

Baz Luhrmann brings a modern feel to this romantic drama with guns, drugs and cars replacing all classic props used in the playwright's time.

Though this doesn't always work during the film, there is a good motive to use these particular props and is executed well. During the opening sequence in a petrol station where the two rival families are weighing each other up with modern tools it felt too modern, like an action film or something, and often was exaggerated.

However when used correctly it was exciting and tense, particularly the ending which was tense, dramatic and a perfect execution of the true ending to Shakespeare's play.

Leo Di Caprio (Titanic) stars as Romeo, a young man who falls in love at first sight with Juliet and from when these two are introduced does the film start to become more intriguing. Not his best performance, but Di Caprio is still excellent as Romeo, especially hearing news of Juliet late in the film, he was the perfect choice for the role. Danes (Stardust) gives an average performance as Juliet. Beating off heavy competition for the part, Danes could have executed some scenes better but she certainly looks terrific and her final scene she outshines Di Caprio completely, but the film belongs to Di Caprio.

Using modern day life with Shakespearian language was always going to be a risky move but after some bizarre opening sequences this formula worked well and Posthlewaite executed the words better than anyone.

Though 2 hours long, it felt short and there could have been more direction to emphasize characters better. However Di Caprio is excellent, Shakespeare's dialogue can never be questioned and neither can the plot, no matter what adaptation or spin is put on the tale, it is still the most dramatic love story ever written.

7/10