Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9068 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-14
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 37
• Running time: 5940 minutes

Synopsis
The BBC Shakespeare is a unique collection of some of the finest dramas in the English language, each production a celebration of the greatest talents in contemporary British theatre and television. These plays feature the cream of the 20th century's acting talent. Among the great actors featured in these plays are: Laurence Olivier, Brenda Blethyn, John Gielgud, Jonathan Pryce, Michael Hordern, Felicity Kendall, Diana Rigg, John Hurt, Bernard Hill, John Cleese, Zoe Wanamaker and Robert Lindsay.

Thirty-seven features from the BBC television Shakespeare series from 1978 to 1985. 'Romeo and Juliet', is Shakespeare's tale of a doomed and tragic love between two young lovers from warring families, the 'Capulets' and the 'Montagues'. Also includes: 'Richard II', 'As You Like It', 'Julius Caesar','Measure For Measure', 'Henry VIII', 'Henry IV: Parts I & II', 'Henry V: Parts I & II', 'Twelfth Night', 'Tempest', 'The Taming Of The Shrew', 'The Merchant Of Venice', 'All's Well That Ends Well', 'Winter's Tale', 'Timon Of Athens', 'Antony And Cleopatra', 'Othello', 'Troilus And Cressada', 'The Merry Widow', 'Henry VI: Parts I, II & III', 'The Tragedy Of Richard III', 'Cymbeline', 'The Comedy Of Errors', 'Two Gentlemen Of Verona', 'Coriolanus', 'The Life And Death Of King John', 'Pericles: Prince Of Tyre', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Love's Labour's Lost', 'Titus Andronicus', 'Hamlet', 'King Lear', 'Macbeth' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

Customer Reviews

To DVD or not to DVD......That Is The Question
I grew up on these here in the US courtesy of PBS. I vividly remember Charles Gray and Keith Michell in Caesar, Derek Jacobi in Hamlet, Nicol Williamson in Macbeth. There is a company here (not BBC) offering these on DVD, but in limited 5 packs for like $150 a pop. To get the whole series from the manufacturer would be $1,000s. Fortunately, I have a player that can player all regions, so ordering this for less than $200 US is a steal. Especially since I found a marketplace client on OUR Amazon who wants twice that for this very same copy (apparently there is no Region 1 issue on the BBC Video label). I am looking forward to finally getting these for keeps.

Uneven, but one of those must-have's.
The quality of the BBC production varies from play to play, and many plays are disappointing, or to put it bluntly, long and boring.

While I prefer conservative interpretations, the BBC renditions tend to be too conservative, too bland. There are some notable exceptions. Leonard Rossiter saves King John, Derek Jacobi makes an dandy Richard II, Roger Daltrey (from the Who) stumbles comically through "The Comedy of Errors", and John Cleese tames the shrew into an ex-shrew.

I'm sure it's no accident that the best plays are by the biggest stars. Having more stature, they have the authority to get their own way, and they're doing this for fun.

Also on the whole the Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 & 2, and Henry V series is pretty good. I haven't made it through all the plays yet, but I find the others I have seen (Pericles, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus, Love's Labour Lost) lack "oomph". The lines are too often recited without wit. I expect even the tragedies should have more laughs or action-drama in them than these productions show us. But I suppose the actors are afraid of being accused of hamming it up. Too bad. Colourful interpretations should be "de rigueur".

My two favourite performances are Derek Jacobi's Richard II and Leonard Rossiter's King John. Jacobi gives us a dandy and a fop too full of himself and too careless of the consequences of his acts. Rossiter's King John is wonderful because he spices up his performance with innuendoes and sly looks that match his kittish tones.

Even though it falls far short of perfection, the breadth of the BBC project makes this a must have collection for any family's DVD shelf and will prove a good benchmark against which future renditions can be judged.

Vincent Poirier, Dublin

Shakespeare DVD
The special virtue of this collection is in allowing viewers to see plays which are rarely if ever prduced such as Henry VI, 1,2, and 3, and Pericles. There are some outstanding performances. Helen Mirren as Titania and Rosalind, Michael Horden as Lear and Prospero, Warren Mitchell as Shylock, and Roger Daltry as the Dromios, are a few of a large number. There are disappointments. Ron Cook as Richard III is an outstanding example of bad casting. Ron plays Simple in the Merry Wives of Windsor and that should be the height of his ambition, or anyone else's ambition for him. Further, I would say play Shakespeare on a bare stage or play him on a realistic location, but don't play him in a junk yard as was done for Henry VI.