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Summary: The Best Treatment of Shakespeare yet
Review: Not much to add here from the other reviews, but I must say that I believe this to be the best Shakespearean film to date. The acting is amazing, and it is apparent the director cut her teeth on the stage, as the film is visually stunning. By all means not a joyride, you're more likely to feel like you've been hit by a hammer after watching it the first time, but it is so well done, you'll find yourself coming back to it again and again.
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Summary: I've given up meat pies after this...
Review: Titus blew me away. I thought Julie Taymor dealt intelligently, stylistically and creatively with a play which was, in Shakespeare's time anyway, the equivalent of a mondo slasher movie. Hopkins is superb as the Roman general who goes around offing his own offspring and wondering why he's feeling so put-upon.
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant visuals mask less-than-great writing
Review: "Titus" is an undoubtedly beautiful, innovative film, yet about halfway through, I could not help but wishing I was Bassianus (James Frain), who gets offed about 45 minutes in and doesn't have to endure any more of this film. To be sure, the acting is commendable. The actors display full commitment to their roles. Alan Cumming (Saturninus) and Jessica Lange (Tamora) give compelling performances and nuanced, intriguing interpretations of the text. Matthew Rhys and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are revelations as Tamora's punk sons, and Anthony Hopkins creates a very human, complicated character. Yet this is not enough to make "Titus" a truly great film.The director usually must bear the blame when a production goes south, but the fault does not lie entirely with Julie Taymor. The mastermind behind such dazzling stage spectacles as "Juan Darien: A Funeral Mask" and "The Lion King" creates a brilliant view of Rome that is at once ancient, postmodern, and futuristic, drawing parallels between the Rome of the Caesars and the Italy of the Fascists. All this makes for interesting filmmaking, but it does not place "Titus" in the pantheon of exceptional films, because it cannot cover up the central problem with "Titus": the play itself. "Titus Andronicus", like many great playwrights' first works, displays hints of Shakespeare's nascent genius at work, but the work is not genius itself. Shakespeare's words alone are often enough to enthrall an audience, but none of Taymor's bells and whistles could keep me interested in these.
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Summary: A Pondering Play Makes For Riveting Cinema
Review: A gorgeouslyconceived and executed version of a not great Shakespeareplay. Executed is the operative, because everyone dies in this one,but the whole piece is so visually stunning it's worth the gore.
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Summary: Best New Actor to the Big Screen
Review: I think that this movie was a very well done adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play. Anthony Hopkins played Titus Magnificently, and Jessica Lang put on an amazing performace as Tamora Queen of the Goths. However, i was very pleased to see the very talented but not well known young Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing the role of Chiron, one of the Queens evil sons. I think that this movie will be the wonderful boost that his promising career needs. I am hoping that the world witll embrace him as many of my friends and I have. I wish him good luck in the future and I would like to applaude all of the actors in this movie on their amazing and convincing performances.
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Summary: a wonder
Review: an act of sheer will and madness created this visual wonder out of a juvenile and ugly play by shakespeare. if you compacted michael corleone's lifelong woes into a two and a half hour play you'll have yourself a glimpse at what titus is. titus is bloody, savage revenge filled up with rancid hatred. if you're squeamish you might not make it through, but the story is a wonderful one to witness and makes the trip worthwhile. from his rise to the heights of emperor of rome to his devastating and unworthy decline, anthony hopkins gives a beautiful and empathetic performance. a unique mix of rome and 21st century costumes, weapons, transportation, and values make this one of the best films i have seen. "visually stunning" etc
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Summary: Innovation and Intelligence abounding
Review: This film is both interesting and intelligent, which is a hard combination to find sometimes. Taymor re-creates this very difficult play amazingly well for the screen. Some criticize it, but if you're interested in shakespeare (but not an inflexible elitist) and if you embrace modern theater, you'll love it. The movie takes the effectiveness of theater and combines it with the advantages of film. It is a gruesome story and has some graphic scenes that will make you shiver, but they are ultimately well done and effective in the film. Don't watch this movie if you like your shakespeare very traditional and can't stand innovation.
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Summary: Astoundingly Beautiful
Review: Titus is by far the most visually stunning film of 2000. Gladiator has its CGI, but Titus has its craning, sweeping camera, its double and triple exposed film, and its magnificant pallette of colors. In Julie Taymor's adaption of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the title character of Titus, an excrutiatingly loyal Roman general who, early in the film, kills one of his four sons for betraying his good name. His foil is the Goth queen Tamora, whose eldest son was executed by Hopkin's sons after his return from battle. After taking the company and hand in marriage of the emperor, Tamora and her lover, Aaron the Moor, attempt to bring the downfall of Titus and the entire Andronicus family, starting first with Titus's daughter Lavinia, played by the beautiful Laura Fraser. Titus's family is then set up in various ways that are too delightful and menacing to tell, for the entire film is something to be seen, all the way to the incredible visual and powerful ending. The sets and production design are perhaps some of the best in film in many recent years. The levels of beauty are mirrored by the level of amorous behavior by the characters. While the traditional style of filmmaking used by Taymor and her crew may look cheesy and old to some viewers, every single shot works, from the first gittery camera motions to the state of the art computer aided shots at the end. This is an exquisite film with grand performances by the entire cast, and I do mean ENTIRE, and brilliant visuals by director Taymor. You do not have to be a fan of Shakespeare to enjoy this film, as I can guarantee it is like no other Shakespeare film you will ever see.
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Summary: This must be an acquired taste.
Review: If you like other films featurng Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, or Julie Taymor, you may end up hating this one. This movie starts out with a young boy staging a battle on his kitchen table with lots of action figures covered in catsup, and lots of other condiments. The next thing you know, the boy is carried into an ancient stadium with a wall of a burning building in it. Then, dozens of blue mud-slathered roman soldiers march in. Not making much sense? Fast-forwarding didn't help. Ejected after about 10 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I saw this film in its original theatrical release earlier this year and was blown away by its visuals, music, and the mesmerizing performances. The one element however that really stuck in my mind was its violence. Upon a second viewing - on DVD - I found myself concentrating especially on the piece as a cinematic whole and found myself less horrified by the gore and more entranced by the story that was being told. This is a story about family - preserving family honor, restoring it when honor has been lost, and exacting revenge upon those who dare try to take it away. It is also about the lengths some will go to to protect their loved ones against wrongdoing. Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus is an awesome cinematic force from beginning to end. His performance throughout is filled with subtle embellishments that horrify and delight, and his final scene - which is just shy of camp - is perhaps one of this actor's finest moments. Harry Lennix as Aaron the Moor is devilishly frightening. Angus MacFayden as Titus's eldest son Lucius suitably regal. Laura Fraser as Lavinia, Titus's beloved daughter who has perhaps the story's cruelest fate (and one of the most spectacularly visual/metaphoric scenes in the film - of perhaps any film) is touching. Alan Cumming's Saturnin is right up there with his "Cabaret" MC for its lascivious menace. I could go on... The only performance I'm somewhat hesitant about is Jessica Lange as Tamora, Queen of the Goths. Shakespeare's language for some reason doesn't sound a comfortable fit in some of her line readings; however, she improves as the film progresses and is quite powerful the second hour or so onward. Juliet Taymor proves once again that she is a master of the visual element. This film contains scenes of staggering beauty which are beautifully rendered in the DVD's letterbox format. While certainly not for the faint of heart - the climactic banquet scene is a doozy - this film is a triumph not just as a Shakespeare adaptation but as a work of art in its own right. I eagerly anticipate Ms. Taymor's next film endeavor.
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