Macbeth

Rating:
Summary: Macbeth,Lady Macbeth,..AND Banquo.
Review: Having an ancestor named Macbeth causes a sense of duty in one. I wasnt a fan of Shakespeare,but went to see this film when it was in the theatres in the US. I felt I should,though Shakespeare didnt actually tell a truth in the play at all. Reality was quite different. Still,it was an awesome thing to view,this film. I went to the 11:00 p.m.showing so there would be not too many people or noise. Watching it,I was totally stunned to silence. It was a three hour deluge of violence,fury,jealousy,and murder. It impressed the Hell out of me! I came out of that theatre and just wandered home in a daze. Only one other film has ever shell shocked me like that. Macbeth has since been used in classes at many universities to teach Shakespeare,and I can see why.
Most reviews deal only with the two principal players,Macbeth and his wife,but,there is another that figures highly in this drama/horror. Banquo. Martin Shaw did an incredible job of portraying him,his loyalties and fears.as did Jon Finch execute Macbeth with clarity and vision. Franchesca Annis did fine in her role,and was quite convincing in her insanity.
An outstandingly powerful period piece,with all the right actors and landscape.

Rating:
Summary: Release on Wide-Screen DVD!!!
Review: There are already 25 excellent and accurate reviews. I agree with them all, but no one mentions the astounding fight scenes choreographed by the Royal Fight Master (whose name I don't recall). If you want to see the best swordplay of ANY movie, get this movie for that BUT the unfortunate cropping to reduce to TV aspect ration cuts out most of the best parts!

Rating:
Summary: The best is not always the newest
Review: I've seen many interpretations of many of the bard's works, but this one is the truest that I have seen to the Bard's bloodiest of plays. Polanski quite obviously went into the production of this film with a good knowledge of the play. The foot imagery is well done, as are the images of the snakes in the bedroom where Duncan is killed, and the image of the fallen crown. Only two items do I contend: Macbeth is not "Bellona's bridegroom" as Ross reported. Macduff is the one on whom Shakespeare gives that title, all though that is an item that is hotly contested. Secondly, I believe that in order to show that the "air drawn dagger" is indeed "a dagger of the mind, a vision proceeding from the heat opressed brain," the audience shouldn't be able to see it, though that is difficult to film that way. Other than those, the work is well done, especially the coven scene. I enjoyed it immensely, and hope to see it redone for DVD soon.

Rating:
Summary: Brings home that Shakespeare was a master [screen]playwright
Review: No Shakespeare I've ever experienced did half as much as this movie did to make Shakespeare real, vivid and fascinating -- as a storywriter. Its verisimilitude (sp?), its acting, and the directing served to get me caught up in the STORY in which people just happened to talk in that older, poetic tongue. A facinating story by a fantastic playwright who happens to be named Shakespeare.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Rendition Of The Play
Review: Out of the two great versions of MACBETH that I've seen, Orson Welles' and Roman Polanski's, I prefer Polanski's version. Polanski brilliantly adapted the play to the silver screen. MACBETH is an eerie, brutal, suspenseful, thought-provoking film. Many complaints can be heard concerning an unnecessary level of violence in the film. They are untrue. The brutality of the film only strengthens the points made in Shakespeare's play, the central ideas of betrayal and revenge. Polanski's MACBETH is a legendary piece of work.

Rating:
Summary: A good adaptation
Review: This is a good adaptation of a Shakesperian play. I just finished reading it in my English class, and we watched this video in class, also. It had good acting, especially the woman who played Lady Macbeth. However, this film had gratuitous nudity (which I didn't see...my teacher covered up the TV during those scenes), and the violence was very graphic (of course, my teacher had no problem with that...kinda ironic). All in all, it's a good movie, that I could watch again.

Rating:
Summary: Ewwww...
Review: I love the play. I hate this movie. Why? Because, even though the play contains violence and some sexual undertones, this movie heightens them to a billion times what's in the play for no real reason. Why were all the witches naked? Why was Lady Macbeth naked? It seems rather odd that in that cold, windy atmosphere someone would be walking around in the middle of the night au natural. Yes, I know she's supposed to be losing it, but Ophelia still remained clothed and she was the maddest of them all! Plus, what was up with all the blood and gore? In the play, there are some sword fights and people are killed, but never this graphically. Everyone in this movie seems to suffer from a need to overkill. Duncan is stabbed numerous times and then stabbed a billion more times just for good measure (in the play, he's not even killed onstage.), instead of Macbeth just stabbing the guards to clear himself of suspicion, he grusomely dismembers them; Seyton gets an arrow between the eyes (when did Shakespeare write this?); When Macbeth could have easily just run Young Siward through, he stabs him in the throat and then the camera does a gratuitously gross closeup, I've watched Sleepy Hollow numerous times barely batting an eye, but the beheading scene almost made me puke (again, in the play this happens offstage). I am normally very pleased with Shakespeare movies, and this one started out promising and contained very chilling images (Lady Macbeth's inner monologue as Duncan comes to the castle) but, please, why does every filmmaker sacrifice quality just to play by the rules of Hollywood and braindead people who wouldn't see a classy movie unless it did have tons and tons of nudity and gore?

Rating:
Summary: All you need to know
Review: It's Polanski. It's Shakespeare. If that's not enough, then how about rich period detail, excellent use of locales, accurate portrayal of life in the middle ages, and spectacular acting. If I need to say more, you need to watch something else. This is a perfect movie, and definitely one of Polanski's best, a terrifying, cathartic trip through hell and hell and hell.... Probably the most accurate pertrayal of Shakespeare on film. Watch it.

Rating:
Summary: A masterful adaptation of a masterpiece!
Review: This screen adaptation of Macbeth is a veritable treat to watch .Vivid , brilliant & full-blooded_____some viewers may have been put off by the gore & nudity but I suspect they "protest too much"! Shakespeare's plays are life writ large____ murder,mayhem,treachery,debauchery,lies,truth,sacrifice,friendship,generosity_____all cast in a majestic language .To feel squeamish at the depiction of LIFE ("warts & all")in Shakespeare is inscrutable to me .The witches' scenes are some of the best I've seen, as is the enactment of the "feast scene" where Macbeth, having murdered the king,is stricken by pangs of guilt. Most adaptations of Shakespeare are too "mannered" and anemic____Polanski's version captures the essence of this masterpiece in all its dark,brooding & bloody glory.This one is a keeper!

Rating:
Summary: Of course this is not for youngsters!
Review: In response to the reviewer who did not like this version of Macbeth because it was too bloody--that's what made it beautiful. Macbeth was Shakespeare's darkest tragedy, and excess murder can get quite "RED" at times. Additionally, it is already clear that the movie is not made for elementary or high school students. It is rated "R"!