Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful!!!
Review: I saw this movie for the first time when I was 10 years old, but then I saw about five years later when it was on TV and I laughed, cried and fell in love with it. Though I hate to tell ppl that this my favorite movie, it really is. It just feeds the hopeless romantic in me. Baz Luhrmann is a great director, even if you don't like his movies you gotta admire his brilliant creativity. Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio are great as the young star-crossed lovers, but I could imagine different actors doing a finer job... (sorry guys!) My absolute favorite part of the movie is the party scene where R+J first meet. The Fishtank scene...*melt*....ahh gets me every time. But seriously, this movie is brilliant, a refreshing twist on the age old tale and I highly recommend renting it.
Rating: 
Summary: Leonardo does not belong!...
Review: This version of Romeo and Juliet is a classic case of casting marketable but notably inept actors in the lead roles. The director did a good job of passing the script of the original play through a rusty cheese grater. Unfortunately, people were enchanted with this pulverized excuse for a Shakespeare play. If the bard were still alive, the director would still be in the midst of a nationally televised law suit!Even though I must applaud Luhrmann's attempt at bringing this Shakespeare play into modern times, he failed horribly. Why did there have to be a beach?... The real Verona is landlocked!... Also, calling the guns "Sabers" was a pathetic attempt at modernization. If Luhrmann had simply kept the play in its original setting and combined it with real acting and real people it might have had a chance. Actually, I doubt that even Shakespeare himself could have saved this star-crossed production. With Leonardo, it sunk like a man with concrete shoes.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless tale with a modern twist
Review: The latest film adaptation of Shakespeare's classic story of forbidden love, works very well, and stands apart from the other filmed versions. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) are torn apart, thanks to their feuding families. What makes this umpteenth re-telling work for me is the way that director Baz Luhrmann's uses our modern world (guns replace swords and skyscrapers instead of castles) to move the story forward. While at the same time having the actor's preserve the Elizabethan dialogue from the original play. At first it is a strange sensation, to see the modern world and then to hear them talk that way. However, I would say that its use of modernism also makes the story seem more alive, not to mention more accessable to the viewer. The entire cast rises to the task of tackling Shakespeare. DiCaprio, with his boyish charm and James Dean like attitude. works well with Danes, and her pixie presence helps to make the couple appear to be younger than the actors really are. Clearly. the filmmakers are targeting the film to generation Y, but I think anyone can enjoy this film. I will admit that I am not usually a fan of Baz Luhrmann's movies, but I do like this film and the way that it sets itself apart from the other cinematic versions. The "special edition" DVD has a pretty good commentary track with members of the crew. While the other features use mostly interviews and footage that looks like it was shot at the time of the film's theatrical release. The best of all this stuff is watching the rehearsal footage. If you had to ever read the play in High School, and who hasn't, give this version a try. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest love story of all time...
Review: I totally recommend this video! It's one of the best film's i have ever seen. The cast is well chosen, the music is hip and the story is so sad, but even funny at times. It's a must see movie!!!
Rating: 
Summary: i didnt like it
Review: i'm a great fan of Baz Luhrman, but i did not enjoy this film. it seemed way too melodramatic and violent for me. i know he was trying to convey the idea of words in this, his second film of the Red Curtain trilogy--which includes Strictly Ballroom for dance, and Moulin Rouge for music. it was just too violent for me.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare Would Be Proud
Review: When this movie came out, a lot of people complained that it trivialized Shakespeare's genius. On the contrary, one could argue that it captured the true essence of the Bard -- pop art. In his day, Shakespeare's plays were edgy and they catered to the populace in general, much as today's action and teen flicks do. Which is why it was so thrilling to see new life breathed into the Romeo and Juliet story and the play made relevant to today's young people. All the original elements were kept intact, although lines were inexplicably cut here and there. Claire Danes did a bang-up job, and unlike every other actress I've seen in the role, totally nailed the "nor any other part" innuendo, demonstrating not only her chops as an actress but her understanding of the sometimes-muddy Elizabethan dialogue. DiCaprio's very Shakespeare-in-the-Park-esque Romeo was rather disappointing. Until I watched this film, I thought him a good actor, but he seemed to stumble over the lines, especially next to Danes. Luhrmann did a great job with all the visual gags (loved the names on the guns!), and the cinematography was even more of a head-trip-a-delic roller-coaster ride than I expected. Of course, if one doesn't like Luhrmann's style, one can always watch the uninspired and obsequious Zeferelli version, which this writer suspects Shakespeare would have found incredibly self-important and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Inspired Film Making
Review: Hollywood is running out of original stories. All we see now are the same movies over and over again. Baz Luhrmann has impressed me with two of his films, Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. These are both original films in terms of ideas and style. I like this film because it's like I know the whole thing, but I'm seeing it for the first time. All the acting is great, the look of the film is interesting and deep, and the whole project was thrown together very impressively by Mr. Luhrmann and his crew. All together a very spiffy job and a truly origianl and compelling movie. I would recommend seeing it even if u hate Shakespeare.
Rating:
Summary: Bold, clever, & visually stunning interpretation
Review: This brash "Romeo + Juliet" is unlike any other film version that preceded it and is guaranteed to make a strong impression whatever its flaws. The old world gentility of Zeffirelli's vision has been brutally stripped away here, leaving a film that blazes with potent imagery and throbs with the violence of adolescent passion. I found the translation deeply unsettling at first, but once I relaxed and allowed myself to admire the filmmakers' inventiveness, I realized that this version was both stunningly creative and, in its way, quite true to Shakespeare's tragic tale of star-crossed teenage love.
Rating:
Summary: Special Edition is SPECIAL indeed! Great for thy collection!
Review: This review is STRICTLY for the SPECIAL EDITION DVD of the film. To me it's already a given as to what a masterpiece Baz Luhrmann has put to the screen. The special edition gives you all the treats you need. I'm not talking about still pages of text to read! I'm talking RAW footage of DiCaprio & Danes practicing their lines, many, many production scenes that leave your mouth open like, "oh, my gosh, I had no idea they had to go through all of that trouble just to shoot that brief scene"-kind of stuff, and best of all, an early treatment (pitch) for the film that was shot in Australia w/ DiCaprio in some alley ways. Rather lengthy, not just a mini-clip, Amazing! Insightful interviews of Baz Luhrmann; why do Shakespeare, how difficult it was to sell the idea to Hollywood, why he made the movie in the style that it is, etc.). If you have the original DVD & are debating, go for it! The only disappointing thing was the production value of Claire Danes' interview... DiCaprio's interview is well produced & lit on a candle-filled set, then Claire Danes is terribly keyed (matted) over a few still images (her hair buzzing & breaking through the digital distortion). The menus are nicely done, not animated over-kill. This is an anamorphic for those who have the 16:9 TVs. I haven't even listened to much of the commentary yet, but it sounds very informative & interesting so far. Perhaps the most important thing for those who did not like the film or were unsure, is Luhrmann's explanation of why Shakespeare should have been handled the film the way he did (the intense, in-your-face MTV-like editing / modern settings, etc)... truly both men are very visionary & talented.
Rating:
Summary: If I Were Shakespeare....
Review: Far from turning over in my grave upon the release of these modern works, I would be absolutely ecstatic to see leading edge filmmakers give new life and modern art treatment to my work. In the past few years I have been stunned by the fantastic work being done by our top filmmaking talent using Shakespeare's underlying work. Put Luhrmann in with that group with his version of "Romeo and Juliet," which is set in a turbulent, modern, violent world saturated by media influences. He doesn't deviate from the actual text of the play itself so the star crossed lovers' tale of a couple kept apart by their feuding families remains true to its core. DiCaprio and Danes perform superbly. Until "Titanic," DiCaprio was not that well known and many of us were able to enjoy him in the edgier, chancier acting roles he took, like this one. Personally, I prefer these new, modern film versions of the plays to the same plays performed traditionally on the stage and I have seen them that way.
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