Rating: 
Summary: what is with you people?
Review: I don't understand why this movie got so many good reviews.I guess i must presume that most of you people have never read the play or even studied it. you see hamlet is a serious character a deep thinker. i loved 10 things about you and the new romeo & juliet but this movie is absolute garbage i'm sure will shakespeare is rolling in his grave because, to be or not to be is a very famous quote and for ethan hawke to mutter it in a blockbuster video store looking like a zombie makes the statement completly worthless. if you love the play you'd have to be brain dead to enjoy this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: EXPLOSIVE INNOVATION
Review: Olivier's Hamlet was offensively innovative to some viewers in 1948; Burton's was, onstage in 1964; so was Derek Jacobi's (still my favorite). No doubt this Hamlet will offend someone, it exposes our culture AT THIS MOMENT too ruthlessly. But if you want to see real artists doing fine, wild and authentic work, don't miss it. I thought our opportunities to see such an original risky vision in film were gone forever. Consider the way young Hamlet, a photographer, is constantly turning in on himself -- watching himself watch himself -- through windows of various media, all the while being spied on by Claudius whenever possible. I'm ignorant of even the names of most of his visual equipment and was frequently a bit confused and disoriented. AND found it all pretty creepy...So guess what? The film let me share in young Hamlet's experience (who was also often confused and feeling creepy). Consider how Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia embody modern dysfunctional family life: invasiveness, secrets, the spoken truth disconnected to true emotion...the sullenness and horrible dependence of Polonius' adult children; the malignancy behind his constant blank look of innocence. (Bill Murray was unimaginably brilliant as Polonius.) Watching those characters, too, often left me feeling uneasy.As did Claudius and Gertrude. And others. Scene after scene, this Hamlet packs an enormous punch. I didn't think it was flawless and it's not instantly the best ever. But for complexity of intent and new, exquisitely appropriate images, it deserves full recognition. The film was a gift to us of vital creative energy. Only, don't watch it if you're not prepared to be uncomfortable some of the time: one way or another it will leave you feeling exposed. Dare I say it? Like a developing photograph?
Rating: 
Summary: Alas, poor Hamlet. They blew it, Horatio....
Review: Being a HUGE fan of all-things Shakespeare, I came into the viewing of this film with great optimism and high expectations. The casting seemed VERY exciting in some cases and very "interesting" in others. Needless to say, these bright expectations were quickly quashed.I really don't know where to begin. I have always felt that Ethan Hawke is a very capable actor, and a great choice for this role. However, the direction, textual cuts, and production design were so inferrior and ill-concieved, that I doubt that even Olivier could have made a palatable film out of this mess. The initial concept and premise for the movie are great, but Michael Almereyda completely fails to tie everything into a tangable, watchable film. As stated before, the casting gave me an initial boost of expectations. Bill Murray was undoubtedly an interesting choice for POLONIUS, to say the least. Unfortunately, Murray seems to fall tragically short of his mark, and leaves a great deal to be desired. Perhaps the Bard's text was simply over his head. I own many versions of "Hamlet" (Olivier, Branaugh, Gibson, Burton, and Nicol Williamson), and was looking forward to adding this version to my collection. However, after veiwing it on a rental basis from the local video store, I opted to "pass" on purchasing it. This version is simply not worth owning. At best I might reccomend that one rent it, but only if one is truly interested in seeing how NOT to translate a great classic into a modern context.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! - Very moving! (but not perfect)
Review: I am a great fan of Hamlet, having seen at least 5 film versions, studied it in college and done a few scenes in acting class. This transposition to modern corporate NYC works very, very well. The Ophelia interpretation was the best I have ever seen. It was passionate, youthful and very believeable, putting me in tears in some points and making a lot of sense with her "father, PLEASE!" looks as doting Polonius (Bill Murray) patronizes her. Bill Murray did his early farewell to his son perectly - a father giving some last minute banal advice to cover his sorrow at his son's departure. The scene where Hamlet confronts mom in her bedroom and kills Polonius is very effectively done and makes more sense than most I have seen. There are a host of other modernizations that serve to bring out some areas really well. The play within a play becomes a film montage within a film montage, but that works well with Ethan Hawke's interpretation of Hamlet as a brooding college kid. On the negative side, there is quite a lot of dialogue cut, and some of your favorite scenes may be missing, but it generally makes sense. The only exception is the final scene where a modern sword fight ends in death by gunfire, and Laertes blurts out an 'I forgive you' to Hamlet which makes you wonder 'why?' Get this version for emotive content and interpretation. Get the Branagh version for completeness, the Gibson version for a more traditional (and well done) take.
Rating:
Summary: Forced
Review: I try to give as much credit as possible to movies, but there is none that I can give to this total piece of garbage. The pacing is intolerably sluggish, the tone of depression and angst never varies, and all the actors fail to provoke any sympathy or interest. The modernization is absurd (KING of Denmark, Inc.!) and the ever greasy Ethan Hawke turns what is arguably Western drama's most fascinating and complex character into a one dimensional, Kurt Cobain clone. This film could have said something interesting about corporate America (the Bard meets Wall Street) but instead all we get is a lot of flashy, half baked, wannabe post-modernism. Save your money and watch ANY film version of Hamlet but this one.
Rating:
Summary: best new drama
Review: Very good film to put in context of world and U.S. events of September and October 2001. Ethan Hawke is great - as is everyone else in the film. To understand - or not to understand may be the question. The young star certainly takes us beyond the cliches of what we sometimes hear on t.v. or from leaders. He is a moral force of a younger generation who definitely makes changes not just by alliances and scheme (as new game shows make us believe) but by dispair, love, and truth. It seems that "they know not what they can do."
Rating:
Summary: Best adaptation I've ever seen
Review: I don't blame people for not liking this version of Hamlet. I, myself, went to see it as a joke. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. This version spoke to me more than any other film version I've ever seen. Almost every bit of updating seemed organic to the story (the dueling scene aside). The families are so modern in their dysfunctions, in their inabilities to relate to one another, and Hamlet's detached attitude is completely pertinent to young adults today. And delivering the "To be or not to be" speech in the action aisle of a Blockbuster Video? Come on, that's brilliant! Even if you must fault Michael Almereyda for his choices, at least give him credit for having a take on the story. Franco Zeffereli's was fine, but about as safe as you can make it. Kenneth Branagh's was an excuse for elaborate sets and costumes, with absolutely no interpretation or real feeling. Almereyda obviously feels close to this story, and he goes out on a limb to express his vision. I think he does it beautifully. This is not a pale and heartless updating (Baz Luhrman?). It comes from a very personal place, and therefore should be open to varying opinions. But please give Michael Almereyda credit for having a vision. It's more than many Shakespeare buffs can boast.
Rating:
Summary: Hamlet for the new millenium
Review: I must first quantify this review by stating that I have not seen the very beginning or the very end of this particular version of a true classic. Suffice it to say that on one Sunday afternoon this Shakespeare standard, using every last bit of the classic dialogue, but set in modern New York City, was enough to distract me, for two hours, from my daily chores. Although I am a Shakespeare fan, I do not claim to be an expert in any form. I have always loved the twisted, disturbed, timeless nature of Shakespeare's dramas. This version only succeeded in validifying the timelessness of his art. While I have always been a fan of the works of the Bard on a very general level, I got so much more out of this version than I ever realized was possible. The modern settings of NYC, corporate culture and modern technology make the original text substantially more understandable than ever before. During my previous viewing (the Mel Gibson version) and readings (high school) I only understood the basics of betrayal and confusion.
From the first moment of viewing this version (which I started watching because I was flipping through the channels and stopped upon seeing Julia Styles, whom I soon realized was portraying Ophilia) I was fascinated. Soon, I saw that Ethan Hawke fully conveyed the persona of a young man on the verge of madness. Kyle MacLachlan played the role of murderous, semi-incestuous Claudius to a tee. At least so far as I can remember. The wonderful actress who plays Gertrude (I'm sorry, I don't know her name) fully related all of Gertrude's dismay and guilt in a manner more complete than I have ever witnessed. To be totally honest, I reward most of my fresh understanding of the ages-old dialogue to the movie's modern setting. I sincerely hope that high school instructors use this version as a teaching tool. Almereyda's vision is a brilliant transference of a classic to our times. And it works!
Rating:
Summary: Hamlet
Review: This movie was fantastic. The lines were delivered brilliantly. Yes, Hawke seemed unpassionate, Hamlet was unpassionate - he's a confused, frustrated kid who's father just died. As for the rest of the actors/actresses, Bill Murray read his lines just like he should, he's the classic idiot in a Shakespeare play - he's not supposed to sound smart. If you have any idea what is really happening in Hamlet, you will realize that the actors did the best job I've seen of Hamlet yet.
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: My biggest problem with this movie is that the actors don't seem to understand what they're saying. They seem to be struggling through the lines, because that's what the script said, not because they feel anything, and so the emotion just isn't there. The worst was Ethan Hawke-he was more like an impassionate, objective narrator of a PBS history special than a tortured Hamlet (and Hamlet's problem is that he feels so much and has too much emotion to know how to deal with it). Steven Seagal could have delivered more emotion for crying out loud.
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