Amazon.com: Imagine a work by Shakespeare reduced to one of those pretty, glossy coffee-table picture books that have only a dollop of text alongside its sumptuous photographs, and you might have Michael Hoffman's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This all-star version of Shakespeare's comedy is gorgeously shot in Tuscany, complete with a magical forest, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful villas, picturesque villages, stunning period costumes--oh wait, there's supposed to be a story here, too! Hoffman hijacks Shakespeare's basic premise but doesn't instill it with much more than surface shine and transplants it to turn-of-the-century Italy. Ergo, it's left up to the actors to find the heart and soul of this classic play, in which the fairies of the forest play mix and match with four young lovers, courtesy of a magical love potion. Hoffman couldn't ask for better (or better looking) actors to play Shakespeare's dreamlike love games--Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Dominic West, the list goes on and on--but he sure as heck doesn't know what to do with them, aside from putting them in various states of undress. Only Flockhart (as the lovestruck Helena), Tucci (a sprightly Puck), Pfeiffer (dazzling and funny as the queen of the fairies), and especially the sublime Kline (as weaver-turned-donkey Bottom) seem to connect with their characters in ways that make this adaptation occasionally soar; the rest are inexplicably left to flounder. Hoffman does seem to set himself right with the film's climax, when Bottom's amateur acting troupe hilariously enacts the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe (it helps that the troupe includes Roger Rees, Sam Rockwell, and Bill Irwin). Those searching for a more in-depth exploration of Shakespeare's farce might do better to look elsewhere, but if it's gorgeous actors and scenery you're in the mood for (along with an evocative opera soundtrack), and an all's-well-that-ends-well ending, this Midsummer Night will give you pleasant if weightless dreams. --Mark Englehart
Product Description: When two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a troop of inept amateur actors, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest, the result is an unequalled mixture of merriment and magic. Genre: Feature Film-Comedy Rating: PG13 Release Date: 15-APR-2003 Media Type: DVD
midsummer night's dream dvd not bad...ther was a skip at the end, it left out a chunk of the film. that sucked.
Pure Trash As a Shakespeare purist, I consider this pure trash because the location is transferred from Athens, Greece, to Mount Athena, Italy, and the sensless insufferable nudity at the end. There is no need for a softporn Italian accent on this play. Having studied Shakespeare at length, I've learned that his rustics were actually modeled on British guildsmiths who tried to put on plays like Bottom, Flute, and the others did. Thus so, the play while borrowing from a Greek legend has some of its foundation in peasant Britain.
Greatest Shakespeare on Film This is one of my favorite movies. The cast was stellar, the lighting and detals perfect and the actors clearly underrstand their roles and portray them well. Many of them had previous experience with the Bard (Kline and Flockheart certainly do) and bring that familiarity with them to this production. The only slight off note is that the director should have had Hippolyta wearing a uniform (she was the Queen of the Amazons, after all) because this would have helped the audiance understand the interaction between herself and Theseus- Hippolyta gives us Shakespeare's vision of the empowered modern woman- someone who has choices and does NOT have to get married if she does not want to. But other than this very slight quibble the movie is a pitch perfect presentation of Shakespeare's greatest comedy, one that uses film to bring out the full story in a way that cannot be done on the stage. This film is an absolute must buy.
Great product The movie was in great condition. It was new and unopened. Will defiantly buy from seller again.
Quality Shakespeare Production A wonderful adaptation of a classic. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because it just isn't one of my favorite plays...but still very well done.
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