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Jan 31, 2022 · The Lion King. Alamy. This Oscar-winning Disney animated classic takes its inspiration from one of Shakespeare’s signature plays. Let’s get out our Hamlet checklist: Beloved king, check; Evil ...
- She’S The Man
- West Side Story
- 10 Things I Hate About You
- The Lion King
- Get Over It
- A Thousand Acres
- Warm Bodies
- Forbidden Planet
- Big Business
- Strange Brew
She’s the Man is a 2006 adaptation of Twelfth Night. Starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum, the film sees Viola Hastings (Bynes) masquerade as her twin brother (Tatum) in order to play on the school’s soccer team; meanwhile, her brother tries to make it as a musician in London. The film is remarkably loyal to Shakespeare’s play, right down to th...
West Side Story is the 1961 film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name. With literally snappy choreography and sharp direction, the film made waves in the film industry at the time of its release and has gone on to become an all-time classic; its 2021 remake was similarly well received. If you think the plot of West Side Story is a littl...
10 Things I Hate About You is one of the most iconic films of the 90s, a tough feat in an era of timeless movies that included the likes of Clueless and Pulp Fiction. Starring the legendary Heath Ledger (in a role that cemented his controversial‘pretty boy’ reputation) and Julia Stiles, the film is a modernisation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the...
For multiple generations, The Lion King has become a nostalgic classic, and for good reason. It’s based on Hamlet, which tells the story of a bloody monarchical succession in the rotten state of Denmark. The prince, Hamlet, then sees his father in a vision, in which the departed monarch insists he exact revenge. The uncle soon becomes suspicious, a...
Get Over It tells the story of a high school student who desperately tries to win back his ex-girlfriend by taking part in the school play. As you might imagine, his idea doesn’t exactly go to plan. The film is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and whilst it might not be an exact retread, the inclusion of the play in rock-opera form...
A Thousand Acres is based on the 1991 novel of the same name, which itself was based on Shakespeare’s King Lear; the key difference is that the setting in the film is far more domestic than a king’s court. Unfortunately for the film, it was poorly received by critics, who slammed its characters as simplistic caricatures. Roger Ebert described A Tho...
A zombie-ridden, paranormal comedy film might not typically be associated with a Shakespeare play, but it’s true: Warm Bodies is based on Isaac Marion’s novel of the same name which, in turn, was inspired by Romeo and Juliet. The film sees Nicholas Hoult star as R, a member of the undead, who falls in love with Julie. What complicates their relatio...
In another wacky reinterpretation of a hundreds-of-years old English play, it turns out that Forbidden Planet bears a strong resemblance to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Commander John Adams (a young Leslie Nielsen) and his retinue land on the Forbidden Planet, where they find scientist Dr Morbius and a strange automaton. ‘Robby’ the Robot stands in f...
Starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, Big Business is loosely based on Shakespeare’s farcical play The Comedy of Errors. Both stories revolve around the premise of mistaken identity, with the movie telling the story of two sets of identical twins who are mismatched at birth, resulting in one of each set of twins ending up together. As in the Shake...
For a play that ends with a pile of dead bodies, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has certainly inspired a lot of comedies. The best-known of these is probably Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, which focuses on the two minor characters on the road to Elsinore Castle. But film adaptations aren’t always so direct. You might not have even realis...
- Much Ado About Nothing. 1993 | 1 hour 51 minutes | Directed by Kenneth Branagh | Starring Kate Beckinsale, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves. The week before their wedding, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her fiancé Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) hook up with Don Pedro, Claudio's commanding officer (Denzel Washington), to devise a matchmaking plot.
- Hamlet. 1996 | 4 hours 2 minutes | Directed by Kenneth Branagh | Starring Kenneth Brannagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie. Prince Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh) is traumatized upon learning that his father was murdered by the current king, Claudius (Derek Jacobi), with the help of Hamlet's mother, Gertrude).
- Henry V. 1989 | 2 hours 17 minutes | Directed by Kenneth Branagh | Starring Kenneth Brannagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi. Henry V of England (Kenneth Branagh), in this gritty film adaptation of Shakespeare's play about the bold and brutal monarch, decides to claim the kingdom of France.
- A Midsummer Night's Dream. 1999 | 1 hour 56 minutes | Directed by Michael Hoffman | Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, Christian Bale. Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream inspired the 1999 romantic comedy fantasy movie A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Georgia May
- Romeo + Juliet (1996) Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo. Drama, Romance (2h) 6.7 on IMDb — 73% on RT. The thing that makes Romeo + Juliet stand out is Baz Luhrmann's contrast between the film's modern-day setting and its use of Ye Olde English dialogue.
- Ran (1985) Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu. Action, Drama, War (2h 42m) 8.2 on IMDb — 96% on RT. At first glance, Ran doesn't look particularly Shakespearean.
- 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Directed by Gil Junger. Starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 37m) 7.3 on IMDb — 71% on RT.
- The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Directed by Joel Coen. Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell. Drama, Mystery, Thriller (1h 45m) 7.1 on IMDb — 92% on RT.
- Jennifer Otto
- 'The Lion King' (1994) Based on 'Hamlet' Disney's The Lion King is a true classic and not the first film fans are likely to think of when identifying movies based on Shakespeare's works.
- 'West Side Story' (1961) Based on 'Romeo and Juliet' West Side Story, the musical remake of Romeo and Juliet, went from Broadway to film in an engaging play-to-big-screen adaptation in 1961.
- '10 Things I Hate About You' (1999) Based on 'The Taming of the Shrew' The 1999 high school comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You, is the story of a love-sick Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his elaborate plan to win the heart of Bianca (Larisa Oleynik).
- 'My Own Private Idaho' (1991) Based on 'Henry IV' Parts I and II. Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix's chemistry alone — the two were very close friends in real life — makes it worth watching My Own Private Idaho, which is among the best movies inspired by Shakespeare plays.
Dec 5, 2019 · Ran is Akira Kurosawa’s film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear. At the time, it was the most expensive Japanese movie ever produced with a production budget of $11 million. This isn’t just one of the best Shakespeare movies of all time, it is flat out one of the greatest movies of all time.
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May 25, 2024 · All Night Long - Othello. The 1962 film All Night Long is a modernized version of Othello that takes place in the world of London jazz over the course of an anniversary party. It’s a story of ...
