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Rating:  -
Amazing Actors, wonderful cinematography, this movie is a great update of Shakespeare. It keeps with the original language of the play, (which may sound suprisingly modern to some at certain points). The only thing that disapointed me was that it contains only about 1/3 of the original play, But what else can you expect in the age of A.D.D.?
Rating: -
Love this version of Romeo & Juliet. I call it "in your face Shakespeare." It is a good introduction to Shakespeare for teenagers. It shows them that the themes of older literature are still relevant today in their world.
Rating:  -
Director Baz Luhrman is quite a brazen salesman, pretentiously coining the term "Red Curtain Cinema" to describe his artistic rape of several noble stories and themes. It seems that the defining cultural influences in his life were Sergio Leone Westerns, Hong Kong martial arts films, and Looney Toons cartoons. The latter influence is particularly evident; it influences his editing and even his sound effects (look at his Moulin Rouge if you doubt it). Like many of the Bard's other plays, Romeo and Juliet has successfully survived many anachronistic adaptations to contemporary settings, but it can't overcome this. I've seen Lurid Luhrman's "Romeo + Juliet" shown to impressionable high school students many times (their teachers thought that teens wouldn't appreciate the story without a modern Verona Beach setting). What they fail to understand (or understand all too well) is that Shakespeare's beautiful Elizabethan English is what hinders the student's comprehension. It requires hard work from teacher and student alike in decipherment and contextualization. Doing less is simply a lazy cheat; placing the story in a lurid cartoon of contemporary America doesn't rectify that problem - particularly when actors rush through their lines, racing with the mad editor.
Rating: -
This is one of Leo's best. The combination of 1st: Baz Luhrmann(director), who is more cool than words; 2nd: Shakespeare, need I say more; 3rd: The Cast: De Caprio; Danes, Leguizamo, Perrineau, Postlewaite, Curtis-Hall, on & on. The language of the times is used in an updated setting. Except not really. It takes place in no place in time. Because there is no such duplicate place on this planet; regardless of language. If you love Shakespeare, you will appreciate his universal themes and timeless appeal. A big "Thumbs-up".
Rating:  -
I suppose credit has to be given for the attempt. To recreate anything Shakespeare is a risky proposition, but to do so with a modern day twist is a concept that simply fails. Don't get me wrong; the actors make a valiant effort. In fact, the actors' shared abilities are the saving grace for this film. Even the love-at-first-sight connetion between Romeo (Dicaprio) and Juliet (Daines) is obvious.
Aside from the actors, however, this movie simply irritated me. I appreciate the beauty and style of previous pieces too much to truly like this this version. The previous movie adaptations stuck to the medieval nature, the sword-fighting days of old, and the classic tale of star-crossed lovers. This travesty, on the other hand, made no such effort.
Guns, fireworks, pool-halls, neon signs, a red-headed guy with a box haircut, and a cross-dressing Mercutio? It's just too forced and out of place; the anachronistic nature is just an impossibly big pill to swallow. The combination of style and time-period for this historic piece feels like the Geico cavemen commercials; except, those commericals are intended to be funny.
Seeing modern day actors in contemporary settings and clothing while holding true to the original prose of Romeo and Juliet may have a cinematographic appeal to it, and I'm sure it introduced the arts to a generation with just enough attention span for a music video saturated with strobe-lights and special effects, but to me this movie is the proverbial elevator in an outhouse.
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