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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Epic wasted opportunity,
By MichaelJay "Bloodnock" (Marlow) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Julius Caesar [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Although having been filmed on more than one occasion, someone obviously thought that a cast of "Big Names" would hit the spot. Unfortunately it does`nt work very well. The decent direction of Stuart Burge is`nt helped by several miscastings & a pan & scan version of a movie shot in glorious widescreen. This results in half the cast disappearing while talking to eachother - not good news in a talky Shakespearean play. Jason Robards portrayal of Brutus as if he had just taken an overdose of sleeping pills is justly infamous. He has`nt any natural feel for the rhythms associated with Shakespeare, resulting in a lifeless, leaden performance which sucks the life out of every scene he`s in like a one man black hole. Robert Vaughn is outstanding as the sly, "envious Casca", as is Richard Johnson as Cassius - making it obvious that he should have been Brutus & not Robards. Charlton Heston as the "heroic" Marc Antony lacks the vitality & charisma needed for the role & so gives us his usual, best chin forward epic face. Too often Caesar has been portrayed as a tired, washed up, distainful empty husk - something Gielgud does to perfection - but for a dynamic individual who has fought his way to the top job it`s hardly credible. The real stars of this movie though are the sumptuous costumes, based on Mantegna`s "Triumph of Caesar" they are imaginative & gorgeous. So here we have a movie that should have been a benchmark in how to do Shakespeare, but instead wastes the talent at it`s disposal, offering mis-castings & one truly terrible piece of acting which drags the entire picture down a couple of stars. This movie could be rescued if a bit of time & effort was made by someone to spruce up the picture quality & present it in it`s original widescreen ratio. Until then, it should be approached with caution.
3.0 out of 5 stars
but there's one really interesting performance here...,
By Richard di Calatrava (Dorchester, Dorset, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Julius Caesar [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
...and that's the Octavius of Richard Chamberlain, a versatile stage, screen and T.V. actor who has embraced Dr. Kildare, Shogun, Captain Von Trapp and Hamlet in his long career.
Here he presents a thoughtful, coldly dangerous Octavius who crosses the bluster of Heston's excellent Mark Antony (well, I like him...)with quietly understated menace. Note, for example, the scene in which he rejigs Antony's battle tactics to his own advantage by simply swapping sides of the field, and enjoys the chagrin of his ally with simply-stated superiority: 'I do not [cross you]. But I will do so'...which can be read two ways. This is the Octavius of Antony & Cleopatra; the man who will become the Emperor Augustus - and it's all in Chamberlain's performance. Worth having for him alone, I think.
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What do Moses, Ben-Hur, and Antony have in common?,
By
This review is from: Julius Caesar [VHS] (1970) (VHS Tape)
What do Moses, Ben-Hur, and Antony have in common? Answer: They all look like Charlton Heston. If somehow you missed the play or the history, basically Julius Caesar let his status go to his head and is about to take on the role of emperor. It is up to a handful of Noble Romans to see that this does not happen. The play is about these individuals, their individual purposes and what happens to them after the attempt to stop him. The focus is on Caesar's right arm (Mark Antony). This is a 1970 rendition of Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" that is well adapted for the screen. Hence the characters are well known contemporaries. You will notice the major players and might miss some of the others such as Preston Lockwood (Trebonius) who played the Judge in "Strong Poison". With many movies the actor out shine the character and totally changes the emphasis of the story. However this version is well done with maybe the exception of Jason Robards (Brutus) who sometimes seems like Jason Robards playing Brutus at other times he is quite exceptional. Diana Rigg (Portia) who looks like a little girl is the only person that sounds like she is speaking in meter. Everyone speaks clearly and pauses long enough for you to think before moving on. Facial expressions are important to the story and they do not look like they are yelling at you (except in speeches). You will notice that the background music is also of 70's vantage and is used to emphasize certain scenes. However the volume is not so high that you can not hear the clear pronunciation of the lines. Also the costumes made with satin are distracting. At one point Antony looks like Carol Burnett when she was wearing a curtain and left the rod in. As the play proceeds you will be so wrapped up in it that you will not care about the little differences in form and be totally absorbed in the film. There may be better versions and/or more favorite versions but that doe not make this version any less worth having.
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