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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
79 of 80 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A TV version of a stage production is normally a recipe for disaster: not so here, however. Ian MacKellen and Judi Dench (not yet Sir and Dame) are riveting as the husband and wife team from hell. McKellen's descent into indifferent, hubristic madness is chilling, and Judi Dench's screech in the sleepwalking scene is - quite simply - unbelievable: if this does not send shudders down your spine, nothing will.
Given the fact that this Macbeth was recorded in 1979, the picture quality leaves a bit to be desired, but any lover of Shakespeare or great acting would be insane not to buy this DVD.
Prepare to be blown away. (And by the way: where is television of this quality today?)
Given the fact that this Macbeth was recorded in 1979, the picture quality leaves a bit to be desired, but any lover of Shakespeare or great acting would be insane not to buy this DVD.
Prepare to be blown away. (And by the way: where is television of this quality today?)
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The use of light & dark is fantastic. It's in colour but looks like black & white.
Comes across as a stage play (which it is!) and avoids the temptation to go for lavish sets, e.g., the battle scenes, just because it's a film.
I saw the original stage play and this is just as good. The best filmed Shakespeare tragedy I've seen. Absolutely superb
Comes across as a stage play (which it is!) and avoids the temptation to go for lavish sets, e.g., the battle scenes, just because it's a film.
I saw the original stage play and this is just as good. The best filmed Shakespeare tragedy I've seen. Absolutely superb
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is not just another Macbeth. Though faithful to the text and to the poetry of the text, this is used as a springboard to the production's own powerful exploration of what really drove Shakespeare - the issue of good and evil. Neither McKellen nor Dench have quite the right face for their characters (too strong and too warm respectively) but this is unimportant. Their unparalleled intensity of delivery glues the play together from beginning to end, however unpleasant to watch. But the most remarkable achievement is the way the so-called `minor' characters steadily coalesce into a unified force for good that by the end over-rides all else in our attention. The Act IV English scene is extraordinarily strong, `king's cure' and all. The need to produce for TV, usually a noose around the neck of Shakespeare, is mightily used here: no set to speak of, darkness everywhere against which a certain amount of white and occasional flashes of red or gold make their impact, a superb use of camera angles, and music that perfectly matches and supports the tone of the production. And as well as the modern dress there is a curiously modern style of delivery that makes this not Shakespeare's exploration of his theme but our own. Trevor Nunn and his team have out-Shakespeared Shakespeare.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Definitive!
I have to confess that "Macbeth" was for a long time something of a "blind spot" for me; although I could of course appreciate its many great qualities and especially the dramatic... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Joyce
Excellent
Excellent, the definitive Macbeth, saw it on TV in '78 and it's as good as (better than) I remember. This is how Shakespeare should be seen.
Published 3 months ago by Katharina
Just what I was looking for
Shakespear plays are meant to be watched not read. So a video is only second best to the real thing at Stratford.
Published 3 months ago by Andrew
Good Service
Love the film. Full of great actors. Very good value. Fast despatch and well packed. Nothing more need be said.
Published 6 months ago by DavidM
Watch Ian McKellen's Introduction First!
You'll find it at the top of 'Special Features', on which I clicked hoping to find a subtitles app. Although I was disappointed in my search for closed captioning (You may have... Read more
Published 6 months ago by F. S. L'hoir
A dark, intense production of quality
"Macbeth" (1978) starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench and directed by Trevor Nunn was a television version which has now been put on to DVD and is a production which concentrates... Read more
Published 6 months ago by RR Waller
Great value DVD
Considering this play was filmed in the 70s it is very watchable... The sound is perfectly clear as is the picture; it is nothing like hd but that doesn't mean it's grainy or... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Amy
Simply the best
I watch this production of Macbeth every few years as it is simply the best I've seen, and I've seen quite a few. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Bluebell
Outstanding!
What can I say? I have always maintained that what we see and derive from reading Shakespeare depends upon what is in us - our own nature, intellect and mood. Read more
Published 14 months ago by K. Thomas
Very poor film and sound quality
I got this for my son, as its one of his GCSE books but the picture and sound quality were so poor that neither of us could put up with it and so it was a total loss.
Published 15 months ago by RHODES
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