Am I Missing Something?

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I had the opportunity to see this series when I was in college. I was rehearsing a production of Julius Caesar, and my director hosted a get together at his apartment, where we watched several episodes that he had taped. Since then, I've been waiting in vain for the opportunity to watch the entire series. I have yet to find another book or documentary that equals this series as a guide either to performing Shakespeare or to acting in general. Having such high-caliber Royal Shakespeare Company talent as Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Dame Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart and David Suchet performing the Bard's work ensures that the series is highly entertaining as well as instructive.

Incredibly informative and interesting. I especially liked the dueling Shylocks episode, in which Suchet and Stewart play the same scenes back to back and explain why they made their different choices. Also very interesting is the episode in which each actor does a brief speech from Troilus and Cressida, then gets direction from Barton and redoes it, usually for the better.You also learn a little about the actors as people. For instance, Patrick Stewart is a bit of a ham. Ben Kingsley is soft-spoken and quick to admit what he sees as faults in his acting style. Ian McKellen is rather teacherly, expounding at length whenever he's given the chance.Highly recommended!

This is a definitive instructional video on the problems and approaches to playing Shakespeare; an invaluable tool for the student actor and an entertaining and enlightening guide for the lay person on the actor's craft.I wish there were more videos like this one, whereby techniques are demonstrated by actors who are experienced and actually good. I have seen countless other instructional videos on acting, from audition techniques to acting for the camera, where the so-called actors featured came across as amateur and self-conscious.Here, we have the privilege of watching seasoned film and stage actors, such as Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan and David Suchet (among many others, and I apologize for omitting some fine actresses) show us how there are infinite ways of interpreting and acting Shakespeare's plays, as well as reminding us why they are such good actors.

My Reading and Acting Shakespeare teacher played snippets of this video to help convey that Shakespeare was more than the words on the page. The presentation, though old, is fun and extremely informative. I got a kick out of seeing Ian McKellen looking young and dapper with Patrick Steward looking like he just stepped off of the bridge of the Enterprise(to quote Mary Mcfly in Back to the Future "Didnt that man ever have hair?).To the point, I learned more watching this video than I have so far in class. All students of Shakespeare should see it.