The 25 best Shakespeare-to-screen adaptations

To film, or not to film, that is the question. We rank the answers.

By David Cote, David Fear, Adam Feldman, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich Thu Oct 20 2011

  • A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935)

  • HAMLET (1996)

  • HENRY V (1944)

  • ROMEO + JULIET (1996)

  • PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991)

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935)

20. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935)
Shakespeare's tale of actors and other wild creatures got the suitably out-there film version it deserved in this giddy golden-age spectacle. Everything from codirector Max Reinhardt's emphasis on surreal set design (lifted from his 1934 Hollywood Bowl production) to the left-of-center casting choices (James Cagney as Bottom; Mickey Rooney as Puck) gives this comedy the proper topsy-turvy spin.—DF 

19. HAMLET (1996)
Given all the deep editing these texts often get for the screen, hats off to Kenneth Branagh for filming all four hours of the melancholy Dane. This reverential epic was shot in England's glorious Blenheim Palace and stuffed with star cameos (Gielgud, Heston, Crystal, Williams). The gilded ballrooms and mirrored walls conjure up a Continental candy box—albeit one filled with poison sweets.—DC

18. HENRY V (1944)
From its theatrical meta-opening to the colorful pageantry of its battle scenes, Laurence Olivier's first foray into film directing set the standard for adapting Shakespeare. His ability to be reverent to the text while cinematically opening the play up became a template for tackling the Bard, and his Saint Crispin's Day speech—addressed to a Britain still reeling from the Blitz—remains a showstopper.—DF

17. ROMEO + JULIET (1996)
Baz Lurhmann's modern-dress take on those feuding Capulets and Montagues may be a whirlwind of stylistic sound and fury. But his ADD-afflicted aesthetic only heightens the breathless, fluttering teen romance that lies at the heart of this tale of star-crossed lovers, dreamily played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.—DF

16. PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991)
Less an adaptation of The Tempest than a hallucination inspired by it, Peter Greenaway's unabashed art film is a baroque catalog of images, music, modern dance and naked flesh. Incanted by an elderly John Gielgud, the text offsets a sensual fantasia that borrows more than one page from Hieronymus Bosch.—AF

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (2 ratings)

  • kozintesev should have been there in the list!

    pratik mitra Mon Mar 25
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  • Do some proofreading. Keanu Reeves is Don John, not Don Pedro.

    Travis Wed Oct 24 2012
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  • And what about Othello (1995) and As You Like It (2006)? You can't go wrong with Kenneth Branagh.

    Andrew Wed Oct 24 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Although it's controversial, Olivier's 1965 "Othello" should have been included, and I would never have put Baz Luhrmann's desecration of "Romeo and Juliet" on the list. And what about the Orson Welles "Macbeth"?

    Albert Sat Aug 18 2012
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  • get <a href="http://www.chanelstore-online.com/">chanel bags online</a> for gift

    Zitheeri Thu Aug 16 2012
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • Despite the negative reviews, I'm actually rather pleased with this list - so much so, in fact, that I've been using it as a reference as to which Shakespeare adaptations to watch. Yet I too am not without my reservations. That the 1996 Hamlet should below the 2000 version, and that the 1990 version should not be included, is inexcusable. Of all the films on this list, the one I think least worthy of being included is that adolescent schizophrenic cacophony of gaudy ostentation Romeo + Juliet (1996), although I understand why it is included (not why it ranks so highly, however). Still, there are some notable films that have been unduly neglected, some of which other users have previously mentioned: West Side Story (1961), 10 Things I Hate about You (1999), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), and the grossly underrated The Tempest (2010). I have not seen Coriolanus (2011), though I'm sure it lives up to its hype.

    Andrew Thu Aug 16 2012
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  • A Shakespeare cinematic list that doesn't include Grigory Kozintsev's Hamlet (1964) and King Lear (1971) loses all validity.

    richard brooks Fri Jul 27 2012
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  • thnks

    praveen Mon Jul 9 2012
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  • The fact that Baz Luhrman's awful "Romeo and Juliet" and Ethan Hawke's dismal "Hamlet" are both on this list and Ralph Fiennes' superb Coriolanus, "West Side Story", and "10 Things I Hate About You" are not makes little to no sense. Also, Keanu Reeves was unwatchable in "Much Ado..."

    Rebecca E Mon Jun 18 2012
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  • I'm sorry, I can't trust a list that includes Forbidden Planet but not the BBC version of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart. Or a list that ranks Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet below the 1968 version.

    Pete Mon Jun 18 2012
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