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

  • FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)

  • MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993)

  • TITUS (1999)

  • RICHARD III (1995)

  • 11. HAMLET (2000)

FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)

15. FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," wrote sci-fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke, and this uncredited adaptation of Shakespeare's final play amply proves his point. Prospero becomes reclusive scientist Morbius, lord of a distant world, while "airy spirit" Ariel becomes Robby the Robot.—JR

14. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993)
The Bard's delightful romantic roundelay gets the Kenneth Branagh treatment (his second Shakespeare feature after Henry V). The star-director and Emma Thompson are a wonderful Benedick and Beatrice, the sun-dappled settings are swoonworthy, and even Keanu Reeves acquits himself nicely as the villainous Don Pedro.—KU

13. TITUS (1999)
Broadway's Spider-Man may have permanently soured her career, so let's go back to when Julie Taymor was a beacon of hope for stage and screen. From its Ancient Rome--meets-Mussolini--era production design to Anthony Hopkins's fiery lead performance, this take on Titus Andronicus is a bloody marvel.—KU

12. RICHARD III (1995)
Director Richard Loncraine's swift, stylish take on the Bard's matchlessly vitriolic play recasts the malformed king as an English Hitler in an alternate 1930s. The bravura opening sequence—in which a wormy Ian McKellen begins his winter-of-discontent soliloquy as a public address and continues it alone in the loo, sputtering into a urinal—is typical of the film's invigorating wit.—AF

11. HAMLET (2000)
Medieval castles are traded for modern-day skyscrapers in Michael Almereyda's masterful, Manhattan-set update of Shakespeare's hallowed tragedy. Almereyda cleverly transposes the action to the cutthroat world of big business (Ethan Hawke is the slacker film-student prince trying to bring down his CEO uncle) where murder isn't the only thing most foul.—KU

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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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