Product Details

• Actors: Richard Johnson, Janet Suzman, Rosemary McHale, Mavis Taylor Blake, Darien Angadi
• Directors: Jon Scoffield
• Writers: William Shakespeare
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Live / Artisan
• VHS Release Date: May 21, 1996
• Run Time: 161 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 078400174X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,262 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Performance!, April 21, 2000

By 

Tracy Marks (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Antony & Cleopatra: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a brilliant performance of Antony and Cleopatra..... and I say this as a reader/viewer who normally likes to read but not watch Shakespeare. Janet Suzman as Cleopatra is at least as fine a Cleopatra as Liz Taylor (and infinitely superior to Leonor Varela's embarrassingly adolescent portrayal), but Richard Johnson as Antony is so marvelous that you can only think of Richard Burton as an unappealing weakling after watching Johnson. What a marvelous Antony - FINALLY you can begin to understand why Cleopatra loved him! And don't miss a younger Patrick Stewart as a very dramatically effective and engaging Enobarbus. This is a film that bears repeated watching; I've watched it three times in one week and will undoubtedly view it far more than most videos on my shelf. The staging and sets aren't noteworthy but you don't even need them because the acting (filmed very closeup) is so superb. This deserves to be a classic. Don't miss it.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great performances!, March 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Antony & Cleopatra: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've seen this play on film and on stage, but this British television version is by far the best version I've seen. Richard Johnson seems to be EXACTLY the embodiment of Marc Antony that Shakespeare must have envisioned - pure poetry and agony. And Janet Suzman channels Cleopatra in a way that is almost spooky (Cleo lives!). I also personally love the set design, which is solely used to create the mood of the characters and plot. This is like a stage play, in that it allows the viewer to focus on the characters, not on locations (I'll leave that to the deeply inferior movie version that plays the story out like an over-produced historical document). Trevor Nunn proves that one doesn't need lavish productions in order to recreate great Shakespeare. Just get some great actors on an open set and let the magic happen!

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is most likely the best production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra you will ever see!, November 14, 2001

By 

Vaughan Dawson (Delray Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Antony & Cleopatra: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I'm not sure what the above reviewers were looking for, but I have had an English bootleg of this production for years, and have never seen a better one. Janet Suzman and Richard Johnson wowed all of the English critics when this RSC production was onstage. And Patrick Stewart won every supporting actor award that season. And, it's directed by the great Trevor Nunn. Nuff said! I'm glad to get a new DVD copy of this production. Any classical theater fan or Roman history buff needs to have this one in their collection.