Product Details

• Actors: Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, John Bown, Susan Dury, Judith Harte
• Directors: Philip Casson
• Writers: Trevor Nunn, William Shakespeare
• Producers: Trevor Nunn, Verity Lambert
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: July 20, 1999
• Run Time: 145 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783115377
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,591 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Two of England's greatest actors, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, electrify in this lean, stripped-down production of Shakespeare's darkest tragedy. In the wake of a battle, the Scottish warrior Macbeth (McKellen, Gods and Monsters, Lord of the Rings) receives a prophecy from a trio of witches: He shall be king. When fate doesn't unfold quickly enough, Macbeth and his even more ambitious wife (Dench, Shakespeare in Love, Iris) decide to give it a push. McKellen sweats anxiously and oozes a creeping lust for power, while Dench is hypnotically vicious from her first moment. For audiences used to their film careers, this grand pair will seem young as pups (this TV movie is from 1979, adapted from an acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production)--but that only gives them an added edge of sex and vigor. Extras include the older McKellen thoughtfully commenting on the play and this classic production. --Bret Fetzer

From the back cover

Two internationally acclaimed stars of screen and stage join forces to capture the powerful essence of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, Macbeth.

Sir Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters) and Academy Award winner Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) shared the stage in 1976 in Stratford-Upon-Avon's intimate "The Other Place" theatre. Here, in this smallest of Royal Shakespeare Company spaces, one of the finest theatrical directors of our time, Trevor Nunn (1996: Twelfth Night: Or What You Will) created a definitive production of Macbeth. An unforgettable experience for those who witnessed it, now this lost theatrical treasure is available for the first time on video, perfectly captured in all its murderous magnificence.

In this compelling production, McKellen and Dench are joined by an outstanding cast of Royal Shakespeare Company members that include Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, Bob Peck (Jurassic Park), Roger Rees (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and John Woodvine (Persuasion).

The director, Trevor Nunn, was the youngest ever Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he ran until 1986. He has received the Tony Award for Best Director of a play or musical for his acclaimed production of Nicholas Nickleby, Cats, and Les Miserables. From the Three Witches until "Birnam Wood do come to Dunisane", this outstanding production of Macbeth commands attention from bloody opening to bloody finish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

174 of 175 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible production with McKellan and Dench at their peak., June 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Macbeth / McKellen, Dench, Royal Shakespeare Company [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This production highlights the Christian v. pagan elements, and in other ways deals in opposites (men's v. women's perceptions, solid v. spirit worlds, etc.), but without beating you over the head with it. The witch scenes are amazing--the production borrows from Irish "bog people" imagery with the witches' stick puppets representing Macbeth's visions, with a little borrowing from Carlos Castaneda's peyote trips, and maybe the minimal "circle" staging of Equus. Minimal props and furniture; the actors carry it all the way, brilliantly. I can't imagine anyone doing a better, visceral, more committed job with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth than McKellan and Dench. It could sell huge--for a Shakespeare film--if only it wasn't probably too obviously a taped stage production (it doesn't try to be otherwise). A couple of turtlenecks among the costumes betray the 70's-era staging, but otherwise the costuming is great and doesn't date the production. If you a) are a fan of Ian McKellan and/or Judi Dench and b) appreciate great Shakespeare performances and want to be "in the know" on what's considered the definitive Macbeth staging of the past couple decades, this is the one.

116 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars McKellen and Dench are outstanding..., December 29, 2002

By 

Sandra Robertson (Huntsville, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Macbeth / McKellen, Dench, Royal Shakespeare Company [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I purchased this tape after it was featured in an interview with Ian McKellen on Inside the Actor?s Studio and I decided I had to have it for my collection. This is a very simply staged version of Shakespeare's most violent play, and against this basic black canvas you witness two of the greatest stage actors of all time. The queen knighted both McKellen and Dench after this production, and rightfully so. They are both national treasures, as they should be.

This film is worth watching for these two outstanding performances alone, and for the beauty of the language, unencumbered by complex technical effects. Trevor Nunn has chosen to highlight the emotional deterioration of MacBeth and his Lady for this production, and I wonder if that choice was made because he had these two incredible actors for this production, or if he chose them for this purpose (a variation on the chicken/egg theory of theatrical production).

The "apparitions" (Banquo, dagger, et al) occur in MacBeth's head only -- McKellen's amazing ability convinces you that he sees bloody, murdered Banquo seated at the table, although we do not see him. (Believe me, this is infinitely preferable to some other Banquo apparitions I've witnessed in other productions.) Dench is, quite simply, the best actor alive to ever trod down the even road of the Bard?s blank verse. Period. Her Lady MacBeth?s degeneration is set in motion from the first letter-reading scene, climaxing in the most jaw-dropping sleepwalking scene ever.

Shakespeare has never SOUNDED better?much of this recording would work equally well as an audio-only version.

Other reviewers have done a remarkable job in explaining what works about this notable production; allow me to share what bothered me about it:

The camera work: looked and felt like an old episode of Dark Shadows with much-too-tight camera angles. I wish that, C-Span-like, the TV director had simply trained a camera on the stage and then we could watch how Nunn utilized the small space of this theatre. So many tight shots of the actors? faces deprive us of seeing what they are doing with the rest of themselves, and how the others in the scene are reacting.

Bob Peck as MacDuff: autistic, rather than artistic. I know the British are famous for their reserve (but the Scots certainly aren?t), and sometimes less is more onstage when it comes to emotion, but Peck?s greets the news that his wife and children have all been murdered with the same amount of indignation that he might incur at the news that someone drank the last beer in his fridge. It?s a choice that doesn?t seem to work, and this goes against Shakespeare?s own text: (?But I must also feel it as a man?), which makes MacDuff one of the first completely emotional strong, sensitive males on the stage. Even when he murders MacBeth, Peck comes across as only slightly peeved.

Accents: Nunn has chosen to have some of the ?character? parts (the Sergeant, the Porter) performed with heavy Scottish brogues?and they are difficult to understand for the average listener. (I?m quite used to these accents and I had a hard time with some of it.) I like the authenticity, but sometimes one should sacrifice authenticity for coherence.

If you like Shakespeare, good acting, or need to learn this play for school, buy this version. It comes closer than most others toward depicting what the main characters are all about, and the language is beautiful and terrifying. If you are studying acting, McKellen and Dench?s performances will probably convince you that you have no talent whatsoever.

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare cannot be done better on screen, January 13, 2001

By 

The Baker Street Irregular (Staines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macbeth / McKellen, Dench, Royal Shakespeare Company [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Shakespeare's plays, I find, often tend not to come off too well on screen. The essence of these works is the language: it is Shakespeare's blank verse that contains the drama. But all too often, this gets lost on the screen. However, this much acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Trevor Nunn, gets it absolutely right. The sets are minimal; the lighting is imaginative, but dark; the camera movements and editing are unobtrusive: nothing distracts from the verse, which - needless to say, given this cast - is beautifully spoken. The costumes are taken from different periods in history, and so do not tie the action down to any particular time; but there is a unity both in design and in purpose.

The atmosphere is intense and claustrophobic from the very beginning. Judi Dench presents a Lady Macbeth who, right from the start, is terrified of the spirits she calls upon to possess her. Ian MacKellen presents us with a figure on the verge of insanity, and possibly beyond: this Macbeth has to convince himself that "all is but toys", for otherwise, he could not go on living with the burden of such guilt. It is terrifying to see these figures descend further into the depths of evil and madness. Somehow, all horror films seem a bit tame after this: the evil does not come from the monster outside, but from the monster within ourselves.

In brief, this is not prettified Shakespeare. If you are looking for spectacle and opulence, it would be best to look elsewhere. But if you are looking for an intelligent reading of one of the great undisputed masterpieces of drama, then you need look no further.