Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection)
 
See larger image
 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
More Buying Choices
BargainDevices Add to Cart
$11.74  & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
BOOKSTEW Add to Cart
$11.75  & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
MOVIEREVOLU... Add to Cart
$11.95  & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get up to a $3.75 Amazon gift card

Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection)

Ian McKellen , Judi Dench , Philip Casson  |  NR |  DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)

List Price: $12.95
Price: $9.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.96 (23%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Monday, January 30? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Other Formats & Versions

Amazon Price New from Used from
DVD 1-Disc Version $9.99  
Other 1-Disc Version $8.98  
Trade In This Movies & TV Item for $3.75
Trade in Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection) for a $3.75 Amazon.com Gift Card that can be redeemed for millions of items store wide. See more Movies & TV eligible for trade-in

Frequently Bought Together

Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection) + Great Performances: Macbeth + William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Price For All Three: $32.47

Show availability and shipping details

Buy the selected items together
  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Great Performances: Macbeth $12.99

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition) $9.49

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Product Details

  • Actors: Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, John Bown, Susan Dury, Judith Harte
  • Directors: Philip Casson
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: A&E Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: November 16, 2004
  • Run Time: 146 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0002TVWYW
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,681 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • For more information about "Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Special Features

  • Introduction to Macbeth with Ian McKellen
  • The Scottish Play: An Explanation with Ian McKellen
  • Timeline of William Shakespeare's life and plays
  • Biography and filmography of Ian McKellen
  • Biography and filmography of Judi Dench

Editorial Reviews

Murder, prophecy, and witches! MACBETH returns, starring Academy Award®-nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Academy Award®-winner Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love), on DVD for the first time anywhere. First broadcast on Britain's Thame

 

Customer Reviews

68 Reviews
5 star:
 (36)
4 star:
 (15)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (7)
1 star:
 (7)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (68 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
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 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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


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(What's this?)
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.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


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
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.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Movies & TV by subject:







i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...