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Dom Robinson reviews

William Shakespeare's

Romeo & Juliet

The greatest love story the world has ever known

Distributed by
Encore Entertainment

Cat.no: EE 1134
Cert: 12
Running time: 115 minutes
Sides: 2 (CLV)
Year: 1997
Pressing: 1998
Chapters: 26 (12/13+1)
Sound: Dolby Surround
Widescreen: 2.35:1
Price: £24.99
Extras : Original Theatrical Trailer

Director:

Baz Luhrmann

Strictly Ballroom

Producers:

Gabriella Martinelli and Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay:

Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann

Music:

Nellee Hooper

Cast:

Romeo: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Man In The Iron Mask, Marvin's Room, This Boy's Life, Titanic, Total Eclipse, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?)
Juliet: Claire Danes (Home For The Holidays, Little Women, The Rainmaker, To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday)
Ted Montague: Brian Dennehy (Cocoon, FX, FX2, Presumed Innocent)
Tybalt: John Leguizamo (Executive Decision, The Fan, Spawn, Super Mario Brothersm Too Wong Foo...)
Father Laurence: Pete Postlethwaite (Amistad, Crimetime, Dragonheart, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Suite 16, The Usual Suspects)
Fulgencio Capulet: Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, Money Talks, Nixon)
Gloria Capulet: Diane Venora (FX, Heat, The Jackal, The Substitute, Three Wishes)
Diva: Des'ree

Romeo And Juliet takes the classic love story and updates it for the MTV generation, in short.

So begins William Shakespeare's beloved play, Romeo And Juliet. These famous lines and the vivid language of this cautionary tale drive director Baz Luhrmann's cinematic interpretation. But the setting has been moved from its Elizabethan origins: Welcome to Verona Beach, a sexy violent other-world, neither past nor future, ruled by two rival families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Wealthy, selfish, ruthless and powerful, the bitter enmity between the parents has become the unfortunate birthright of their offspring.

The picture quality is excellent, bringing life to the extravagant colour scheme used throughout in pin-sharp detail. The film has been transferred at the original 2.35:1 ratio and when you watch it you'll realise it cannot be viewed in any other form, due to the complexity and composition of each shot. For the same price of this disc, some idiot at Fox has released a video boxset in PAN-AND-SCAN which is the surest way to destroy the experience on display.

The sound quality is spot-on too, which is necessary for the soundtrack masterminded by Nellee Hooper and spawned two soundtrack albums featuring plenty of music from the film including The Cardigans "Love Fool", a top tune, although I preferred one of their earlier tracks, "Sick & Tired".

Other excellent contributions include Gavin Friday's "Angel", The Wannadies' "You And Me Song", Prince's "When Doves Cry", Radiohead's "Exit Music (For A Film)" and one of the most hypnotic records ever made, Stina Nordenstam's "Little Star".

There are 25 chapters spread throughout the 115 minutes of the film. Not bad, but it could use a few more. The disc also contains the original theatrical trailer.

Overall, with its quick cuts between scenes and individual moments, on first screening this doesn't make for easy viewing, leaving this viewer feeling that while he's watching something very entertaining, it doesn't quite gel together by mixing olde-style language with pop-style appearance.

Still, if you're a fan of the film this laserdisc certainly won't disappoint. At the time of writing, Fox still haven't announced their UK DVD release schedule, so who knows when this will be released on the new format.

FILM	 		: ***
PICTURE QUALITY		: *****
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: *
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ***½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.

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