Romeo & Juliet

• 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

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Director:

Baz Luhrmann

(Strictly Ballroom)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann

Music:

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 Juliettakes the classic love story and updates it for the MTV generation, in short.

So begins William Shakespeare’s beloved play, Romeo And Juliet. Thesefamous lines and the vivid language of this cautionary tale drive directorBaz Luhrmann‘s cinematic interpretation. But the setting has been movedfrom its Elizabethan origins: Welcome to Verona Beach, a sexy violentother-world, neither past nor future, ruled by two rival families, theMontagues and the Capulets. Wealthy, selfish, ruthless and powerful, thebitter enmity between the parents has become the unfortunate birthright of theiroffspring.

The picture quality is excellent, bringing life to the extravagant colourscheme used throughout in pin-sharp detail. The film has been transferredat the original 2.35:1 ratio and when you watch it you’ll realise it cannotbe 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 boxsetin 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 soundtrackmasterminded by Nellee Hooper and spawned two soundtrack albums featuring plentyof music from the film including The Cardigans “Love Fool”, a toptune, 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 “WhenDoves Cry”, Radiohead‘s “Exit Music (For A Film)” andone 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 theatricaltrailer.

Overall, with its quick cuts between scenes and individual moments, on firstscreening this doesn’t make for easy viewing, leaving this viewer feelingthat while he’s watching something very entertaining, it doesn’t quite geltogether 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 releaseschedule, 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.