Yar, you be here: Henry V > Customer Reviews

Henry V Customer Reviews (19 - 21 of 38 Reviews)

Now this is magical theater made into a movie
It is hard to find too many faults with this wonderful adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V. Some of the people left out of the movie such as Queen Isabeau of France and some other sub-plots don't detract from this great masterpiece. This movie will inspire while also showing some aspects of the heart-ache of war.

Hopefully some day, we will see a more realistic telling of the story of Henry V, because Shakespeare's version is admittedly anglo-centric and makes Henry V out to be a noble, moral, hero of the middle ages. When the historical record is examined closer, Henry V was a brutal war criminal even by the standards of his day. With a questionable claim to the throne of England, he descends upon France based upon claims to the throne through his Great Great Grandmother Isabella. The death and suffering this caused, all in the name of God and honor, was a terrible spectacle in the 1400's.

Long live King Henry as an example of how to ruin a country by invading others on false pretences, all to cover up your own illegitimacy. That plot sounds strangely familiar.

Shakespeare as spectacle
Branagh's movie shows that Shakespeare's scripts continue to ace the test of time. Branagh took this play, meant for a small stage full of live actors, and expanded it to the largest scale a movie can reach. The scenes of combat range widely across the battlefield, set against a background of burning countryside. This movie almost makes it hard to imagine how that grandeur could ever have been contained on a single stage.

More than just the visual spectacle, Branagh creates a moving Henry, with the kind of charisma needed to pull an army into bloody battle on foreign soil. More often than not, Branagh manages to capture the cadence that made so many of this play's lines into phrases with lives of their own. After seeing Branagh's Henry, it's clear where Churchill learned so much that contributed to his oratorical power.

"Henry V" certainly shows events of historical significance, and shows Shakespeare's spin-doctoring of those events (25 English dead to 10,000 French? are you sure of those figures?). There is much in this play for the serious viewer, and layers of truth and shaded truth for the student of history to unwrap. Still, many modern viewers will see this as one of the "dreaded historical plays." If not for Branagh's spectacular rendering, many scenes could have become tedious.

But Branagh did make a good show of it. Even the impatient viewer is likely to come away happy, and just a bit better informed about English literature and history.

//wiredweird



A bit so and so but on the whole great!
The film features a tremendously realistic battle scene which is quite possibly the first of it's kind.

The Battle of Agincourt (featured in the film) left 25,000 French dead and 600 English dead. In other words the French were massacred despite heavily out-numbering the English (but then that is generally what the English/British Army is famous for - winning against impossible odds).

In terms of tone I may have to say it was SLIGHTLY over-acted as you were left startled by Kenneth's sudden bursts of anger and attitude.

Aside from this though the movie was great.

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Next Page