Plot
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Release Year: 1996
Rating: 6.8/10 (82,787 voted)
Critic's Score: 60/100
Director:
Baz Luhrmann
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo
Storyline Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue. The gun-toting members of the families wage a vicious war on the streets as the star-crossed lovers, their tragic destiny.
Writers: William Shakespeare, Craig Pearce
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio
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Romeo
Claire Danes
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Juliet
John Leguizamo
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Tybalt
Harold Perrineau
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Mercutio
Pete Postlethwaite
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Father Laurence
Paul Sorvino
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Fulgencio Capulet
Brian Dennehy
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Ted Montague
Paul Rudd
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Dave Paris
Vondie Curtis-Hall
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Captain Prince
Miriam Margolyes
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The Nurse
Jesse Bradford
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Balthasar
M. Emmet Walsh
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Apothecary
Zak Orth
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Gregory
Jamie Kennedy
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Sampson
Dash Mihok
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Benvolio
Opening Weekend: $11,133,231
(USA)
(3 November 1996)
(1276 Screens)
Gross: $46,338,728
(USA)
(17 February 1997)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The Jesus statue that dominates Verona was actually a visual effect. In reality, it was 2 feet high.
Goofs:
Continuity:
Romeo falls from the balcony into the pool as the Nurse appears. He should have fallen hard on the pavement around the pool edge. He could not have reached the pool, even if he'd leaped out on purpose.
Quotes:
[to Benvolio and Tybalt, who are fighting]
Captain Prince:
Rebellious subjects! Enemies to peace! Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground!
User Review
A review of Baz Luhrumann's Romeo and Juliet
Rating:
Shakespeare gets a Hollywood make over in Baz Luhrmann's high-octane
remake of Romeo and Juliet.
The Australian director manages to combine an exciting mix of original
Shakespearean dialect and Hollywood action, which together delivers a
brilliant new concept to film making.
The casting of Leonardo Di Caprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet
are inspired choices, as they both give the best performance of their
fledgling careers.
Although this is a story which has been told many times before, Luhrmann
keeps the idea fresh, mainly by using a lovely mixture of fast editing
and beautifully choreographed fight scenes, which wouldn't look out of
place in a John Woo action film. It also combines a fantastic soundtrack
with a stunning backdrop of 'Verona Beach'.
Right from the explosive beginning to the tragic ending, Romeo and
Juliet will keep you captivated. This is a testament to Luhrmann's
brilliant snappy direction, which will take you on a rollercoaster ride
of car chases, gun fights and a love that was destined to
fail.
Luhrmann's ablity to keep the audience wanting more is no more apparent
than the ending. You would have to have been living under a rock, for
the last 100 years to not know how Romeo and Juliet ends. But Luhrmann
manages to keep the audience hoping that this time it will be
different.
Would Will Shakespeare be happy with this adaptation of his work? We'll
never know, although any fans of Shakespeare should leave the cinema
pleased with this mordernised version.
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