Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Tetrady not as good as all the hype

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

idmueller If you base a movie/TV series on a play don't make this. Entertaining maybe, not even close to Shakespeare unless you watch WB or have a deadline. You can't skip the important dialogue for sweeping sequences. It is a stage play which can end in 2 hours. Sorry to consumers, this ain't Shakespeare. If you are stealing work, steal it all. I am pretty sure it is out of copyright. more lines... if you never read a book in your life you will recognize themes, they are from Shakespeare whether he actually wrote it or not. do I have enough lines yet not yet now?... quick list of better things: Richard III ian mckellan, romeo and Juliet leo, henry v brannagh, best ever titus bigelows with Hopkins... way more out there

david-z-zuber I only watched Richard II thus-far but I think it was a masterpiece within a masterpiece. This profound story with this production level is a staggering accomplishment. Richard II broke my heart.The story is about a king and a duke who through conviction driven necessary action find themselves at odds with one another despite mutual love in kinship. What is it to be a king? What is it to wield power and who has that right? Where is the line between treason and loyalty?What is it to put on the crown?

adam-scrivner At school we were force fed Macbeth (*yawn*). I loathed it. At the time I thought that Shakespeare (*yawn*) was a load of boring old rubbish, not a patch on the Terry Pratchett books that I enjoyed reading at home. It genuinely puzzled me that my teacher (I am thinking of you, Mrs Canning!) seemed to get so much out of studying the text with us.A couple of decades later I stumbled across The Hollow Crown on the TV, and there was nothing else on so I thought that I would give it a chance. What a revelation! It was so pleasant to watch. The quality of acting, the excellent settings, the obvious command and understanding of the text demonstrated by the cast. Boring old Shakespeare (*yawn*) now excitingly brought to life on the screen in front of me. Fantastic.I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Hollow Crown plays, from Richard II to Henry V. I am now looking forward to reading Henry VI. If, like me, you have never been a fan of Shakespeare (*yawn*), but you are curious to see what all of the fuss is about, then give the Hollow Crown series a look as you may just be surprised.

shoolaroon Maybe it is unfair of me to write a review as I've only seen the first entry, Richard II, but from the previews it seems to set the standard. While I appreciate the effort to mount such a Shakespearean production, and there are fine actors here such as Jeremy Irons, and Patrick Stewart, etc., the overall effect is very flat and disappointing. In the attempt to seem "natural" the creators have forgotten that this is...THEATER in solid caps, and was never meant to seem "natural". Perhaps I am not critiquing the actors as much as the production - the only productions of these plays I have seen that really work as theatrical and philosophical pieces are Orson Welle's Falstaff and Olivier's Richard III. The styles are very different but they both, artistically, transport one to a completely different era, in all ways. Welles especially knew how to handle Shakespeare in a way that he, Welles, is in charge of the plays - not they in charge of him. By all means, watch this BBC production, but if you want to see how it really should be done - see the two films I recommend. The BBC versions will seem like stale beer besides them.