Search - William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Suitable for Teens Movie Release: 1996 DVD Release: 05/25/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 0 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 26 Genres: Drama, Romance, Romantic Drama, Tragedy See Also: William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet [Special Edition], William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet [Music Edition]

The classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy is updated by director Baz Luhrmann to a post-modern Verona Beach where swords are merely a brand of gun and bored youths are easily spurred toward violence. Longtime rivals in religion and business, the Montagues and the Capulets share a page from the Jets and Sharks of West Side Story when they form rival gangs. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) is aloof toward the goings-on of his Montague cousins, but after he realizes that Juliet (Claire Danes) is a Capulet at the end of one very wild party, the enmity between the two clans becomes the root of his angst. He relies heavily -- and with serious consequences -- on his rebel gender-bender of a friend, Mercutio (Harold Perrineau Jr.), and Father (not Friar) Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite) for protection and support. Romeo is, of course, exiled, and it looks like Juliet will be forced into an arranged marriage with the bland Paris (Paul Rudd). It ends, as Romeo and Juliet must, when Romeo hears a tragic piece of misinformation and brings his suicide wish to what was meant to be Juliet 's temporary tomb. This time, though, the turf and the weapon of choice have taken a turn toward the surreal. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Leonardo DiCaprio - Romeo
Claire Danes - Juliet
John Leguizamo - Tybalt
Harold Perrineau, Jr. - Mercutio
Pete Postlethwaite - Father Laurence

Baz Luhrmann's visually kinetic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, while a French soundtrack has also been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer. The film looks and sounds great, but after hearing Luhrmann's entertaining commentaries on the =Moulin Rouge disc, one longs to hear what he might say about this movie. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide