Search - Julius Caesar on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1970 DVD Release: 05/11/2004 Format: DVD - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 56 mins Studio: Republic Pictures Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Historical Film, Tragedy, Historical Epic, Sword-and-Sandal See Also: Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar

Except for the omission of several passages in the original play, this 1970 adaptation of Julius Caesar faithfully retells Shakespeare's account of events surrounding the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. The film begins when Caesar John Gielgud is at the height of his power after conquering Pompey "the Great" in a civil war. Important senators worry that Caesar means to become king, diminish their power, and abolish their beloved Roman republic. Two senators, Cassius Richard Johnson and Brutus Jason Robards, hatch an assassination plot involving other disenchanted Roman citizens. Although a soothsayer warns Caesar of trouble ("Beware the ides of March") and his own wife reports ominous signs ("A lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead"), Caesar decides to go to the senate on the ides (March 15). Upon arrival, the conspirators greet him with daggers. In his funeral oration, Mark Antony Charlton Heston extols Caesar and incites the citizens against Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome with their armies, but Antony and two other sympathizers track them down with their armies. When the tide turns against the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. As does Shakespeare's play, the film leaves the discerning viewer wondering who was the real villain -- Caesar, because of his ambition for power, or Brutus, because of his underhanded plot to maintain the status quo. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Charlton Heston - Marc Antony
Jason Robards, Jr. - Brutus
John Gielgud - Julius Caesar
Richard Johnson - Cassius
Robert Vaughn - Casca

This all-star production of Julius Caesar, featuring such stellar names as Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, John Gielgud, Diana Rigg, and Richard Chamberlain, arrives on DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that preserves the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. This is a fine release that will be of interest to Shakespeare aficionados, as well as to those who are fond of these great actors. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide