[Rictor]

Meh, he was good for his time. But a puddle looks like an ocean in the middle of the desert, so...

[Ford Prefect]

I could not disagree more. He was one of a very few artists in human history who communicated the nature of the human condition with such poignancy that their work feels eternally relevant.

[Mongoose]

The movie version with Mel Gibson as Hamlet and Ian Holm as Polonius was pretty good, at least in my opinion.  I remember seeing another version set in 19th century Europe, which was, to say the least, very strange, even if it was the original dialogue. As for that abomination of Romeo and Juliet with pretty-boy Leo, I wouldn't touch it with a 39 1/2 foot pole.

Rictor, you have no taste.

[kasperl]

The Reduced Shakespeare Company, that has to be the best. All plays in 93 minutes.

All of them.

I need to start reading Shakespeare, and seeing a couple of serious plays, but I don't have the time right now. I did see that Romeo&Juliet movie with that idiot Leonardo in it. Ugh. Only watched it because some idiot in English class tought it'd be a good idea.

[karajorma]

Forbidden Planet rocked though.

[Stunaep]

Funnily enough, all word-to-word adaptations of Shakespeare on the big screen, set in modern times, or otherwise, look really, really artificial. For one, screen actors (with the notable exception of Kenneth Branagh) usually cannot recite Shakespeare's text, as if it were real speech, as if they were carrying real discussions, or monologues for that matter. Most notable example: Mel Gibson (then again, he wasn't that much of an actor to start with). Forbidden Planet, and Ran are masterpieces, no doubt about that, but stuff like Hamlet with Ethan Hawke, or Romeo+Juliet with Leo DiCaprio..... ugh, cringeworthy stuff.

Shakespeare is still the best on stage. But then again, I've always felt that stage plays often are much more powerful than movies, so sue me.

[Janos]

i liked lion king but when the daddy lion died it was sad but at least the meerkat and the pig were funny

[Getter Robo G]

Um lets see like every other episode of Star Trek TOS was based on The Bard... That's why it's timeless, and it also made Shakespear FUN! (it's t'was noTribble at all Captain!)

LOL!

[MicroPsycho]

I remember watching Shakespeare in Love in grade nine (censored by the teacher) it was meh. That was only last year and we have to Romeo and Juliet again this year...I hate the education system.

[Rictor]

That's nothing. I've read Romeo and Juliet at least 3, maybe 4, times during my years in the education system. I swear, I knew every word by heart. And that's in additon to reading A Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth and watching no less than 4 Shakespeare related movies.

I am now an empty shell of the man I once was.

[Ford Prefect]

I never saw the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet, but I understand it was clunky and drawn-out because it used all of Shakespeare's original text, word for word. Not a good idea when making a movie. I also I heard that the invading army at the end comes crashing through the windows, which sounds stupid.

As Mongoose said, however, the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet was very good. It wasn't a modernization, though.

[Rictor]

Oh yeah, that's right. Make that 5 movies.

And it true, it was very long and drawn out. I remember it being around 4 hours or so.

[aldo_14]

I hate Shakespeare.

 In fact, I long for the day when a time machine is invented, so I can go back and slap him silly.

I definately don't see why studying any of his plays is useful in English classes, especially when they're not even written in modern English.

[kasperl]

Well, the thing in my English class was only because the entire friggin group was clamouring about watching a movie.

And in the IB English class I'm taking we're doing Language and Culture, where Shakespeare actually has some function.

That, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company is bloody hilarious.

[aldo_14]

Only if you're studying language and culture from several centuries ago.......

[Ford Prefect]

Originally posted by aldo_14
I hate Shakespeare.

In fact, I long for the day when a time machine is invented, so I can go back and slap him silly.

I definately don't see why studying any of his plays is useful in English classes, especially when they're not even written in modern English.

Do you have any idea how much literature you're brushing off by that criterion?

First of all, Elizabethan English is technically modern English; it's perfectly understandable. Take a look at Chaucer and Shakespeare will look like Dick and Jane.

Second, what do you mean by "useful"? Shakespeare addressed aspects of the human psyche that will be relevant for as long as we are what we are, and he did it with elegance and subtle humor. If you don't like it, you're perfectly entitled, but there's no way you can argue that Shakespeare doesn't belong in an English class. Shakespeare is an icon of his language.

[aldo_14]

I found all shakespear I was taught completely and utterly useless and without any relevance to my then-current and future education.  I can say I did not learn a single thing from Shakespeares prose, and anything I did learn came from indirect explanation of the historical context...

( Shakespeares english, incidentally, is about as different from modern English as Scots is - and Scots is classed as a seperate language entirely)

[Ford Prefect]

I think you were taught  Shakespeare badly, then. Also, it's really best to see Shakespeare's plays acted out, because, well, they're plays and it's easier to catch some things when they're performed.

[aldo_14]

I think it - he's - just ****.  I can find things interesting (and in an academic way) perfectly well without having to be taught them, y'know.

 I read two (I think) of his plays (Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice; I think I also maybe read some or all of Midsummer Nights Dream), and I found them to be completely without merit as entertainment or education.  Simple as that.

I did see a video/film version (a faithful one to the book) of one of the plays, though.  Did turn down the chance to go to a theatre trip, because I'd rather have had open-bowel surgery in the woods with a blunt stick.

But, hey, each to their own.

[Mongoose]

Aldo, read Hamlet.  At least do yourself that favor.  I wasn't the hugest fan of Romeo and Juliet, but Hamlet, and to a somewhat lesser extend Macbeth, are two of my favorite classical works, and I'm not exactly a huge classics buff.  Hamlet is one of the greatest works of English literature of all time; you should at least give it a chance.