Which Shakespeare Play Has the Best Film Adaptations?
by penchofifteenpolls | created - 15 Mar 2016 | updated - 22 May 2017 | PublicWilliam Shakespeare is one of the most important English literature writers and one of the most prolific persons in the IMDb.
In his honour, which one of his world renowned plays has given us the best cinematographical adaptations?
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1. The Tempest (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Shakespeare's epic play is translated from page to screen, with the gender of the main character, Prospero, changed from male to female.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand
Votes: 8,201 | Gross: $0.28M
Best Rated Version: The Tempest (2014) Most Voted Version: Forbidden Planet (1956)
2. The Merry Wives of Windsor (2011)
Not Rated | 135 min | Comedy
Imagining that Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have each fallen for him, the fat knight Sir John Falstaff decides to seduce them both, as much for their husbands' money as for their ... See full summary »
Director: Christopher Luscombe | Stars: Christopher Benjamin, Serena Evans, Sarah Woodward, Andrew Havill
Votes: 46
Best Rated Version: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1965) Most Voted Version: As Alegres Comadres (2003)
3. Much Ado About Nothing (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese
Votes: 17,086 | Gross: $4.33M
Best Rated Version: Much Ado About Nothing (1984) Most Voted Version: Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
4. Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Romance
Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Conway Tearle
Votes: 2,230
Best Rated Version: Romeo and Juliet (1968) Most Voted Version: Romeo + Juliet (1996)
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968)
Not Rated | 124 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
The adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors and their interactions with fairies come to light in a moonlit forest.
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Derek Godfrey, Barbara Jefford, Nicholas Selby, Hugh Sullivan
Votes: 875
Best Rated Version: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1967) Most Voted Version: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
6. Titus Andronicus (1999)
147 min | Drama, Horror
A classic and intense horror/drama about the all consuming nature of revenge.
Director: Christopher Dunne | Stars: Candy K. Sweet, Lexton Raleigh, Tom Dennis, Levi Tinker
Votes: 132
Best Rated Version: Titus Andronicus (1985) Most Rated Version: Titus (1999)
7. Henry V (1944)
Not Rated | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer
Votes: 7,067
Best and Most Voted Version: Henry V (1989)
8. The Comedy of Errors (1983 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 109 min | Comedy
Aegeon of Syracuse has come to Ephesus to seek his son, who went in search of his missing twin and mother months ago. Unfortunately, Ephesus has just declared war on Syracuse, and will ... See full summary »
Director: James Cellan Jones | Stars: Cyril Cusack, Charles Gray, Nicolas Chagrin, Nick Burnell
Votes: 223
Best Rated Version: Angoor (1982) Most Voted Version: Big Business (1988)
9. Richard III (1912)
55 min | Drama
Richard of Gloucester uses manipulation and murder to gain the English throne.
Directors: André Calmettes, James Keane | Stars: Robert Gemp, Frederick Warde, Albert Gardner, James Keane
Votes: 321
Best Rated Version: Richard III (1955) Most Rated Version: Richard III (1995)
10. The Merchant of Venice (1980 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 157 min | Comedy, Drama
A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange ... See full summary »
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: John Franklyn-Robbins, John Rhys-Davies, Alan David, John Nettles
Votes: 296
Best Rated Version: Der Kaufmann von Venedig (1968) Most Voted Version: The Merchant of Venice (2004)
11. As You Like It (1936)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Comedy, Romance
A Duke usurps his brother's land and power, banishing him and his entourage into the forest of Arden. The banished Duke's daughter, Rosalind, remains with her cousin Celia. She has fallen ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Czinner | Stars: Elisabeth Bergner, Laurence Olivier, Sophie Stewart, Henry Ainley
Votes: 856
Best Rated Version: Love: As You Like It (2012) Most Voted Version: As You Like It (2006)
12. The Taming of The Shrew (1967)
Approved | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Brutish, fortune-hunting scoundrel Petruchio tames his wealthy, shrewish wife, Katharina.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern
Votes: 8,677 | Gross: $8.00M
Best Rated Version: Kiss Me Kate (1968) Most Rated Version: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
13. Twelfth Night (1910)
12 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
An early silent version of Shakespeare's classic comedy of unrequited love and gender bending.
Directors: Eugene Mullin, Charles Kent | Stars: Julia Swayne Gordon, Charles Kent, Florence Turner, Edith Storey
Votes: 283
Best Rated Version: Was Ihr wollt (1963) Most Voted Version: Twelfth Night or What You Will (1996)
14. The Winter's Tale (1910)
Not Rated | 11 min | Short, Drama
The kings of Bohemia and Sicilia, monarchs of adjoining kingdoms, have been close friends since boyhood. But after each has assumed his regal duties, they find that they are unable to see ... See full summary »
Directors: Theodore Marston, Barry O'Neil | Stars: Anna Rosemond, Martin Faust, Frank Hall Crane, Amelie Barleon
Votes: 52
Best Rated Version: Ein Wintermärchen (1965) Most Voted Version: The Winter's Tale (1981)
15. Julius Caesar (1950)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, History
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Director: David Bradley | Stars: Charlton Heston, Grosvenor Glenn, Harold Tasker, David Bradley
Votes: 473
Best Rated Version: Julius Caesar (2011) Most Rated Version: Julius Caesar (1953)
16. Antony and Cleopatra (1984 TV Movie)
179 min | Drama, History, Romance
After the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.
Director: Lawrence Carra | Stars: Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Nichelle Nichols, John Carradine
Votes: 128
Best Rated Version: Antonius und Cleopatra (1963) Most Voted Version: Antony and Cleopatra (1974)
17. Hamlet (1996)
PG-13 | 242 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Votes: 40,047 | Gross: $4.41M
Best Rated Version: Gamlet (1964) Most Voted Version: Haider (2014)
18. King Lear (1987)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A descendant of Shakespeare tries to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl catastrophe obliterates most of human civilization.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Woody Allen, Freddy Buache, Leos Carax, Julie Delpy
Votes: 1,486 | Gross: $0.06M
Best and Most Voted Version: Ran (1985)
19. Othello (1995)
R | 123 min | Drama, Romance
The Moorish General Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his Lieutenant Michael Cassio, when in reality, it is all part of the scheme of a bitter Ensign named Iago.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 10,173 | Gross: $2.11M
Best Rated Version: Othello (1968) Most Voted Version: O (2001)
20. Macbeth (I) (2015)
R | 113 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan
Votes: 59,496 | Gross: $1.11M
Best Rated Version: Maqbool (2003) Most Voted Version: Kumonosu-jô (1957)
21. Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
PG | 93 min | Romance, Comedy, Musical
An update of the classic Shakespeare story, director Kenneth Branagh shot the film like a classic 1930s musical. It tells the story of four best friends who swear off love.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone, Natascha McElhone, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 4,902 | Gross: $0.28M
His least adapted plays like: Love's Labour's Lost (1985), Measure for Measure (2006), Coriolanus (2011) or King John (1899) have given better adaptations.
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