Romeo + Juliet [Blu-ray]

Director: Baz Luhrmann Baz Luhrmann

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	10/19/2010
UPC:	0024543642190
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	4,160

Special Features

Shaking up Shakespeare picture-in-picture mode with audio commentary by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald McAlpine and Craig Pearce and featuring behind-the-scenes footage and stills; Uncut footage from the Bazmark Vault; Romeo + Juliet: The Music; Filmmaker and interview galleries; BD-Live**: Live lookup powered by IMDb

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Leonardo DiCaprio	Romeo
Claire Danes	Juliet
Brian Dennehy	Ted Montague
John Leguizamo	Tybalt
Pete Postlewaite	Father Laurence
Paul Sorvino	Fulgencio Capulet
Diane Venora	Gloria Capulet
Harold Perrineau	Mercutio
Paul Rudd	Dave Paris
Jesse Bradford	Balthasar
Dash Mihok	Benvolio
Miriam Margolyes	The Nurse
Vondie Curtis-Hall	Captain Prince
Christina Pickles	Caroline Montague
M. Emmet Walsh	Apothecary
Carlos Martin Manzo Ortalora	Actor
Carlos Manzo	Petruchio
Michael Corbett	Rich Ranchidis
Quindon Tarver	Choir Boy
Craig Armstrong	Composer
Nellee Hooper	Composer
Lupita Ochoa	Actor
Marius Devries	Composer
Carlos Martín Manzo Otálora	Actor
Pete Postlethwaite	Pater Laurence
Rodrigo Escandon	Actor
Zak Orth	Gregory
Jamie Kennedy	Sampson
Vincent Laresca	Abra
Pedro Altamirano	Peter
John Sterlini	Sacristan
Harriet Sansom Harris	Susan Santandiago (TV Gossip)
Edwina Moore	Anchorwoman
Paco Morayta	Actor
Carolyn Valero	Actor
Gloria Silva	Actor
Margarita Wynne	Actor

Technical Credits

Craig Pearce

Martin Brown

Baz Luhrmann	Director,Producer
Craig Pearce	Screenwriter
Gabriella Martinelli	Producer
Gareth Vanderhope	Sound/Sound Designer
Rob Young	Sound Mixer
Thad Beier	Special Effects
José Manuel Aguilar	Sound Effects
Martin Brown	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

It's Shakespeare for the MTV generation. Director Baz Luhrman (Strictly Ballroom) brings his gaudy, overheated aesthetic to this hyperkinetic rendering of the Bard's famous romantic tragedy -- a movie that moves like an action film while keeping Shakespeare's text intact. Updated to the present and set in an unspecified Latin city bursting with tropical colors, red-hot mamas, gun-toting skin heads, and oversized religious icons, this Romeo and Juliet was a big hit with young moviegoers. Leonardo DiCaprio's turn here as Romeo put him on the map as a teen heartthrob, but it's the radiant Claire Danes who carries the picture. As the child-woman Juliet, she has a gravity and heartbreaking intensity that allow her to hold the screen in the midst of fast cuts and flying bullets.

Barnes & Noble - Kryssa Schemmerling

For the 1996 cinematic version of Romeo+Juliet, Strictly Ballroom (1992) director Baz Luhrmann opted to flamboyantly update Shakespeare for the MTV generation. From the moment the Capulets and Montagues are introduced via the evening news, and the rival gangs engage in a semi-automatic "sword" shoot-out, Luhrmann's restlessly post-modern interpretation of the teen romance to end all others never lets up. The vibrant colors and costumes, florid "Verona Beach" settings, souped-up pace, watery balcony interlude, and kinetic widescreen cinematography culminate in a neon-lit death scene that alone was worth the Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction. The diverse soundtrack, including 1990s alternative rock, dance music, and a choral cover by Prince matches the equally eclectic cast. Not all critics, though, were enthralled by Luhrmann's hyper-stylized vision, nor convinced that Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio's naturalistic style did justice to the Bard. Still, the couple's youth and chemistry added up to a convincing romance, helping to turn Romeo+Juliet into a box-office success, and leaving Berlin Film Festival prize-winner DiCaprio poised to become a teen dream in 1997's blockbuster Titanic.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola

Like flaming youth everywhere, this film is loud, exuberant and excessive, but it has enough positive energy and dizzying high spirits to make it irresistible. Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times