| A Midsummer Night's Dream | 
 enlarge | Director: Michael Hoffman
Actors: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $2.65
You Save: $7.33 (73%)
New (64) Collectible (5) from $2.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  149 reviews
Sales Rank: 2891
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Running Time: 120 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: 086162123085
ISBN: 6305622876
UPC: 086162123085
EAN: 9786305622871
ASIN: 6305622876
Theatrical Release Date: May 14, 1999
Release Date: April 15, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Imagine a work by Shakespeare reduced to one of those pretty, glossy coffee-table picture books that have only a dollop of text alongside its sumptuous photographs, and you might have Michael Hoffman's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This all-star version of Shakespeare's comedy is gorgeously shot in Tuscany, complete with a magical forest, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful villas, picturesque villages, stunning period costumes--oh wait, there's supposed to be a story here, too! Hoffman hijacks Shakespeare's basic premise but doesn't instill it with much more than surface shine and transplants it to turn-of-the-century Italy. Ergo, it's left up to the actors to find the heart and soul of this classic play, in which the fairies of the forest play mix and match with four young lovers, courtesy of a magical love potion. Hoffman couldn't ask for better (or better looking) actors to play Shakespeare's dreamlike love games--Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Dominic West, the list goes on and on--but he sure as heck doesn't know what to do with them, aside from putting them in various states of undress. Only Flockhart (as the lovestruck Helena), Tucci (a sprightly Puck), Pfeiffer (dazzling and funny as the queen of the fairies), and especially the sublime Kline (as weaver-turned-donkey Bottom) seem to connect with their characters in ways that make this adaptation occasionally soar; the rest are inexplicably left to flounder. Hoffman does seem to set himself right with the film's climax, when Bottom's amateur acting troupe hilariously enacts the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe (it helps that the troupe includes Roger Rees, Sam Rockwell, and Bill Irwin). Those searching for a more in-depth exploration of Shakespeare's farce might do better to look elsewhere, but if it's gorgeous actors and scenery you're in the mood for (along with an evocative opera soundtrack), and an all's-well-that-ends-well ending, this Midsummer Night will give you pleasant if weightless dreams. --Mark Englehart
Product Description
When two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a troop of inept amateur actors, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest, the result is an unequalled mixture of merriment and magic.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 15-APR-2003
Media Type: DVD
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| Customer Reviews: Read 144 more reviews...
 Very Enjoyable September 5, 2008
Shakespeare would probably roll over in his grave but we both really enjoy this version of the classic. Funny throughout and well done.
 Great Late Summer Night Mood Movie August 14, 2008
I know this version gets panned all the time. And I have seen better versions, (the 1935 version with, of all people, Jimmy Cagney as Bottom was amazingly good). But I love to watch this film. If you love Shakespeare comedies when they go into the woods and things go topsy turvy, then this will be a fun DVD to play on a late Summer night when you can't go to sleep.
Very fun July 28, 2008
It took me a couple of tries to make it through the movie, but once I did, I ended up watching it again the same day. It was just hilarious. Shakespeare on film tends to be very boring, but I think the changes that were made to this play made it enjoyable. As far as the accents go, I would rather all the actors speak in their natural voices than all speak in an English accent since the setting was Italy. I just hate when they do that in movies. I know that it's Shakespeare, but Greeks don't have English accents, and neither do Italians. Calista Flockhart was adorably desperate, Stanley Tucci was great, and Kevin Kline was right on the mark. I think all the actors did a great job making this film worth watching.
midsummer night's dream dvd June 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
not bad...ther was a skip at the end, it left out a chunk of the film. that sucked.
 Pure Trash June 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a Shakespeare purist, I consider this pure trash because the location is transferred from Athens, Greece, to Mount Athena, Italy, and the sensless insufferable nudity at the end. There is no need for a softporn Italian accent on this play. Having studied Shakespeare at length, I've learned that his rustics were actually modeled on British guildsmiths who tried to put on plays like Bottom, Flute, and the others did. Thus so, the play while borrowing from a Greek legend has some of its foundation in peasant Britain.
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