Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Sir Laurence Olivier's masterful version of the classic.
– ,
TIME Magazine,
18 Feb 2009
rotten:
Laurence Olivier's famous 1948 interpretation of Shakespeare's play suffers slightly from his pop-Freud approach to the character and from some excessively flashy, wrongheaded camera work.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
12 Dec 2006
fresh:
The matter is settled; the filmed Hamlet of Laurence Olivier gives absolute proof that these classics are magnificiently suited to the screen.
– Bosley Crowther,
New York Times,
12 Dec 2006
fresh:
This is picture-making at its best, and its showing must be done with the dignity it deserves.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
20 Feb 2008
rotten:
Despite winning several Oscars, Olivier's (condensed) version of Shakespeare's masterpiece makes for frustrating viewing.