 | Hamlet By Brook / Brook By Brook
Buy new: $35.99 / Used from: $19.49 Adrian Lester's performance as Hamlet in Peter Brook's recent, bare-bones production was a revelation to me. Dynamic, collegial, dangerous, contemplative, witty, sarcastic...bravura acting from the whole cast, but Lester is genius here.
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 | Henry V
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $5.45 This is the movie that got me into Shakespeare, so I will be eternally grateful to Kenneth Branagh. In his late twenties he revolutionized Shakespeare-on-screen with this gritty, dramatic movie. Shakespeare's renaissance in the 1990's can be traced to "Henry V."
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 | William Shakespeare: Othello
Buy new: $19.49 / Used from: $15.79 Trevor Nunn's "Othello" is the most profoundly affecting adaptation of this famous tragedy. Special credit goes to a commanding Willard White as Othello and the brilliant Imogen Stubbs as the most convincing Desdemona I've seen. Do I need to add that Ian McKellen is a bone-chilling Iago?
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 | Richard III - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $35.99 / Used from: $10.25 Laurence Olivier is arguably the most famous popularizer of Shakespeare on screen. This is my favorite of his Shax movies. Olivier is sardonic and deliciously self-confident as that "foul lump of deformity," Richard III.
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 | King Lear
Buy new: $9.99 James Earl Jones is towering as King Lear in this filmed version of New York's "Shakespeare in the Park" production. Raul Julia steals the show as a wildly charismatic Edmond. What a bastard!
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 | Throne of Blood - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $27.99 / Used from: $16.02 Set in feudal Japan, Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" captures the mood and atmosphere of "Macbeth" better than almost any other film adaptation. Also features the creepiest Lady Macbeth in screen history.
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 | Romeo & Juliet
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $3.59 Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" blazed the trail for opulent naturalism in movie adaptations of Shakespeare. The fresh young starlets, lush Italian landscapes, and dreamy soundtrack make this a certified classic.
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 | Titus
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $5.44 A surreal, gruesome, and difficult movie to watch, but rewarding. Sort of the "Silence of the Lambs" of Shakespeare's day. Julie Taymor's direction is inventive and visionary.
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 | Pacino: An Actor's Vision (Chinese Coffee / Looking for Richard / The Local Stigmatic) by Al Pacino
Buy new: $31.49 / Used from: $16.44 "Looking for Richard" is a fun and insightful journey into the art of mounting a Shakespeare movie. Pacino's film is part-documentary, part-adaptation of "Richard III," and the whole thing is smart and entertaining.
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 | Hamlet / Kline, New York Shakespeare Festival (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $12.89 Kevin Kline co-directed and stars Hamlet, an entry in the Broadway Theatre Archive. Kline offers a rich, deeply melancholic interpretation of the Dane.
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 | Orson Welles' Othello
Buy used from: $14.99 Orson Welles, screen visionary, scrapped together funds from acting jobs to direct and star in this visually opulent adaptation of "Othello." The expressionist cinematography matches the dizzy poetry of Shakespeare's language.
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 | William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (Special Edition)
Buy used from: $3.99 I have a soft spot for this hyperactive, MTV-style adaptation of R + J, since I was in junior high when it came out on the big screen. It's an original, operatic treatment of the play, and the two stars give very good performances.
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 | Much Ado About Nothing
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $3.88 Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson have electrifying chemistry in this sun-splashed, Tuscan-set version of the Bard's classic romantic comedy. Energetic and fun, featuring a laughably bad Keanu Reeves!
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 | William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
Buy new: $10.49 / Used from: $2.70 This is a strong, expressive adaptation of the problematic "Merchant of Venice." Pacino is very good as Shylock, but Jeremy Irons shines as Antonio, a thankless part that he elevates through his performance.
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 | Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $8.47 Not technically Shakespeare, but the big-screen adaptation of Tom Stoppard's play is a witty riff on "Hamlet," featuring wonderful performances by the young Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the befuddled duo, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
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 | Shakespeare in Love (Miramax Collector's Series)
Buy new: $10.49 / Used from: $3.06 A good intro to Shakespare not so much for its factuality, but because it captures the Bard's exuberant spirit and love of language, courtesy of a sharp and funny script co-authored by Tom Stoppard.
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 | Macbeth (Fully Restored Version)
Buy used from: $7.94 Sloppy and flawed thanks to an ultra-tight budget, Welles' "Macbeth" nonetheless has stylish camerawork and some good performances. Worth watching for the shadowy, noirish cinematography.
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 | Julius Caesar
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $3.90 A solid movie version of "Julius Caesar" featuring a young Marlon Brando, Ralph Richardson, James Mason, and John Gielgud. Great cast, but Brando's Marc Antony has the showstopping speech.
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 | Peter Brook's King Lear
Buy used from: $89.00 Not available on DVD yet, this is a rare and wonderful film from Peter Brook in full-on Ingmar Bergman mode. Scofield grounds the film with his growling, irascible Lear.
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 | As You Like It
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $3.50 Branagh's "As You Like It" was not well-received, but I found it charming and engaging. Bryce Dallas Howard may not be Katherine Hepburn, but she is a lovely and luminescent Rosalind.
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