SoTrumpBelieve
Must See Movie...
Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Joseph_Gillis
Second in my viewing of BBC Shakespeare adaptations: as with the previous 'Measure for Measure', I'd not previously seen any version of the play, and was only vaguely acquainted with the plot.Although the vengeful wizard, Prospero and to a lesser extent his sprite aide/conscience, Ariel, are the key characters, the title is an apt one in that it is the eponymous tempest, or storm - brought about by Prospero - which drives so much of the plot in that it causes to bring to Prospero's island those who had most wronged him. Not surprisingly, given that it is one of Shakespeare's later plays, I found it to be one of his most satisfying and intricately plotted, and although officially classed as a comedy, I'd probably also consider it a moral tale, in the choices and decisions it ultimately has Prospero make when he finally has his hated opponents at his mercy. Although I haven't done any further research or re-reading since my only viewing of this production, I was also interested with one of Prospero's speeches where he seemed to be suggesting that much of his situation might be entirely a dream, which would make the plot richer still (And, incidentally, the actual quote "We are such stuff As dreams are made on" was the source for Bogey's similarly memorable "that's the stuff that dreams are made of", from and about 'The Maltese Falcon')As regards the production itself, I'd absolutely no problem with any of the sets, which more than fulfilled their functions, and allowed for the intelligence of the viewers to flesh them out; the scene where Nigel Hawthorne and Andrew Sach's character first appeared reminded me of various sets for Beckett's 'Happy Days', which is no bad thing. Acting- wise, Hordern was supreme, and well-nigh faultless; I don't understand some reviewers problem with David Dixon's Ariel, as he seemed to me to fit all the requirements of the role. Similarly, Hawthorne and Andrew Sach's characters' interaction with Warren Clarke's hirsute and mildly scary Caliban provided the necessary comic relief, ably, as they did their roles. The remaining performances and characters I'd largely consider functional.Now I can't wait to compare and contrast with Julie Taymor's much- maligned adaptation; on the evidence of her enthralling and visually arresting adaptation of 'Titus Andronicus', I've no doubt that it will make for a worthwhile watch. On a side note, watching Andrew Sachs in this version, I was reminded of his recent very public 'spat' with Russell Brand and, given that they both played Trinculo, it should be interesting to see whose characterisation is the better one.
Alain English
The 1970s/1980s BBC adaptation of all of Shakespeare's plays would be done very differently today. Back then, nearly all the actors and most of the stories were played in an old-fashioned Elizabethan style that you just wouldn't see nowadays.This is exactly what plagues "The Tempest", one of Shakespeare's last plays and a story that just cries out for modern special effects to really add life to it's language and it's characters.The story tells of Prospero (Micheal Hordern), the deposed Duke of Milan, reclaiming his Dukedom on the island where he's been exiled and he uses his powers of magic to whip a storm (the tempest of the title) to bring those who ousted him to the island, where they can resolve their differences. Complications arise with Prospero's daughter Miranda (Pippa Guard), the sailor Ferdinand (Christopher Guard) with whom she falls in love and the machinations of Ariel (David Dixon), a spirit of the island and Caliban (Warren Clarke), Prospero's slave...It is as always very well acted, with notable performances from Hordern as Prospero and Pippa Guard who makes a very pretty Miranda. It is wonderful to see Nigel Hawthorne and Andrew Sachs pop up as clowns Stefano and Trinculo and they are good fun to watch on screen.The design of the play is a perhaps a little bit too stagey, and not enough is made of the character of the island itself. Caliban's speech in Act 3, Scene Two tells of the wonders of the island but there is too little of these wonders on screen and a parade of naked man masquerading as spirits does not compensate for this.Good to watch, but definitely for Shakespeare buffs only.
didi-5
I love The Tempest as a play - its magic, its fun, its emotional impact. All these should be present in a good adaptation.The problem with this version is twofold. First, it is very studio-bound, giving a feeling of flatness to the proceedings (compare to the Derek Jarman version a year earlier, or the 1950s version with Maurice Evans). Second, it suffers from inappropriate casting in key roles, notably real-life siblings Pippa and Christopher Guard as lovers Miranda and Ferdinand, and David Dixon as Ariel (the potential was there but it just didn't work).Michael Hordern is however fine as Prospero, and Nigel Hawthorne and Andrew Sachs provide some comedy. Warren Clarke is a monstrous and diverting Caliban, devoid of magic but with some sense of the injustice he feels at his treatment on the island.Some clever ideas and some very good scenes (notably when the goddesses appear, singing), but this Tempest is too dry and flat to be really engrossing.
tedg
I am not only a Shakespeare enthusiast, but one who values this play highly. I am puzzled why it is getting high ratings by imdb users. I rank it a six, and that only because it includes the whole text, relatively clean where you can hear it. (Much of the first scene is unintelligible because of the storm noise.)As a film this is lousy. The production values are mid-TV level.
As Shakespeare, the director follows the stand-and-talk tradition aka "teapot" acting. Tapes of various productions are hard to find in my location. But I expect this to be near the bottom of what I find.An easy measure of success is whether you can tell something of Caliban. If man or magical beast or something in the middle. He's just a silly distraction here. In a real production he is an important fulcrum.
