| Julius Caesar | 
 enlarge | Actors: Charlton Heston, Jill Bennett, Norman Bowler, Alan Browning, Christopher Cazenove
Studio: Republic Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.49
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 6223
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Running Time: 119 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 20828
UPC: 017153208283
EAN: 0017153208283
ASIN: B000LC52BO
Theatrical Release Date: 1970
Release Date: February 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Appalled by the murder of his mentor Julius Caesar Mark Antony declares war on his assassins -- especially Caius Cassius and "the honorable" Brutus who only reluctantly took part in the crime.William Shakespeare's timeless classic is brought to the screen with an all-star cast and a brilliant performance by Gielgud as the ill-fated Caesar.System Requirements:Running Time: 115 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 017153208283 Manufacturer No: 20828
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 CHIEFLY USEFUL TO WOULD-BE ACTORS December 7, 2008
Despite its full title, Shakespeare's THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR has long been recognized as centering on the tragedy of Marcus Brutus. For one thing, Caesar dies before the play is even half over; for another, Brutus is a good man who brings about his own downfall by his own mistakes. Shakespeare's script contains numerous scenes that provide direct and indirect evidence that Brutus is worthy of the audience's respect and admiration. In most productions, therefore, it has been crucial that the actor playing Brutus do so in a manner that holds the audience's attention and causes the audience care deeply about the misfortune he is bringing down upon himself.
This 1970 film, JULIUS CAESAR, is fairly well cast in all its parts but the key one--Jason Robards as Brutus. Two actors with very minor parts are noteworthy for their skills--Lawrence Harrington as the Carpenter and Ron Pembler as the Cobbler--at the opening of the play. Of the main characters, John Gielgud as Caesar and Richard Johnson as Cassius are both excellent. Diana Rigg as Brutus's beautiful and faithful wife Portia, Robert Vaughn as an ironic eye-rolling Casca, and Richard Chamberlain as a calculating Octavius are more than adequate. And Charlton Heston does a reasonably good job as Mark Antony, although director Stuart Burge often seems more concerned with displaying Heston's "Roman-nose" profile and his semi-clad physique (in a G-string in one scene) than with his histrionic talents.
Robards is virtually sleepwalking throughout most of the film, usually sounding as if he has no understanding of the words he is speaking and often stumbling through them the way some high school freshman might if suddenly told to read Elizabethan blank verse for the first time in his life. In only a few of the later scenes does Robards seem to come half to life. The effect of his exceedingly weak performance is to shift the audience's attention, by default, onto Mark Antony (whom Robards often calls "Mark Anthony")--and Shakespeare's play is almost morphed into a kind of Victory-of-Antony celebration. It is as if, as the old cliche runs, "the tail is wagging the dog." (The only comparable misconstruing of a major Shakespearian tragedy that I can recall was when, in a 1970 "Hallmark Hall of Fame" TV production, Richard Chamberlain played Hamlet as such a pitifully and dangerously out-of-control maniac that the actor Richard Johnson, playing Hamlet's uncle/stepfather as a calm, brave, and rational man, often gained most of the audience's sympathy--and the play almost became "The Tragedy of King Claudius.")
It appears that once this film was completed, Republic Entertainment's marketing division decided to focus primarily on Heston as Mark Antony, reinforcing the impression that Robards' Brutus is indeed a subordinate character. Posters and virtually every box containing videos and DVDs of this production feature pictures of either Heston's face alone or Heston's face four times larger than the faces of Robards, Guelgud, Chamberlain, and Diana Rigg--as well as giving Heston's name top billing.
I titled my review "Chiefly Useful to Would-Be Actors" because I believe that some novice actors might learn how to speak Shakespeare's lines properly by hearing how NOT to do so from Robards' terrible example. Except for diehard fans of Heston, Richard Chamberlain, Diana Rigg, etc., most other viewers would do far better buying/renting Joseph L. Mankiewicz's much better 1953 film of JULIUS CAESAR--which also has Guelgud as Caesar, and has Marlon Brando as Antony and James Mason as Brutus.
 I've come to praise Jason's Brutus.... August 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
For any version of William Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR to be a success, the actor playing Marcus Antonius must give an outstanding "I've come to bury Caesar" soliloquy. Charlton Heston does exactly this-- his emotionally-charged and finely-timed rendition of a most crucial speech is superb and leaves no doubt in the viewer's mind of the underlying message being conveyed to Romans who have lent him their ears. On so many levels, Heston in fact -is- this great Shakespearean anti-hero.
That Jason Robards was miscast as Marcus Junius Brutus is an opinion held even by Mr. Heston himself. Robards' quiet, self-involved portrayal of Brutus may not immediately serve the story's needs, but later, the contrast between an indecisive Brutus and the take-charge Antony is that much better delineated, due entirely to Robards supposedly vague approach. His Brutus, as played against Heston is appropriate; in fact, Robards should be given more credit for a daring interpretation of this complex character.
Excellent Technicolor photography, a nicely unobtrusive score and top notch casting make this "Julius Caesar" an elegant and memorable film.
Also set in Roman times, TITUS, with Anthony Hopkins (as Titus Andronicus), is a startling and superlative adaptation of Shakespeare's darkest play.
Parenthetical number prior to title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film research website.
(6.0) Julius Caesar (UK-1970) - Charlton Heston/Jason Robards/John Gielgud/Richard Johnson/Robert Vaughn/Richard Chamberlain/Diana Rigg/Christopher Lee/Jill Bennett
 What do Moses, Ben-Hur, and Antony have in common? June 16, 2007
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
What do Moses, Ben-Hur, and Antony have in common? Answer: They all look like Charlton Heston.
If somehow you missed the play or the history, basically Julius Caesar let his status go to his head and is about to take on the role of emperor. It is up to a handful of Noble Romans to see that this does not happen. The play is about these individuals, their individual purposes and what happens to them after the attempt to stop him. The focus is on Caesar's right arm (Mark Antony).
This is a 1970 rendition of Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" that is well adapted for the screen. Hence the characters are well known contemporaries. You will notice the major players and might miss some of the others such as Preston Lockwood (Trebonius) who played the Judge in "Strong Poison" ASIN: B000062XDY. With many movies the actor out shine the character and totally changes the emphasis of the story. However this version is well done with maybe the exception of Jason Robards (Brutus) who sometimes seems like Jason Robards playing Brutus at other times he is quite exceptional. Diana Rigg (Portia) who looks like a little girl is the only person that sounds like she is speaking in meter. Everyone speaks clearly and pauses long enough for you to think before moving on. Facial expressions are important to the story and they do not look like they are yelling at you (except in speeches).
You will notice that the back ground music is also of 70's vantage and is used to emphasize certain scenes. However the volume is not so high that you can not hear the clear pronunciation of the lines. Also the costumes made with satin are distracting. At one point Antony looks like Carol Burnett when she was wearing a curtain and left the rod in.
As the play proceeds you will be so wrapped up in it that you will not care about the little differences in form and be totally absorbed in the film. There may be better versions and/or more favorite versions but that doe not make this version any less worth having.
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