Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Reviews

• Oldman, Roth, and an excellent script.

  
  By A7QYHLIRZLMLQ on 2002-06-13
  This title got recommended to me by a female friend, who knew of my Gary Oldman fetish. I ordered it on VHS from the UK version of Amazon, and watched it the instant it arrived. Never before had I been so caught by a movie.

  Partially because of both Oldman and Roth delivering awesome performances as Rosencrantz and Gildenstern respectively. (Or was it the other way around?), partially because of the amazing plot, and the great humour implemented in the movie.

  So, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, both minor characters in Shakespear's Hamlet now star in their very own movie. They don't know what their purpose is, or who is who exactly. All they know is they were sent for.

  It turns out the king of Denmark wants them to try and find out what happened to Hamlet, who doesn't seem to quite have it all together anymore. The plot thickens as Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are being drawn into a web of treason and politics, which they themselves, of course, never see coming.

  The performance by Roth and Oldman is simply stunning. Both very convincingly draw attention to each other. Oldman as the slightly more naieve one discovering all kinds of scientific wonders, only to find them unappreciated by the more clever Roth, or being denied international scientific recognition by nature itself. (Some of these scenes are just hilarious, and those alone are worth buying the DVD).

  The dialogue in the movie is truly amazing, although at times tough to understand (cause of the old English), so I'm kinda hoping the DVD will sport subtitles.

  This is one of the two movies my collection has been patiently waiting for for a few years (Swing Kids being the other one). A definite 5 out of 5.
  
  

• It makes no difference who you are...

  
  By A3D5KJMBQW1IFP on 2004-08-30
  Query: what are the minor characters in Hamlet doing when they are not actively engaged in carrying the plot forward? Answer: floundering around, not entirely clear as to who they are, and absolutely clueless about what is going on. I remember being electrified by the play's genius when I first read it six million years ago, and only stumbled on the film adaptation by chance while channel surfing in San Diego. The film is a gem. Gary Oldman is a treasure as Rosencrantz, a follower if ever there was one, innocently and accidentally discovering the laws of physics then shrugging them off. Rosencrantz is a trifle slow at times, and he doesn't seem to know- or care- whether he is Rosencrantz or Guildenstern. Mostly, he just wants to go home. Tim Roth is brilliant as Guildenstern, who does know who he is but doesn't know what he can do about it. The interactions and wordplay between these two are dazzling. Richard Dreyfuss is perfect as the slightly sinister Player. Dreyfuss tends to chew scenery which is entirely apt for this character. The production values are wonderful and you get a real feel for the ambience- cold Denmark, even in cold castles, where actors saying their lines can see their own breath. If you love drollery and wordplay and fine acting, this is your kind of movie.
  
  

• Worst DVD conversion of all time?

  
  By A2XSSBQPK11HF7 on 2005-04-05
  I love this movie/play. I've seen it live a half-dozen times and have been eagerly awaiting the dvd for years. I have to say I couldn't be much more disappointed.
  
  First thing that hits you is that the menus are screwed. Highlighting doesn't appear where it should, making it difficult - if not impossible - to tell which option you have selected.
  
  When you get the movie playing, the compression has MAJOR PROBLEMS. My DVD player is only 2 years old, but there isn't a 10-second section of the entire movie that doesn't have several seconds at a time of completely garbled video - characters appearing and disappearing at random, multiple instances of a single character on screen at a time, the works.
  
  To top it off, the whole this is a rip-off job. They obviously took a pan-and-scan of the movie and slapped black bars on it. This is made very clear in a number of scenes where you get pan-and-scan jumping as characters move around.
  
  I would have thought that after the MGM lawsuit (they lost) that this sort of thing would have ended. I guess where there's a customer to be ripped off there's a corporation more than happy to do it.
  
  Don't support this behaviour. Don't buy this DVD.
  
  

• -- Waiting for Hamlet --

  
  By AJS576YITISAB on 2005-02-18
  I'm sure I'll be regurgitating what many of the other reviews have said, but this film is so darn good... I can't help myself.
  
  Take two minor characters from Hamlet, and give them the existential philosophical foundation of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" - and you have a masterpiece. The allusions, the ironies, the cultural references, the wordplay... brilliant. It all seems so very absurd - these two characters who don't know who or why they're really here - but we feel for them, because we see a hint of the universal human condition in them.
  
  No matter what they do, the viewer KNOWS how Shakespeare's play unfolds, so we know their fate is sealed. They're destined to die very soon, and all they can do is try to make some sense of their existence before it happens. That's the human condition. That's us, even if we don't want to admit it.
  
  The melancholy of Hamlet, the bleakness of Godot, and yet the play is still funny as hell! Stoppard's film does a wonderful job of using visual metaphor to accent the themes of his play, while still keeping the pace fast and the superb humor at the forefront.
  
  Please give the film a try. If you like challenging, thought-provoking movies that still have you laughing... you'll dig this!
  
  

• If you can find it...

  
  By AV0WW1XU3JZ1L on 2001-04-21
  This movie is only 11 years old but it is harder to find than some even older and more obscure films. This is due in part to it being originally released by Buena Vista Films (Disney's main production company), and as we all know Disney is fond of putting movies on moratorium and effectively wiping out any chance of new viewers seeing those films. With that said, if you can get your hands on a copy prepare to be delighted. This movie has moments of brilliance in writing, acting and moviemaking. It is funny, touching and thought-provoking, and features 3 actors, Oldman, Roth and Dreyfuss, who hadn't quite reached their peaks of stardom yet which makes their performances genuine and facinating. It must be said that this film is NOT a recreation of "Hamlet". It is an interpretation of "Hamlet" using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as main, not incidental, characters. If you are looking for a re-hash of "Hamlet", this is NOT the movie to watch. From that angle, the movie will seem disjointed and confusing. If you are looking for an intelligent, humerous twist on this famous tragedy, you have found it here. I was shown this movie as a freshman in college as a sidecar to studying "Hamlet". Special thanks to my English 102 teacher, Mrs. Avery! Without her, I may never have found this gem.
  
  
• INCREDIBLE!!!!
  By A1FHTCCAYAJLFN on 2001-12-02
  This has got to be one of the smartest, most brilliantly written, most hillarious movies I've ever seen. Roth and Oldman have an incredible chemistry and create the most realistic friendship I've seen in quite some time. Stoppard's writing is amazingly funny and also steeped deeply in Shakespearian knowledge. If you know Shakespeare well, or Hamlet well, this movie is a special treat becasue it examines two of the seemingly most insignificant characters in an entirely new way. Of course, if you have never seen Hamlet or you don't know a lot about Shakespeare, this film also works on completely different levels, no less funny or entertaining. Rozencrantz & Guildenstern have their own story here, and it is told with incredible wit and preciseness. The game of questions and the continual destuction of all of Oldman's discoveries/inventions are alone worth seeing the movie for, but there is so much more here that will entertain ALL types of viewers (from the Shakespearians on down to the ShakeWHO?ians). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I only wish it were out on DVD! or more readily avaliable on VHS :P
  
  
• An extremely innovative and incredible film!
  By A35HK0NANC5AUD on 2002-09-01
  A friend rented this and I happened to walk in scant minutes after it started. We rewound it and watched it, and watched it *again* after it finished! Then I went to my local bookstore and bought the script!
  
  This movie operates on so very many different levels, and the fact that it's a play, within a play, within a play.....has an appeal to anyone who's trodden the boards and chewed on the scenery. The Player makes one of the most thought-provoking and intrigueing comments on actors & acting;
  
  Quoting:
  
  "We stick to our usual stuff more or less. Only inside-out. We do on stage the things that are supposed to be off. Which is a kind of integrity is you look upon every exit being an entrance somewhere else."
  
  The blocking/editing of the scene where Ros & Guil play at questions and placing them on a tennis court is nothing short of AMAZING GENIUS!
  
  Aficionados of The Bard's works will appreciate this twist on what is probably the most famous play in the English language.....but it isn't the Bard, but an entirely different flavour. The liner notes say that Ros & Guil are the Shakespearian equivalent of Laurel and Hardy....but they're also a bit like Bill & Ted!
  Although this film is sort of the equivalent of the Post-It™ Note on the Complete Works of Shakespeare.....it's worth a watch!
  I just wish they would re-release this gem on DVD 'cause I've just about worn out my copy I taped off of PBS!
  
  
• Classic movie, but no subtitles and no captions
  By A33HDOMQYAXY22 on 2005-04-13
  I love this movie. It is my girlfriend's single favorite movie of all time. I was excited to see it had come out on DVD and ordered it for her as a present. But I was shocked when we sat down to watch it and the closed captions wouldn't turn on.
  
  My girlfriend is hearing-impaired. We've watched hundreds of DVDs together. I've never found one that wasn't closed captioned. Many are both captioned and subtitled. But not R&G. The shocking thing is that the VHS released in 1996 *is* captioned! I assuming we have "Image Entertainment" to thank for removing the captions?
  
  
  
• Excellent, I hope and pray that it becomes available again.
  By on 1999-09-21
  I saw this for the first time right after I finished a class in Renaissance drama at Cal State Hayward. It is full of inside jokes for any one who has studied drama or Shakespeare. Garry Oldman, Tim Roth, and Richard Dryfus perform with such energy and passion, that this surreal study of Hamlet takes on a wonderful life of its own.

  This is the story of two of the smallest characters in Shakespeare. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are the two friends of Hamlet who are summoned by the king to find out what is wrong with the prince. This film tells the entire story of Hamlet from their point of view. With amazing writing, this story is full of surprises for even the most jaded fan of Shakespeare. I'll never forget the `conspiracy of cartographers' or the game they play on the tennis court. I hope this tape becomes available again, because I need to own it.
  
  

• Stoppard Masterpiece finally here... On a pretty good DVD
  By A29VKODW4R5U7W on 2005-04-07
  This brilliant play has finally been released on DVD. I watched it with a certain trepidation after it received a poor score on technical grounds in a prior review. However, the DVD I received from Image Entertainment is perfectly fine. I didn't encounter any of the defects described earlier. The picture quality is not perfect but taking into account it's low budget origin, it's quite acceptable. There are very occasional dust specks, some film nicks and a missing/skipped frame or two (I paused and rewound that segment several times to be sure). There is fine grain throughout, although it's hardly distracting. The one major fault is that black levels bottom out to a dark grey so that the transfer loses out on a sense of depth. Otherwise colors are accurately rendered. As far as I can tell, it looks like the original 1.85:1 widescreen (anamorphic). It didn't look mis-composed to me and I do look out for such stuff. I thought the DTS soundtrack was a bit of an overkill but I'm not complaining. Both the DTS and the Dolby 5.1 sound pretty good with the DTS having the edge. Unfortunately, no subtitles for those unable to get round the British accents. If you do get a faulty DVD it's probably just a problem with that single copy. I'd exchange it or get a refund.
  
  If you're a fan, there's a whole 3 plus hours of interviews, 1 hour each with Tom Stoppard and Gary Oldman, 45 mins with Richard Dreyfuss and half an hour with Tim Roth. Aside from a slideshow, there are no other featurettes, not even a trailer. Taken as a whole however, it was well worth the asking price. No regrets buying this.
  
  
• here's where you can get it
  By on 2000-08-03
  Yes, I heartily agree with everyone who has written a review for this ourstanding film, and it's darn tootin' ridiculous that it's not in print in the US. But it is in the UK! It'll cost you a few extra bucks for shipping, but you can find this video in print and in stock at amazon.co.uk. Happy viewing.
  
  
• One of the best
  By A1MSQU2M8735NN on 2005-03-04
  This is easily one of the best movies ever made. Stoppard's use of language is incredible, and if you don't find this movie incredibly funny, as some reviewers have said, then I think you should probably stick to Hollywood schlock. This film is hilarious beginning to end, from the coin flips to the...end...
  
  It's a brilliant look at Hamlet as one of the first plays to exhibit modern themes: fate, the inability to act, the dichtomy between thought and action, free will, existentialism. Hamlet was a play years ahead of its time, which is why Stoppard is able to blend the themes of Hamlet and Godot into such a seamless (and hilarious) whole.
  
  All of the actors in this film are brilliant. Roth and Oldman are at their best. Richard Dreyfuss is absolutely priceless.
  
  It doesn't suprise me that a lot of modern movie viewers don't have the patience or mental capacity to enjoy a film as complex as this, but for any thinking, intelligent person, this is one of the greats. I have been waiting for this DVD release for years. The world needs more comedies like this one.
  
  
• The best explanation of Hamlet ever.
  By on 2001-11-18
  I only gave it four stars ONLY based on the actual film quality of the video. Not being a big budget movie the film stock and lighting techniques weren't first class, but very adequate for the film. That said, the rest of the film is first rate! Stoppard makes the transition from stage to film easily. Brilliant script. Oldman and Roth are fantastic together and I have been a fan of both in all their other work since. Dreyfus does an O.k. job. (Why is he so... the same in all his roles?) The inside jokes about Shakespear made the forced study of his works appreciate my english teachers a bit more. This is one of my all time favorite films. I once turned down the opportunity to buy this at a retail price of 89 dollars. After it went out of print I kicked myself for not doing so. However... I found a used copy on Ebay and I was able to buy it and it was well worth it. It's too bad that rare gems in film like this are not usually popular. (Drivel like Independance Day and others like it being popular choices!)
  It's a film that makes you think. It's troubling that I can't share this with most of the people I know without getting the "dog cocking it's head at the funny noises" look from them while they watch it! "You can bring a horticulture..."
  See this movie and enjoy it if you're smart enough!! You might even laugh a time or two.
  
  
• Reunmisthinkismiciously good paratragedy.
  By A3B1XEHP9E4J06 on 2005-02-02
  Simply stated, this film is indescribable, but having seen it, you understand lack of irony in my proceding to description.
  
  Less about Hamlet or the two minor (in the play, here major) title characters and much more of a philosophical analysis of no particualr subject, the film flows beautifully by way of our two heroes' deadpan capacity for both processing and delivering quasilogical nonsense, all severely entertaining.
  
  With Richard Dreyfuss in a supporting role, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth playing hysterically obtuse messengers, and Tom Stoppard's intensely perverse logic/illogic, you have both brain battlers and belly laughs, sometimes in one speech or phrase.
  
  I would not say this film is viewable as a narrative--its value proceeds from fine acting and humorous yet not frivolous dialogue. Sets and costumes lend realism and gravity to this sideways examination of Shakespeare's most famous play.
  
  Try it if you enjoy dark wit, Pythonesque absurdity grounded in sincere circumstances, and deep thoughts served through sweetly charitable characterizations and tantalizingly twisted delivery.
  
  
• Ohhh sooo boringggggg!
  By A26KPG4EY0JLXM on 2005-02-17
  So...I looked on the cover and the cast sold me on this DVD.
  
  Well, the cast may look good on paper, but the material is definitely not. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead undoubtedly worked on the stage with it's verbal athlectics and cheeky trope of Hamlet. On the screen, it's a miserable, deathly bore. I kept watching, hoping for the laughs that undoubtedly were heard in the theater. Nothing! Nada! Zip!
  
  Roth and Oldman, frankly, are not very good. They're both very one dimensional and start to get on your nerves which adds to the boredom. You don't care about them. Roth is impatient and sour; Oldman is dim and vacuous. Spending a whole movie with these two is punishing. Stoppard's direction is even worse. The verbal lines go quickly, but it all seems sooo slow. That's incompetent direction.
  
  There are alot of good reviews of this by other watchers. In fact some "best movie I've ever seen" comments. Without meaning to be insulting, it gives me great pause about those viewers!
  
  
• Shakespeare with a pulse: Rosencrantz & Guidenstern are dead
  By on 1999-09-22
  I can't believe that this hasn't been reviewed by anyone yet. Of course, the fact that it's not available for purchase on video could be the reason. Tom Stoppard (Screenplay/Director) has a passion for words and a passion for Shakespeare. His witty re-examination of the underlting themes of Shakespeare's Hamlet breathes new life into the genre of Shakespearian adaptations. Also both Tim Roth (Four Rooms; Reservoir Dogs) and Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy; Dracula {93}) present deep and believable performances as the ill-fated pair of the title. This film consistently falls in any top twnty-five favorite movies list that I compile. Consider it heavily recommended.
  
  
• An Insanely Funny Comedy for those with the RIght Background
  By AQBRMBQ99ESI7 on 2006-03-31
  This is a work of genius. It is creative, original, funny and well done. That being said, it is probably not for everyone.
  
  This wonderful takes as its starting point a couple of very minor character from Shakespeare's HAMLET. These are the stars of the show. In Hamlet, they are merely a couple of friends of the prince called in to help deal with Hamlet's melancholia. They appear briefly and are gone. The last mention of them comes when the royal court hears a message that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. They are merely there to drive forward the story of the prince.
  
  In this work, the hapless two are called in for the same purpose but the story centers around them. The spend the entire film trying to figure out what is happening to themselves and to those around them. As they discuss existential questions, the tragedy of Hamlet plays out around them. It is quite funny but some background helps.
  
  It helps a great deal if you are comfortable with Elizabethan speech. Whole pieces are lifted from Shakespeare and the added dialog is of the same style.
  
  It helps if you are familiar with Hamlet. That makes understanding the context easier.
  
  It is great fun if you have some knowledge of physics. Rosencrantz spends the whole film on the verge of making monumental discoveries in basic physics but is thwarted at each turn.
  
  It's is fun.
  
  
  
• FOUND IT ON AUCTION
  By A1UL9V4ED4RA3S on 1999-12-14
  Hey everyone looking to get this video! I just won it on Amazon's auction line. I know that the guy I bought it from has some more. So check out jsad's listings. Or do a search to find others if he doesn't have any at the time you're looking.
  
  
• Wish I could buy a copy for myself
  By A1ZDWSXGG92WUG on 2000-06-07
  Terrific film from a great play. I was so dissappointed to find that it is no longer available. I have searched the web, several video chains, swap meets etc. and no one has a copy. I contacted Disney and they sent me to their distribution company, Buena Vista. Buena Vista no longer have it in stock but told me that they would re-release it if they got enough demand for it. So here is the number: 1-800-723-4763. Good Luck
  
  
• Brilliant, sly, thoughtprovoking!
  By A20PI0Z4T4SYS4 on 2003-04-22
  While Tom Stoppard's play was already a landmark of absurdist theater and comical existential musings, his changes to the play necessary for the transition to film significantly add to the near-perfection of R&GAD. Gary Oldman and Tim Roth play off each other brilliantly, and the troupe of players, led by Richard Dryfuss, are eerie and hysterical at the same time. Keep your eye out for pages of "Hamlet" that the two never bother to read, and try to play "Questions" with your friends (it's harder than it looks!). Anyone who ever asked, "Why didn't Hamlet just succeed his father to the throne and why is it such a mystery that he's upset?" will love this movie, and even if you're not a Shakespeare buff you'll appreciate the combination of sarcastic intellectual humor and low-brow comedy gags that make this work the best rare video you'll ever buy.
  
  
• don't bother waiting for a US release
  By on 2003-10-16
  Had to read this play in high school, didn't get too much out of it back then. Came back to Stoppard in college and gave this film a try ... brilliant. To get the most out of this film, as has been said, you'd better be a little familiar with Hamlet. Watch the Kline or Branaugh version if you're not.

  As another reviewer mentioned, this is available through the UK site and will ship to the US in about a week. Though the disc is labelled Region 0, you will probably need a region-free DVD player to see it, especially if you have an older player that will play only region 1.

  Region-free players are easy to come by today ... and let's face it, it you're at all a fan of cinema you have already picked one up to bypass the Industry's silly region encoding scheme (meant to protect theatrical release dates, not the distribution of films with small audiences).

  Likelihood of the DVD of this being released in Region 1 any time soon: just about none.
  
  

• perfectly boring
  By A3DPSD0RLPRH66 on 2004-04-21
  Probably most pretentious and pompous film I ever watched - pseudo-comedy stuffed with pseudo-intellectual jokes. I hoped it was a good movie since it got such high rating and even won Best Picture at the 1991 Venice Film Festival. Perhaps somebody is amused by watching for five minutes how a coin is being tossed and always falls heads up, while one of the actors (to a complete amusement) would repeatedly say "Heads!", or somebody else finds outrageously hilarious when tennis match is theatrically transformed into rhetorical duel. - Yet this film is a perfect example of unmitigated bore - synthetic play of artificial art.
  
  
• All in the toss of a coin...
  By A3NF7KWLQZ4EJI on 2001-05-12
  Having been introduced to the play by a friend who performed the part of Rosencrantz, last year... I have been in love with the story ever since. This year myself and another friend also performed the duo for an exam piece, and over the past two years I've tried to explore the characters and stories... to the aim of putting on a full scale production.

  This is undoubtedly my favourite play-to-film translation... it has been tested and failed many times before, but if anyone was to make it succeed, it was to be Tom Stoppard. The story delivers us into the world of Shakespeare's Hamlet, but unlike any other before, Stoppard focuses on the limited characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and gives them a branch of their own. His imagination tells their story, background, and involvement in the events surrounding Hamlet transformation.

  The duo have been summoned by the King of Denmark, at first unsure of his reason, they make their way into the service of the new King. For the purpose of aiding Hamlet recovery from his apparent 'madness', they are instructed, as his old childhood friends. On the journey they happen to meet a company of actors, under the command of 'The Player', who throughout the course of the film proceed to try and warn the naive pair of the events that will occur. Of course they do not take the hints, and their final exit is beautiful.

  With the young talents (at the time) of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman, in the title roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern... or is that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz... not even they know. The two are absolutely magnificent to watch and with such an intuitive spark between them, they easily challenge any stage pair that have tackled the parts. Guiding them is Richard Dreyfus, as 'The Player' a brilliantly supportive yet lead role, who delivers one of the best performances of his extensive career.

  The film has some of the most outstanding images that I have ever witnessed, the most prominant would have to be the shots of the paper scripts floating down. This begins as they adorn the Player's mobile-stage, with the paper bursting out from a little cupboard. The other scenes follow, the best of which is when the two are in Hamlet's chambers, with the paper falling down around them, it's stunning. You may ask what is the significance of the paper scripts, I don't know what Stoppard meant for them... but for myself I firmly would believe that they are the most magical element of the story. The connection to reality, the little reminders that it's a story within a story, and in support of the Player they are trying to wake Rosencrantz and Guildenstern up and make them aware that they know the events and ultimately what will happen to them. The other sequence that I will never forget is of the two tossing the coins. For me it is one of the most intellectually written and performed concepts in entertainment history, each character has his own money pouch, and the beauty that their money continually travels back and forth between the two is timeless... as is their hope. To me the coin represents the predictable course of their lives; their desire and willingness for it to be 'tails', shows a want for something unpreditable to twist those lives... but is it to be, open your eyes to the magical beauty of the story and you will be amazed, as I was.

  Stoppard's film adaptation is an entralling piece of cinema and does the play so much justice, as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spin the story with their words and lovable personalities. Interpret it in any way you will, but appreciate it as an adorable and tragic tale of two men in the service of a false King, to save a Prince and a friend... but most of all, to save themselves.
  
  

• More of the same...
  By A3TB77MINA17CZ on 2000-02-15
  I have to add my .02 to all of the other comments. Given the cult demand for this film, it is downright foolish for the studio to be sitting on it. This film is fantastic, and given the numerous reviews across the internet, there is a very large following. PLEASE get wise to the marketing potential of this movie and re-release it! For all of the cheesy garbage that the studios have been ramming down our throats for so long, I think they owe it to the moviegoing public to re-release a classic once in awhile!
  
  
• Here! Here!
  By A1AENQ0YCI9YG1 on 2000-02-20
  I noticed all the reviews stating the need for a re-release of this film. Ditto! Ditto! Ditto!
  
  
• THIS SHOULD BE RE-RELEASED NOW!
  By A38ORARMZXWQQ7 on 1999-12-10
  I haven't seen this video, but I saw a live production of the play just last month (11/99, Portland Center Stage, Portland, Oregon). It all moved so fast, and yet gripped me, and I would love to see it again and again just to get all the wit out of it that Tom Stoppard put in. I laughed so much and felt such empathy for our two addled heroes...so often I have felt like the real story is whizzing by while I'm trying hopelessly to keep up, that I was right there with R & G - or was that G & R?

  PLEASE - Bring it back!
  
  

• A MUST SEE
  By A84UFSF2SZS2W on 2001-02-22
  The first time I saw this film in the cinema I was accompanied by an idiot who asked me what the hell was going on every two minutes. Still this did not diminish my experience. This film is sheer brilliance.

  What more could you ask for in a film? Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, a story within a story, and an excellent and hilarious screenplay by Tom Stoppard. If you recall your Shakespearean Hamlet you will know that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters who are brought in to befriend Hamlet in his supposed days of madness. These two men are also given the task of escorting Hamlet to England, where he will be killed. Stoppard has written a witty and challenging script which follows the path of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Overall the script really tells a story within a story. There is the story of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern within the wider Hamlet story. Then of course in the play Hamlet, the title character entreats a traveling theater company to stage a play about the murder of his father. The traveling theater company has crossed paths with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern earlier, and Richard Dreyfuss portrays the ironic leader of the theater troupe. Most definitely a witty and intelligent film.
  
  

• Best film ever made
  By AFDLROU2ITL1N on 2001-12-17
  The world needs to know how great this film is; it's hands down the best film I've ever seen. I stumbled across it one evening when I was working on my bike in the living room. It just happened to be on PBS. I thought it looked like your usual Medieval setting drama, so I watched it. I was soooo wrong.
  Within minutes I was laughing uncontrollably. It is incredible how well thought out the plot, the interplay, and the relation to hamlet is. This film will give you plenty to think about, as well as simply knock you over with it's humor. Tom Stoppard has written several plays, including Arcadia, The Real Inspector Hound, and others. He's a phenominal writer and this film was expertly played out by Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. It's been my number one for at least six years.
  
  
• Post Modern Masterpiece
  By A2HEMOSLW11WP7 on 2004-09-18
  This is a brilliant inversion of Shakespeare's "Hamlet", centered on the the chartecters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, that tells the story of the play from a very different perspective. Its recent appearance on cable TV is hopefully a signal that a US release is soon in the coming.
  From the same mind as "Shakespeare in Love", it shares the same wonderful insights into Shakespeare's material, while sticking closer to the story told in "Hamlet". Though somewhat darker in humor, it is an enjoyable viewing experience that holds up to repeated viewings. And it is one of Tim Roth's best performances.
  A must for every film and theatre lover's collection.
  
  
• What!? STILL not on DVD?
  By A26R7H6KUYYDY on 2004-12-10
  This movie ROCKS!! I cannot belive it's not on DVD. My favorite way to recommend this movie is: First watch Mel Gibson's Hamlet to get the Hamlet story-line fresh in your mind, THEN watch Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. I've just about worn out my VHS copy and I can't believe what used copies are fetching. They are insane to not release this on DVD.
  
  

• William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
• The Reduced Shakespeare Company - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
• Hamlet
• Twelfth Night