Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

bob the moo On the day of his victory on the battlefield, Macbeth is told of his future by three sinister harpies – first as Thane, but then also as King. Sharing these visions with his wife, the two commence immediately to work towards this fate – with villainous murder and deception as the tools they choose to employ.I have seen a few versions of this play now and while this one is not my favorite, it is one with plenty to love. Since the series that holds this film is called 'Great Performances', it does seem natural to start with that element of it and of course the performances are, as the title states, great. Stewart of course is the draw, and he plays his Macbeth really well; he keeps him believable and understandable whether he is being guided by his wife past his doubts and morals, and also when he is soaked in blood and mad with guilt. He would not be as good though were he not matched by a brilliant Lady Macbeth from Kate Fleetwood; she is by far the best I have seen this character played and she is utterly convincing in her manipulation and also in her madness. The support cast features a few faces and names you will know, but even if you do not, all of them are on-message with the tone of the production, and their performances are strong.The tone of the production is very much set by the design of the piece. Shot entirely in Welbeck Abbey, the film does feel a little limited in some ways by the lack of variety in the location, but hard to complain as it brings so much more. Darkness, cold stone, a sense of war, and a genuine sense of creepy dread, all come across here really well. The lighting and framing of shots is equally great and while it is a very dark film visually, it is also one that has a lot of effective style to it. It does seem to run slower than it needed to at times, but it is a strong production, with two really great performances in the leads.

Steven Torrey What seemed to work in Richard III, placing Richard as a Totalitarian Dictator of the modern era, for this production of Macbeth placing Macbeth as European Dictator, just ends up being a mannered play. The pyrotechnics of the performers ends up drowning out the simplicity and directness of Shakespeare's message: the guilt of conscience placing limits on blind ambition. The Shakespeare script was memorable but something was lost in the over-dramatization. This is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays--one of the first I studied in high school. This performance will not stand the test of time in the same way that Ian McClellan's Richard III will.There are really two different and distinct ideas Shakespeare presented. In Richard III--the play was about ruthless ambition, and ambition realized with ruthless, cold, calculating murder. Macbeth is about ruthless ambition AND conscience made palpable.

fuflans i saw this production on stage. i saw it on film. i have seen macbeth probably 20 times over the last couple decades (it's one of my favs). i am also an actor and have been in it twice.i have seen nothing even close to this production. it was without a doubt the most exciting performance of 'macbeth' i have ever experienced. and scared the living daylights out of me. which is, in fact, the point.and paul2001 (you showing up as the everyman critic for IMDb): have you read the great tragedies? cause seriously dude, NONE of them comes close to the stagecraft of 'macbeth'. yes there is poetry (hamlet, r&j, Other Things), tragedy (hamlet, lear, othello, r&j), drama (hamlet, lear, othello, r&j), characters (everything he ever wrote), existential ruminations (lear).but for sheer two hour and 15 minute stagecraft? he never wrote anything like 'macbeth'.

Grant Ellsworth This is the best film performance of Macbeth which I have seen. It ranks with Ian McKellen's Richard III (1994/5) as a definitive production in an "updated" setting. Like McKellen's Richard III, Goold's Macbeth uses a staging suggestive of late 1930's - and does not seem out of place any more the McKellen's Richard III did. Patrick Stewart's interpretation and presentation of the Macbeth character is dynamic and cover's a wide range of expression. His Macbeth has a hesitant and sometimes seeming incomplete descent into pure evil. It was a masterful and dynamic performance. However, in my opinion, Stewart's co-star, Kate Fleetwood, just about steals the show. Her Lady Macbeth is pure evil from the start - she comes across as the cold pit viper lacking only visible fangs. Her performance here is truly the best I have seen since I saw Judith Anderson give a TV performance a long time ago. The integration of the 3 witches into the action throughout as 3 triage nurses was an imaginative element. This is a "hold on to your seat" production - grabbing your attention right at the start and moving at a steady pace to the last syllable of (its) recorded time - you will not leave your chair.