The BBC TV Shakespeare Collection - 38 DVDs Set [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

The BBC TV Shakespeare Collection - 38 DVDs Set [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

The BBC TV Shakespeare Collection - 38 DVDs Set [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]
Our Price: $138.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

DVD: Region Code 2
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Box set, PAL
Running Time: 5948 minutes
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: NON-U.S.A. [PAL] FORMAT REGION 2 U.K. IMPORT
Product features:
  • NON-U.S.A. FORMAT
  • PAL
  • Region 2
  • U.K. Import

Movie Reviews of The BBC TV Shakespeare Collection - 38 DVDs Set [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

Movie Review: Worth buying an all-region DVD player for this box alone.
Summary: 5 Stars

This BBC project of the complete Shakespeare on DVD will never be done again - no one could afford it. Two plays were shot on location; the rest were all taped within a five year period in the BBC's studios, in a form of television drama that no longer exists. Not stage, not film, but staged for the camera at close quarters, so you concentrate on the character relationships and the language, not spectacle or computer graphics of casts of thousands.

The pre-eminent Shakespearean actors of the age were invited to perform. Those who responded included Sir John Gielgud, Claire Bloom, Anthony Quayle, Helen Mirren, Michael Hordern, Celia Johnson, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, Wendy Hiller, Cyril Cusack, Jon Finch, Richard Pasco, Kate Nelligan, Charles Gray, Timothy West, Ben Kingsley, Anna Calder-Marshall, Alan Rickman, Alec McCowen, Jeremy Kemp, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Stephens, Nicol Williamson and Eileen Atkins.

We also get surprise performances by names American TV viewers associate with lighter fare, like Felicity Kendal, Donald Sinden, Robert Lindsay, Bob Hoskins, John Cleese, Penelope Wilton, Eric Porter, Ian Charleson, Richard Johnson, Zoe Wanamaker, Alan Bennett, Prunella Scales, John Thaw, Michael Gough, Jenny Agutter, Warren Mitchell, Keith Michell, Richard Griffiths, Leonard Rossiter, Maureen Lipman and Roger Daltrey.

When originally broadcast, there was a lot of critical nit-picking and carping about casting. Now it just seems like television splendor, and an invaluable enhancement to your home theater.

Don't buy it to learn "Romeo and Juliet," "Othello," "Hamlet" and "Macbeth." Those you can find elsewhere on single DVDs in performances that are probably better.

Do buy it for exceptional performances of "All's Well That Ends Well," "Coriolanus," "Cymbeline," "Henry IV 1/2," "Henry VI 1/2/3," "King John," "King Lear," "Measure for Measure," "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Timon of Athens," "Troilus and Cressida," "Twelfth Night," and "A Winter's Tale." On your schedule, at your convenience, to your infinite enrichment.

If you think you know Shakespeare, if you love Shakespeare, this collection of DVDs will change your relationship to his work forever.

Reading the texts, trying to catch all 37 plays piecemeal over a lifetime of theater-going, will not bring the Bard to life for you the way having all his plays performed for you in an intimate, immediate presentation by the finest actors of their generation. You will have an all-encompassing overview of Shakespeare's life's work in the theater, and learn a new way of appreciating his greatness.

Region 1 versions of the collection are sold to libraries for $1000 and up. It's a lot cheaper to buy an all-region DVD player and this DVD box set.

Summary of The BBC TV Shakespeare Collection - 38 DVDs Set [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

38 Disc Set containing thirty seven plays from the BBC television Shakespeare series from 1978 to 1985. 'Romeo and Juliet', is Shakespeare's tale of a doomed and tragic love between two young lovers from warring families, the 'Capulets' and the 'Montagues'. Also includes: 'Richard II', 'As You Like It', 'Julius Caesar','Measure For Measure', 'Henry VIII', 'Henry IV: Parts I & II', 'Henry V: Parts I & II', 'Twelfth Night', 'Tempest', 'The Taming Of The Shrew', 'The Merchant Of Venice', 'All's Well That Ends Well', 'Winter's Tale', 'Timon Of Athens', 'Antony And Cleopatra', 'Othello', 'Troilus And Cressada', 'The Merry Widow', 'Henry VI: Parts I, II & III', 'The Tragedy Of Richard III', 'Cymbeline', 'The Comedy Of Errors', 'Two Gentlemen Of Verona', 'Coriolanus', 'The Life And Death Of King John', 'Pericles: Prince Of Tyre', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Love's Labour's Lost', 'Titus Andronicus', 'Hamlet', 'King Lear', 'Macbeth' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
Similar DVD Movies
Great Performances: Macbeth ImageGreat Performances: Macbeth
PBS; Release date: 2011-01-11; DVD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops: $19.99
Acting Shakespeare ImageActing Shakespeare
Koch International; Release date: 2010-01-12; DVD
Best price: $14.40
Price in other shops: $29.98
Hamlet ImageHamlet
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2010-05-04; DVD
Best price: $9.44
Price in other shops: $19.98
Samsung DVD-C350 All Region Free DVD Player (Black) ImageSamsung DVD-C350 All Region Free DVD Player (Black)
Samsung; CE
Best price: $36.27
As You Like It ImageAs You Like It
HBO Home Video; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $4.12
Price in other shops: $9.97
Pioneer DV-610AV-K Black Multi Region Code Zone Free DVD Player with HDMI 1080p Output. Play all region 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 PAL or NTSC DVDs. ImagePioneer DV-610AV-K Black Multi Region Code Zone Free DVD Player with HDMI 1080p Output. Play all region 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 PAL or NTSC DVDs.
Pioneer; Pioneer; Pioneer; Electronics; Home Theater
Best price: $97.48
Price in other shops: $199.99
Twelfth Night ImageTwelfth Night
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2005-08-30; DVD
Best price: $4.89
Price in other shops: $14.98
Shakespeare's An Age of Kings (Richard II / Henry IV / Henry V / Henry VI / Richard III) ImageShakespeare's An Age of Kings (Richard II / Henry IV / Henry V / Henry VI / Richard III)
WHV; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops: $49.98
New Pioneer DV 420K - All Region Free Multi System / Multi Region 1080p DVD Player with HDMI Upconverting & USB ImageNew Pioneer DV 420K - All Region Free Multi System / Multi Region 1080p DVD Player with HDMI Upconverting & USB
Pioneer; CE
Best price: $74.65
Price in other shops: $159.99
BBC Shakespeare Tragedies DVD Giftbox ImageBBC Shakespeare Tragedies DVD Giftbox
PBS; Release date: 2002-07-22; DVD
Best price: $64.78
Price in other shops: $99.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners