50 Greatest Shakespeare Movies

Posters from the movies "Hamlet" and "Ran"
Criteria: These are the greatest movies based on the plots of the plays by William Shakespeare chosen for their critical acclaim, popularity, and influence in the film industry. Includes direct and indirect adaptations of Shakespeare's plays.

Last Updated: 2010-02-24
Greatest Shakespeare Movies
Ran movie poster  Hamlet movie poster  West Side Story movie poster  Henry V movie poster  Romeo and Juliet movie poster  Chimes at Midnight movie poster
  Title - (Director, Year) [Shakespeare Play]
  1. Ran - (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) [King Lear]
  2. Hamlet - (Laurence Olivier, 1948)
  3. West Side Story - (Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, 1961) [Romeo and Juliet]
  4. Henry V - (Kenneth Branagh, 1989)
  5. Romeo and Juliet - (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968)
  6. Chimes at Midnight - (Orson Welles, 1965) [Henry IV Part I/II, Richard II, Henry V, Merry Wives of Windsor]
  7. Throne of Blood - (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) [Macbeth]
  8. The Lion King - (Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, 1994) [Hamlet]
  9. Macbeth - (Roman Polanski, 1971)
10. Henry V - (Laurence Olivier, 1944)
11. Othello - (Orson Welles, 1952)
12. Hamlet - (Kenneth Branagh, 1996)
13. Shakespeare in Love - (John Madden, 1998) [Romeo and Juliet, others]
14. My Own Private Idaho - (Gus Van Sant, 1991) [Henry IV Part I/II, Henry V]
15. Othello - (Stuart Burge, 1965)
16. Julius Caesar - (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1953)
17. The Bad Sleep Well - (Akira Kurosawa, 1960) [Hamlet]
18. Forbidden Planet - (Fred M. Wilcox, 1956) [The Tempest]
19. Kiss Me Kate - (George Sidney, 1953) [The Taming of the Shrew]
20. Richard III - (Richard Loncraine, 1995)
21. Hamlet - (Bill Colleran, 1964)
22. Macbeth - (Orson Welles, 1948)
23. Hamlet - (Grigori Kozintsev, 1964)
24. Richard III - (Laurence Olivier, 1955)
25. Romeo and Juliet - (Baz Luhrmann, 1996)
26. Looking for Richard - (Al Pacino, 1996) [Richard III]
27. Hamlet - (Franco Zeffirelli, 1990)
28. Othello - (Oliver Parker, 1995)
29. King Lear - (Grigori Kozintsev, 1971)
30. A Midsummer Night's Dream - (Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle, 1935)
31. O - (Tim Blake Nelson, 2001) [Othello]
32. The Taming of the Shrew - (Franco Zeffirelli, 1967)
33. King Lear - (Michael Elliott, 1983)
34. Titus - (Julie Taymor, 1999) [Titus Andronicus]
35. King Lear - (Peter Brook, 1971)
36. Scotland, PA - (Billy Morrissette, 2001) [Macbeth]
37. The Merchant of Venice - (Michael Radford, 2004)
38. Much Ado About Nothing - (Kenneth Branagh, 1993)
39. Twelfth Night - (Trevor Nunn, 1996)
40. A Midsummer Night's Dream - (Michael Hoffman, 1999)
41. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - (Tom Stoppard, 1990) [Hamlet]
42. Prospero's Books - (Peter Greenaway, 1991) [The Tempest]
43. Julius Caesar - (David Bradley, 1950)
44. King Lear - (Andrew McCullough, 1953)
45. The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew - (Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, 1982) [Hamlet]
46. Romeo and Juliet - (George Cukor, 1936)
47. Ten Things I Hate About You - (Gil Junger, 1999) [The Taming of the Shrew]
48. Julius Caesar - (Stuart Burge, 1970)
49. King Lear - (Jean-Luc Godard, 1987)
50. Hamlet - (Michael Almereyda, 2000)








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