Romeo and Juliet (Special Edition) (1996)

Rolling Stone
"...A whirlwind of hardball action, rowdy humor and rapturous romance....DiCaprio and Danes cut to the heart..." 11/14/1996 p.123-4

Variety
"...DiCaprio brings youthful energy to the role....The language is spotlighted by Danes, who has somehow found a way to both enunciate the Shakespearean lingo and make its meanings lucid and accessible..." 10/28/1996

Los Angeles Times
"...It has enough positive energy and dizzying high spirits to make it irresistible..." 11/01/1996 p.F1

Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] stylishly energized and vivid adaptation....With a defiantly modern soundtrack." 05/01/2007 p.117

Albuquerque Alibi 8 of 10
The bard is back, with a vengeance...That brings us to the current update of Romeo and Juliet (officially titled William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, just in case you didn't know), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles. For those who had to watch the 1968 Zeffirelli version in high school (complete with the teacher fast-forwarding through the naked parts), this R&J is a completely different animal. Updated to modern Miami Beach, this one has all the pop and zip one would expect from a tale of family feud, star-crossed lovers and bloodthirsty vengeance. Lots of music, fast cuts and super-artsy sets and costumes make it the lively adventure it was meant to be. Call it Natural Born Killers meets Stratford-Upon-Avon, a kind of Shakespeare MTV. - Angie Drobnic
 
ReelViews 8 of 10
In Looking for Richard, actor/director Al Pacino expresses his great hope for his film -- to extend his enthusiasm for the Bard's plays to a broader audience. In a very different way, that's what Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom) is attempting to do with this radical approach to "Romeo and Juliet". Luhrmann hasn't fashioned this motion picture with the stodgy, elitist Shakespeare "purist" in mind. Instead, by incorporating lively, modern imagery with a throbbing rock soundtrack and hip actors, he has taken aim at an audience that would normally regard Shakespeare as a chore to be endured in school, not a passionate drama to ignite the screen...Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet (properly titled William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) takes the play and deposits it in a modern Verona Beach that is part decaying Miami and part Mexico City. By the director's own admission, this is a created world, borrowing aspects of its unique visual style from such diverse periods as the 1940s, 1970s, and 1990s, and using a variety of classic films (most notably Rebel Without a Cause) for inspiration. Fast cars with roaring engines replace horses. Guns stand in for swords and daggers. The resulting hybrid background is startling...Ultimately, no matter how many innovative and unconventional flourishes it applies, the success of any adaptation of a Shakespeare play is determined by two factors: the competence of the director and the ability of the main cast members. Luhrmann, Danes, and DiCaprio place this Romeo and Juliet in capable hands. And, while such a loud, brash interpretation may not go down in cinematic history as the definitive version of the play, hopefully it will open a few eyes and widen the audience willing to venture into any movie bearing the credit "based on the play by William Shakespeare." - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
I've seen Shakespeare done in drag. I've seen Richard III as a Nazi. I've seen ``The Tempest'' as science fiction and as a Greek travelogue. I've seen Prince Hal and Falstaff as homosexuals in Portland. I've seen ``King Lear'' as a samurai drama and ``Macbeth'' as a Mafia story, and two different ``Romeo and Juliets'' about ethnic difficulties in Manhattan (``West Side Story'' and ``China Girl''), but I have never seen anything remotely approaching the mess that the new punk version of ``Romeo & Juliet'' makes of Shakespeare's tragedy...The desperation with which it tries to ``update'' the play and make it ``relevant'' is greatly depressing. In one grand but doomed gesture, writer-director Baz Luhrmann has made a film that (a) will dismay any lover of Shakespeare, and (b) bore anyone lured into the theater by promise of gang wars, MTV-style. This production was a very bad idea...Much of the dialogue is shouted unintelligibly, while the rest is recited dutifully, as in a high school production. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes are talented and appealing young actors, but they're in over their heads here. There is a way to speak Shakespeare's language so that it can be heard and understood, and they have not mastered it...The only actors in the film who seem completely at home, indeed, are Pete Postlethwaite, as Father Laurence, and Miriam Margolyes, as the Nurse. They know the words and the rhythm, the meaning and the music, and when they say something, we know what they've said. The other actors seem clueless, and Shakespeare's lines are either screamed or get all mushy...No doubt I will receive mail from readers accusing me of giving away the story's ending by revealing that Romeo and Juliet die. I had my answer all prepared: If you do not already know what happens to the star-crossed lovers, then you are not the audience this movie is aiming for. - Roger Ebert