Branagh takes the title role in a version of the film set in the late 1800's and in a snowy landscape that feel both fantastical and as if it could be Denmark itself. Taking the stage alongside Branagh is Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio. These are, of course, just the main roles in the film. Plenty of other big names take small cameos like Robin Williams as Osric, Billy Crystal playing the grave digger and Gerard Depardieu as Reynaldo. All brief roles, though Crystal's part is definitely of great importance to the overall story.
Hamlet starts off a mere two months after the King of Denmark has died, and the king's brother, Claudius, has not only taken the throne, but the king's wife as well. As a result, Prince Hamlet finds himself in a rather bad mood. This doesn't improve at all when his father's ghost appears to him and reveals that Claudius is the one who killed him. Upon this realization, Hamlet begins a plot involving a feign of insanity so as to throw the rest of the palace off balance. When Hamlet's "uncle-father and aunt-mother" begin to worry about the prince, they call upon his friends, Horatio, Rosencrantz (Timothy Spall, who has since become more noticed in America with films like Sweeney Todd, Enchanted and several Harry Potter installments) and Guildenstern (Reece Dinsdale).
Meanwhile, Hamlet's play at craziness means he has to shrug off the love of the fair Ophelia and outwardly speak his mind about her father, Polonius. What's great about this last part is how well Branagh plays up his mocking of the older character, and how well Briers plays the proper court-member and simply takes the insults.
As the plot unfolds, Hamlet realizes he must be sure of the current king's guilt and so he stages a play that will describe his father's murder in order to see Claudius' reaction. While Hamlet was on an only slightly out-of-control spiral before the play, his actions become more extreme after the king's guilt becomes apparent and the events leading up to the tragic tale's inevitable conclusions rush to an end filled with sword fighting and poisons.
While the Blu-ray version of Hamlet doesn't contain any added features since its release on DVD about three years ago, it does get the entire movie onto one disc, and the quality, both visual and audio, is superb. Not only do the main hall's walls of mirrors look spectacular in high definition, but so do the snow-laced lands and gloomy night sequences. As for the sound aspect, the scenes after Hamlet talks to his father and he makes his vow to stop the man's killer are particularly effective with surround sound, especially as the ground splits all around with large, explosive sound effects.
As for the special features, what it has is interesting, but like I said before, nothing new. There is a making-of talking about bringing the full version of the play to the big screen and what it was like for Branagh to take on such a large role. There is also an introduction by Branagh as both actor and director of the film that also goes into the experience about making the film. Besides those two featurettes, there is a commentary with Branagh and Russell Jackson, a Shakespearean scholar, as well as promos for both the theatrical release and the Cannes Film Festival.
If you consider yourself a Shakespeare fan, then this is definitely a must-buy. I consider this version of the classic story to be one of the best film-adaptations, and to see it in high definition is well worth the price. On top of that, Hamlet comes in a Blu-ray Book case that contains over 30 pages of pictures, quotes, notes and other goodies.
