Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Star-crossed lovers defy family feud in a visually stunning modern adaptation of Shakespeare's classic. Fans of teen drama and romance will love it.
Genres: Drama, Romance
Cast
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Romeo + Juliet(1996)
Overview
In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
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Cast
Full Cast & Crew
Leonardo DiCaprio
Romeo

Claire Danes
Juliet

Jesse Bradford
Balthasar

Vondie Curtis-Hall
Captain Prince

Brian Dennehy
Ted Montague

John Leguizamo
Tybalt

Miriam Margolyes
Nurse

Harold Perrineau
Mercutio

Christina Pickles
Caroline Montague

Pete Postlethwaite
Father Laurence

Paul Rudd
Dave Paris

Paul Sorvino
Fulgencio Capulet

Diane Venora
Gloria Capulet

M. Emmet Walsh
Apothecary

Edwina Moore
Anchorwoman

Zak Orth
Gregory

Jamie Kennedy
Sampson

Dash Mihok
Benvolio

Lupita Ochoa
Attractive Girl

Gloria Silva
Nun
Featured Comments/Tips
I didn'#39;t fell in love with it at first sight (ahah!) but it grew on me and now I love it and need to watch it everytime I see it on TV. Love every bit of it, the actors, the original words by Shakespeare even if the setting is the 90'#39;s, the soundtrack. Boy, how I love the soundtrack.
Good part: Some scenes were funny, and those were actually laughing-out-loud good. Some scenes were dramatic and blended the old language and modern setting perfectly. Great actors + hot young Leo The aquarium scene + the bed sheets scene Bad part: Terrible editing, looks very unprofessional. Incosistency, the movie is a chaos; it doesn'#39;t know whether it has to be funny or serious. Does every guy have to wear buttoned up Hawaii shirts? Verdict: Brilliant idea, terrible execution.
I don'#39;t care for the story of Romeo and Juliet, I don'#39;t care for romantic dramas... Both these factors + it being made in 1996, somewhat amateurly, meant that I only kept watching for Leo. (Who looks heavenly and acts of course, perfectly) The mixing of modern day (1996) culture made for a refreshing and easier watch and there were times when I was reeled in, but struggled to keep focused. If you like romantic dramas I'#39;m sure you'#39;ll like it a lot more than me and it'#39;s a '#39;must watch'#39; whether you enjoy the film or not.
Wurst movie i have seen in ages, and à Runtime of 2hours, what a waste.
From Baz Luhrmann comes a bold new interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic in _Romeo + Juliet_. Luhrmann adapts Shakespeare’s story of two star-crossed lovers from rival families to a modern day setting while keeping the original dialog. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, and Harold Perrineau lead the cast and give incredibly strong performance; especial DiCaprio and Danes, who have tremendous on-screen chemistry. And the juxtaposition of a modern setting and Shakespearian language works surprisingly well. Additionally, the soundtrack does a great job at setting the tone and enhancing the material. However, there are some attempts at comedy with sped up footage and slapstick that doesn’t work and drags the film down. Yet while it has some rough edges, _Romeo + Juliet_ is a powerful and evocative film that captures the spirit of Shakespeare’s play as few other adaptations have been able to.
The lovers of Verona through the eyes of MTV
I really liked it and I think in the future I'll watch it again, but I'd don't like sad endings because I cry in them and this ending was really sad and I cried
My high school English teacher showed this in class and I've had a soft spot for it ever since. I really love Claire Danes, and I honestly think this is one of Leonardo DiCaprio's best performances
wanted to see claire in her young days.
I watched it cuz i had to, but not my cup of tea. Maybe it'#39;ll grow on me, but the first time watching was no fun.
it doesn'#39;t make any sense but it'#39;s still great
I love this movie since my childhood
This movie should'#39;ve stayed on my watchlist. It having two of my favorite actors ever still didn'#39;t make it worth my while.
FANTASTIC adaptation. Love everything about it; the music, the score, the modernizing, the performances, the machine-gun editing, the use of Elizabethan language. Instantly fell in love with Baz Luhrmann after this. Too bad he never quite lived up to this again, for me...
When I watched this movie I didn'#39;t know anything about it except that Leonardo DiCaprio was the male lead ( which was reason enough to decide ) and that I'#39;ve read the original play ... Let'#39;s just say I was pretty shocked! It'#39;s bold to represent a classic with a modern taste and Shakespeare himself was one for innovation and imagination so maybe he wouldn'#39;t have complained either: the problem here is that I'#39;m not sure it worked. Chaos reigns and I found it a bit hard to follow even though I knew the plot. Maybe I should watch it again in the future and see if I change my mind, the acting alone deserves it!
A cake that is all icing. I can'#39;t believe I put off watching this one for so long. Shakespeare hasn'#39;t been so modern since he performed this originally.
The only good thing of this movie is Young Leo and his beautiful face and voice
Beautiful sets, costumes, music, and shots. I was blown away by this at the time and like it only slightly less today. How does Paul Rudd look like only five years older today?
I absolutely LOVE this movie, the esthetic and the special and magical way of Bazz Luhrman to do the movie, Leo + Claire are ICONIC !
I love this movie. This adaptation is fantastic and will never be beaten.
Level '#34;Marvellous'#34; • 9 :heart: • Very Recommended.
I can't follow the dialogue but visually it's stunning. The heavy stylization won't be to everyone's liking. Great editing.
Featured User Reviews

Part 2 of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy: <em>'Romeo + Juliet'</em>. I remember watching a little bit of this years and years back at high school and I seem to recall enjoying it a lot. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I might've on this viewing, but it is still a film I'd recommend for sure - it's very good. I'm yet to see a bad - heck, even a just mildly good - film from Leonardo DiCaprio, which remains the case after this. It's probably the weakest performance I've seen from DiCaprio so far, though that's just through process of elimination as he's still impressive here as Romeo. Claire Danes (Juliet) merits props, also. John Leguizamo (Tybalt) is the pick of the rest of the cast, which also includes the likes of Paul Sorvino, Miriam Margolyes and Paul Rudd. Speaking of the casting, apparently 14-year-old Natalie Portman was originally cast to star alongside DiCaprio (then 21... dodgy!). I love the modern day set up and how they bring this famous tale to life in it, though I do think the choice to use Shakespearean dialogue was perhaps the wrong call. It's not like I didn't appreciate it, but it does feel a bit forced and unnatural at times - still cool that they did it, mind.
Shakespeare is still getting work in Hollywood, and probably always will... ... but I like updated modern Shakespeare when it comes in the form of West Side Story, She's all That, Overboard (all the other million or so Rom-Coms based off of The Taming of the Shrew) and not when the film is modern day with Shakespearean English and... yeah. Too much of a Juxtaposition for me. The kind of WWII update of Richard III wasn't bad, but it wasn't really taking Richard II, putting it in a different time, and keeping almost everything else intact. I guess what I am saying is that it didn't mesh well for me.

Part 2 of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy: 'Romeo + Juliet'. I remember watching a little bit of this years and years back at high school and I seem to recall enjoying it a lot. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I might've on this viewing, but it is still a film I'd recommend for sure - it's very good. I'm yet to see a bad - heck, even a just mildly good - film from Leonardo DiCaprio, which remains the case after this. It's probably the weakest performance I've seen from DiCaprio so far, though that's just through process of elimination as he's still impressive here as Romeo. Claire Danes (Juliet) merits props, also. John Leguizamo (Tybalt) is the pick of the rest of the cast, which also includes the likes of Paul Sorvino, Miriam Margolyes and Paul Rudd. Speaking of the casting, apparently 14-year-old Natalie Portman was originally cast to star alongside DiCaprio (then 21... dodgy!). I love the modern day set up and how they bring this famous tale to life in it, though I do think the choice to use Shakespearean dialogue was perhaps the wrong call. It's not like I didn't appreciate it, but it does feel a bit forced and unnatural at times - still cool that they did it, mind.

Baz Luhrmann has relocated this classic to modern day Verona Beach and introduced a contemporary sound track to complement much of the original dialogue from the bard's story of true love, revenge and, quite possibly, the greatest tragedy ever written in the English language. The families "Montague" and "Capulet" have been feuding since God was a boy. The uneasy truce between them is to be severely tested when "Romeo" (Leonardo DiCaprio) and "Juliet" (Clare Danes) fall in love. Being from each of these warring tribes, they must keep their love clandestine in order to avoid conflict. As their affection grows, that secret proves harder and harder to keep - especially as "Juliet" has been betrothed and her father is determined that she shall be in the church on Tuesday next! I'm sure you all know the story of the "star-crossed lovers" and I rather enjoyed this adaptation. Unlike "Carmen Jones" (1954) which I did not think worked well being relocated, this does. The eclectic contrast between the motor cars, the revolvers and the original old English text is quite effective. The effort from DiCaprio gets better as the film progresses and by the denouement neither he nor Danes are half bad. Harold Perrineau is also competent as the brave "Mercutio" and the conniving "Tybalt" is well covered by John Leguizamo. Purists may well not admire the abridging of this lengthy story though. It is quite heavily condensed and at times that does rob the film of much of the original nuance - not that Luhrmann ever really concentrates on nuance anyway - but I'd rather look on this as an evolution of the story for modern times rather than a straight retelling. For me it worked, and is watchable still.
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