HLYWoodStarlett

I have seen both the Mary Martin version and this version, and even though I have fond memories of watching the Mary Martin version when I was younger, I enjoyed this one a lot more. The Mary Martin version was excellent, don't get me wrong, but while watching it, you consciously think to yourself,"This is a woman playing a little boy." In many ways, this can ruin the experience. In the Cathy Rigby version, Rigby acts as a little boy would. She uses the gestures a boy would, she moves as a boy would, and when delivering her lines and singing you actually believe that she is a little boy that just did not want to grow up. Elisa Sagardia was also wonderfully enchanting in her role as Wendy. When watching it you feel as if Wendy is your own sister or mother. Everything is an improvement from the Mary Martin version-the pirates are animated and hilarious, the lost boys are also quite funny and child-like, the Indians have wonderful dance sequences and you almost feel hypnotized while watching them. I suppose it is a matter of taste and what appeals to you more-charming, quaint, heart-warming productions, or believable, spectacular, animated, eye-catching, mind boggling, rhythmic, hypnotic productions. Out of 10 stars, I give it a solid 7 1/2.

Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" is absolutely positively exquisite. Everything about it captures the essence of Shakespeare. Though it is four hours long, one can hardly tell because the presentation is so heart felt. At the end of the four hours, you actually wish that there was more!! The length is much outweighed by the beauty and quality. Branagh's role as director results in pure art-the beautiful colors, the setting, everything about it. Branagh's performance as the tormented Hamlet captures the feeling and the emotions of the character better than any other film version of the Shakespeare play. His acting is beautiful and superb, and this film should give him the title of "best actor in the history of acting".