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Have any of you seen the 1989 Kenneth Branagh film version?
I just watched it, and I must say it is an exceptional film. It has a great, realistic battle scene and just the right amount of comic relief. For some it may be hard to get passed the hard to understand Shakespearean language at first, but soon you'll get the hang of it. I did.
It's also got a stellar cast featuring Dereck Jacobi, Ian Holm, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, a 15 year old Christian Bale and of course Kenneth Branagh as the young monarch.
Here is a particularly rousing speech given before the battle that is sure to send chills up the spine:
The famous Saint Crispin's Day speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDZVxbrW7Ow
*edit* Found a shorter one that gives the few lines that precede it.

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Medieval history and/or Shakespeare.

Great film, though i wish Brannagh hadn't cut so much of the play out. The sets and scenery though are exceptional. As is the cast. The best set they used was the court scene at the end, I don't remember the location off hand but I thought I had read a while back that it was filmed at one of the estates in Anjou.

I just watched Henry V. I thought that it was alright. The last 45 min. (mainly the Battle of Agincourt) was pretty good, but I thought the reast of the movie seemed scripted.

Henry V is one of my favorite movies. Very well done. He nailed Henry's speech before the battle. I need to watch it again soon.

J_MAN wrote:I just watched Henry V. I thought that it was alright. The last 45 min. (mainly the Battle of Agincourt) was pretty good, but I thought the reast of the movie seemed scripted.

I about fell out of my chair laughing when I read this. It "seemed scripted"? You do realize that not only do all movies have scripts but this is based on a play by William Shakespeare, right? And Shakespeare wrote the script for the play?

Josh

One of my favorite movies. The Crispin's Day speech is always a highlight with that brilliant music soon followed by Non Nobis. I could watch just from the start of the speech through the end of the Non Nobis and be satisfied.

@Josh: What? It wasn't all done freestyle improv?

JoshWedin wrote:Henry V is one of my favorite movies. Very well done. He nailed Henry's speech before the battle. I need to watch it again soon.

J_MAN wrote:I just watched Henry V. I thought that it was alright. The last 45 min. (mainly the Battle of Agincourt) was pretty good, but I thought the reast of the movie seemed scripted.

I about fell out of my chair laughing when I read this. It "seemed scripted"? You do realize that not only do all movies have scripts but this is based on a play by William Shakespeare, right? And Shakespeare wrote the script for the play?

Josh

Yeah, I know that all movies have scripts and that the movie was based on a Shakespeare play. It just seemed forced. Like the were literally reading every word from a script. I guess the scenes that seemed the worst were the ones where Henry was talking to himself. However I'm glad I gave you a laugh.