Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1961)

Touches You

Good concept, poorly executed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Although I prefer the darker tale of Macbeth, this is a decent production of Shakespeare's classic. Having seen the English dubbed version, I would have preferred seeing the original in German with subs; dubbing tends to affect the emotional performance(s). This results in actors saying lines which at times come off as mismatched and leaving the viewer scratching their noggin in befuddlement. Having Hamlet being shot in black in white gives the production a bleak, surreal sort of mood. For a second, I had thought that Rod Serling would come out with cigarette in hand saying:'These guard sentries do not realize it yet, but that shadowy spectre looming off in the darkness..will set off a series of events..all beginning with one Danish prince.'Kudos to Maximilian for his portrayal of Hamlet. I also strangely enjoyed the leery presence of Hans Caninenberg..he makes you realize that Claudius is just up to no good whatsoever. A few extra points for Denmark being in another dimension..a dimension not only of sight and sound but of...ah, you know the rest!

There's really not much need to begin this little review with a plot synopsis. I mean it's Shakespeare's Hamlet for goodness sake – probably one of the best known plays ever written. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I came to this version of Hamlet the way most people on IMDb have – through Mystery Science Theater 3000. While the show may not be the best venue to use to judge a movie, in this case I cannot imagine attempting to watch it without the comedic quips. In a word, this German, made-for-TV version of Hamlet is dreary. 152 minutes? No way! It's too dark and depressing to be anything I want to spend almost three hours on. I've said it any number of times, but entertainment is the thing for me. And this wrist-slitter is far from entertaining. I will, however, give it a couple of points for what I felt was some reasonably good acting. A 3/10 sounds about right to me.As much as I enjoy MST3K, their comments don't help to make Hamlet any more palatable. There are a few good riffs here and there, but overall, Hamlet is just the wrong movie for MST3K. Shakespeare is far too talky to allow the comedy to have any sort of rhythm or flow. As much as it pains me, I've got to give Hamlet a 1/5 on my MST3K rating scale.

I am only going to comment on the Mystery science theater 3000 version.How could this ever be saved? In a movie that is obviously shot on one movie set(no attempt is really made to give the impression of location changes). Not even Mike and the 'bots could save this garbage. The movie is so horrible, and bad that their jokes just fall flat. Though I do enjoy some of the lines, such as Servo remarking, "What's worse then clowns? Danish clowns." I feel that the only way this movie is watchable is on MST3K. And not even they could save this trash. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. Try another MST3K episode Like Puma Man; Jack Frost; Overdrawn At the Memory Bank; Space Mutiny. there are tons of other great episodes then this one. Why they chose to put this episode on DVD is beyond me.

Poor Will would be rolling over in his grave if he could this this horiible German-TV adaptaion of his classic play. It's obvious that very little money was spent on it. A stage riser, a catwalk and some randomly placed columns pass off as a set. The movie was ineptly dubbed into English, with the English voice actors occasionally mumbling their lines. The whole production had an incredibly dark and dreary feel to it. And just where was Fonterbras in this movie anyway? MST3K gave this sorry production the treatment it justly deserved.To be or not to be? I wish this movie never was in the first place.