Titus: Special Edition

In one of the most self-indulgent filmmaking debuts I've yet seen, Julie Taymor (director of Broadway's The Lion King) directs Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange (among many others) in this dizzying adaptation of Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. Taymor's eclectic (to say the very least) interpretation involves a mind-numbing amalgam of disparate visual styles and cross-cultural and -temporal references, the sum of which--to borrow from the Bard--constitute a film "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." If you're in the market for a collectible contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare on DVD, by all means opt for Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1995) instead, a far more challenging and engaging effort than this turgid tale. Extras include commentaries and a "making of" documentary. Not recommended. (S. C. Sickles)