William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Special Edition

Writing in VL-3/97, I said: "Although it's likely to send one or two Shakespearean scholars into their local ER's, I personally think that the Bard would have enjoyed this hyper-kinetic version of his classic tale of star-crossed lovers. Director Baz Luhrmann's (Strictly Ballroom) souped-up comic-book approach sets the Montagues and Capulets in a modern-day Verona of rival gang members who tangle with 9mm guns rather than swords, check out babes on the beach, and listen to rap music as they cruise the mean streets in their flashy convertibles. When bad boy Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) gets a glimpse of little miss rich girl Juliet (Claire Danes), thoughts of busted heads are laid aside for more pressing matters of the heart (and loins). Faithful to Shakespeare's text, and finding humor where many stage productions miss it, Romeo + Juliet is recommended." Like he did on Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann has rolled out the red carpet for this DVD "special edition" which, in addition to the already sharp and richly color saturated image and room-encompassing Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, comes loaded with extras, including: a very good commentary by Luhrmann and others, several production-related mini-docs (in sub-menus such as "Director's Gallery," "Cinematographer's Gallery," "Design Gallery," and "Interview Gallery"), a pair of music videos, and a recap of marketing materials. Given the embarrassment of riches, we're bumping up our original rating a notch for the DVD. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Feb. 6, 2007—Fox, 120 min., PG-13, $14.99—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1996's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (Music Edition) sports a nice transfer with DTS  and Dolby Digital 5.1sound. DVD extras include three audio commentaries (the first with director Baz Luhrmann; the second with co-composer Craig Armstrong; and the third with co-composer Marius De Vries), a “Music Machine” feature that lets viewers jump to individual songs throughout the film, a 47-minute documentary on the music of the film, six minutes of “The Journey of the Song” featurettes (including “Young Hearts Run Free,” “Everybody's Free,” and one on temp music), and “The London Music Mix” featurette (4 min.). Bottom line: it's questionable whether this is worth the upgrade (yes, it adds a number of new music-specific extras, but also chops a whole bunch of production-related featurettes).]