Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.2 / 5.0

Stupendous performance!:

As other reviewers should know by now, I do consider Olivier to be the best actor to ever have played the roles of Shakespearean plays. This is not an exception and he is simply brilliant in his portrayal of Henry V. The war and battle scenes are filled with action, pagentry and patriotism.Olivier's performance is also gentle and elegant, his imagery is rich and colorful and adds an auara to the play that has not been matched by any other actor. It was considered such a superb film at the time (which they... more info

Olivier's wonderful epic:

Beginning with a fluttering playbill and a view of 1600 London, we take in a performance of 'Henry V' at the Globe Theatre. Chorus tells us to work on our 'imaginary forces', and we are slowely transported out of the theatre to the 'vasty fields of France'. Even with the restraints placed on Olivier' by the then-current WW2, this movie is head and shoulders above the Branagh version because all the characters are cast with real actors who are speaking to each other as well as the audience. Where the Branagh... more info

Visually splendid:

I've seen this movie only once, and what thrilled me was the design -- the colors, the costumes, the amazing sets. The cavalry charge, done in a single tracking shot that lasts about a minute, is alone worth the price of admission. And I'm a guy who is most interested in plot.

The plot, unfortunately, stinks. The propaganda plays are not Shakespeare's best, and Henry V is not the best of the propaganda plays. Forget the politics, and the really embarassing courtship scene (maybe just turn the sound off),... more info

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