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Movies / On DVD / Titus
Titus

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Titus (1999)

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Reviews Counted:74

Fresh:50

Rotten:24

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: The movie stretches too long to be entertaining despite a strong cast.

Runtime: 2 hrs 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (one of the Bard's lesser-known and most gruesome works), director Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King) brings this adaptation to life with dazzling imagery and... Based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (one of the Bard's lesser-known and most gruesome works), director Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King) brings this adaptation to life with dazzling imagery and haunting immediacy.

Titus (Hopkins) is a victorious Roman general who makes two mistakes: supporting the wily Saturninus (Cumming) as the new Emperor, and wronging Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Lange), by killing her eldest son. Murder follows murder as the tides of fate change, as Tamora is aided by her two reckless sons and her Moor lover, Aaron (Lennix). The body count is raised higher and higher until Titus finally holds a very special dinner banquet.

Taymor's bold visual sense verges on absurdity, but her sense of morality, as well as powerful acting by Hopkins and company, combine to tell a powerful, violent tale. [More]

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Harry J. Lennix, Alan Cumming

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Harry J. Lennix, Alan Cumming, Jonathan Rhys-Myers, Laura Fraser, Angus MacFadyen, Colm Feore, James Frain, Blake Ritson

Director: Julie Taymor

Director: Julie Taymor
Screenwriter: Julie Taymor
Story: William Shakespeare
Producer: Conchita Airoldi, Julie Taymor, Jody Patton
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Titus

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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Whether this makes for an eyeful or an eyesore depends on your tastes.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Anyone criticizing the gruesome bloodlust of modern Hollywood might do well to ponder the body count in this play...

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/01/00
Anwar Brett
Anwar Brett
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A striking addition to the Shakespeare filmography.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Eager to allow Shakespeare's words to shine through as clearly as possible, Taymor shoots the dialogue scenes fairly straight, with a minimum of background action.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/02/02
John Wrathall
John Wrathall
Sight and Sound

Lacks the subtlety and subtext to make the story really work on screen.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
10/18/08
Gemma Files
Gemma Files
eye WEEKLY
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/08/09
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Hollywood.com

Taymor has succeeded only in creating a great - and interminable - filmic mess.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
01/01/00
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

Too ridiculous.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

Looks like a jumble sale featuring the work of other directors and artists.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

Many will experience this all as a mere assault on the senses, outrage for the mere sake of outrage and, for all its intellectual posturing, pretty dumb overall.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

A further vulgarization of Shakespeare's most vulgar play.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The movie is often a lot of loopy fun -- it's just not very good.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
Film.com

While (Taymor's) film version isn't exactly a solemn spectacle, neither is it much fun.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/01/00
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

It's like a bad Fellini parody on steroids -- and it's two hours and 42 minutes long.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

A brilliant production of a mediocre play.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe

At once mesmerizing and jarring to the point that the audience can never get comfortable in the film.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment 1 Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

A lugubrious and occasionally laughable two hours and 40 minutes.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/01/00
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

...an inflated adaptation of bad Shakespeare.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Titus

February 04, 2005: Julie Taymor to Direct Musical
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