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Henry V (1989)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
8 November 1989 (USA)
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Tagline:
The great adventure of a king who defied the odds to prove himself a man.
Plot:
The gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 9 wins
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(47 articles)
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(From Screen Rant. 19 November 2009, 1:45 PM, PST)
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User Comments:
A Worthy Successor After 5 Decades
more (87 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Derek Jacobi | ... | Chorus |
 | Kenneth Branagh | ... | Henry V |
 | Simon Shepherd | ... | Gloucester |
 | James Larkin | ... | Bedford |
| Brian Blessed | ... | Exeter |
| James Simmons | ... | York |
| Charles Kay | ... | Canterbury |
| Alec McCowen | ... | Ely |
| Fabian Cartwright | ... | Cambridge |
| Stephen Simms | ... | Scroop |
| Jay Villiers | ... | Grey |
| Edward Jewesbury | ... | Erpingham |
 | Ian Holm | ... | Fluellen |
 | Danny Webb | ... | Gower (as Daniel Webb) |
| Jimmy Yuill | ... | Jamy |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for a bloody battle.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
137 min
Country:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:12 |
Netherlands:16 |
South Korea:12 |
Brazil:Livre |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:PG |
Chile:14 |
Germany:12 |
Singapore:PG |
Sweden:11 |
UK:PG |
USA:PG-13 |
West Germany:12
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The famous London costume house Angels & Bermans provided most of the costumes for the film, just as they had done 45 years earlier for the Laurence Olivier version The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944).
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: One of the "dead" soldiers lying in the field after a battle winks.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Chorus: O! for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention; A kingdom for a stage, princes to act and monarchs to behold the swelling scene. Then should the war-like Harry, like himself, assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire crouch for employment.
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Chorus: O! for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention; A kingdom for a stage, princes to act and monarchs to behold the swelling scene. Then should the war-like Harry, like himself, assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire crouch for employment.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Zomergasten: (#11.2)" (1998)
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FAQ
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is the film a direct adaptation of the play?
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more (87 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Henry V (1989)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Bad acting, and could anyone understand a word they said? | xagent003 |
| St Crispin's Day | superstu86 |
| British Losses | Pickwick12 |
| Trailer? | borstel-1 |
| PG??? | eamonn_keane |
| Thomas Becket | srtimmons |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
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| The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France | Henry V | Henry V | Henry V | The Life of Henry the Fift |
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Related Links
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| News articles | IMDb Action section | IMDb UK section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
Let's get one thing straight: It was Olivier who finally cracked the concrete heads of film producers open and proved that it was possible to put the bard of bards on screen without even an American audience falling asleep after 10 minutes. Sure, after all this time his Henry looks ancient, pretentious and artificial, but so will Blade Runner after 50 years, and still both mark a watershed after which none could be done like anything before. Odd comparisons? Maybe. But fitting.
Branagh's Henry finally set a tone worth to succeed the initial awesome blast unleashed by the most powerful actor for generations, and I'm sure Branagh would be the last to deny Olivier's version the place it deserves in British movie history. Times were ripe for another tone - but times before had needed Olivier as much as the following ages will need Branagh.
I'm an obsessive fan of both versions - both for entirely different reasons - and both merging perfectly what I love most about Shakespeare's eternal works.
Branagh's film is timeless - of this time - without ever being trendy. Olivier's is timeless - as well as of its time - as long as we keep an understanding of its time.
Olivier praised the eternal flame, the eternal smell, of Shakesperean theater, as always reaching far beyond the confinds of its subject - beyond the confinds of the wooden circle of 'The Globe'.
Branagh went right for the jugular, without ever loosing grip on what makes this play a play beyond its subject, and THE play about that subject.
Has anyone considered the vital difference between Branagh's and Olivier's versions? I doubt it. Where Olivier conjured up the intoxicating smell of fresh 15th century glue from the sets rising into the audience's noses, come here straight from the bear fights, whore houses, sermons of zealots and whatever had to flee London's stern moral walls of those times, Branagh cut right to the bone of any hardened 'modern' movie goer.
Behold: Derek Jacoby's prologue is a piece of speech which will forever haunt, enchant and cover me in goosebumps - firing me up to see what comes as well as see what Olivier as well as Branagh had done with the only play ever to merge humanity's lust as well as dread for the subject of war.
Of course, Olivier's version couldn't even dream of matching the intimate intensity of Branagh's. But how could it?
Ok, I won't further dwell on it, but for the last time, consider the father to fully understand the son.
Now, having shed the overpowering shadows of the past, Derek Jacoby steps into the dark of the expecting stage - striking a match...,
"Oh, for the muse of fire..." ... and off we are, lured into the torrent of the bard's unique and eternal magic.
I consider Henry V the best of Branagh's Shakespeare adaptations, even though I wouldn't want to be with any of the others on pain of death. This one's flawless, perfectly cast, perfectly executed and perfectly acted by Branagh himself.
From Burbage to Garrick to Keane to Inving to Olivier to Branagh... it is a glorious lineage to follow in love and admiration for the bard of Bard's ambassadors.
Schogger13