Customer Reviews
Essential - By: Mike, 04 May 2008 
I first saw this film in 1963 - it has been with me ever since. There can be many intepretations of the play - there does not have to be a "best". This one is just essential.
The question of the best dvd version available - By: JWW, 29 Feb 2008 
S.N.Corder "scmorales' tells us - in a review of April 2007, posted above - that Granada is issuing a restored version of Olivier's 'Henry V' in May 2007. Writing this in February 2008, can anyone tell us whether that happened, & if so where it can be obtained on what S.N.C callls 'a normal DVD'? If alll the enthusiasts of this film clubbed together, perhaps we could commission a restoration! The version advertised here is - everyone will agree - quite unworthy of the film (MUCH more interesting cinematographicallly than 'Richard III', though - well, this is a large debate.. - perhaps not such a dazzlingly seminal lead performance.)
Archetypal World War 2 Film - By: S. Wood, 24 Dec 2007 
The classic version of the history play with an interesting political backdrop. Watch it for the beautiful stylized sets, Olivier's complex portrayal of the protagonist & the interesting opening frame, which is set in the Globe Theatre. Don't watch it if you like highly technical Lord of the Rings battle scenes- there was hardly any men around in 1944, for goodness' sake.
Not Branagh, Not Good - By: Mr. Robert Davis, 09 Oct 2007 
Hi
I caught this movie on TV the other day. I was suprised, nay shocked, at how flat & thespian Olivier's performance was. The is very little energy in the film. In particular the St Crispins day speech was a real let down. Contrast that to Branaghs version for passion & inspiring oratory. I think we should not be too hard on this version, & it is interesting, but is by no means 'the definitive' movie version.
On your imaginary forces work - By: Telletubby, 09 Jul 2007 Of the three Shakespeare films he directed; Henry V, Hamlet & Richard 111, Henry Vth is the only one that has a claim to be not just a record of a great performance, but a great film by any standards.
By beginning in the reconstructed Elizabethan Globe theatre Olivier presents the conventions of the time with boys playing women & over- painted actors hamming to a heckling audience.
But by using the Chorus' invitation to 'piece out' the imperfections of contemporary theatre 'with your thoughts' he takes us through the painted backdrop to a stylised mediaeval world of distorted perpectives befitting an illuminated manuscript, then focussing in on the 'real' live action world of the battle of Agincourt before returning again in stages to the stylised Elizabethan performance of the beginning. It is a brave & entirely successful device.
In this film too were many cinematic innovations, including a camera that pulled back from close-up to reveal the huge crowd of soldiers during the Agincourt Crispin speech, rather than - as more normallly - zooming in; & the wonderful high speed tracking shot to keep pace with the accelerating front line of the Agincourt cavalry charge. All done many times since of course, but revolutionary film making in 1944.
