WeekX-Comparison

               Oh how deserving of pity am I when the greater of to epics I must chose, the lesser of which will be tread upon by shoes, and the greater of which will be lifted up in my views.  There isn't any specific parts that cause me to see the Branagh version as superior to the Gibson version, but more that the projection as a whole is a more literal portrayal of Shakespeare's work and my personal favorite. For example, the 1st ghost scene in the Branagh version was all out; with a flying ghost full set of armor, a loud wispy voice that came from all directions, and a cold dead terrain with mist and continually cracking ground.  Whereas the Gibson version ghost didn't have any armor, was located in on the castle wall, and had a human sounding voice, however it often disappeared and reappeared to make up for not flying and they did a good job at making it look lifeless yet alive.  There are many other examples like this where the Branagh overcomes the Gibson, but I'll now go on to camera angle strategies in which I believe Branagh again has the upper hand.  Branagh starts with formal straight on shots, then goes to side shots, next he throws in a few 360's, then finally begins to rearrange the pattern, evolving your subconscious into a more engaged theme.  Gibson's is impressive as well, but is more of a modren "movie" style that dosn't feel like Shakespeare to me. So to be honest both are now in my top 50 movies list but Branagh just has more depth to it. In the end Gibson had some better points, like a better actress for Ophelia and dressing Hamlet crazy as well as having him act crazy, however Branaghs ability to make me realize somthing new about it every day wins out!