Julie Christie's Gertrude in the 1996 film doesn't convey nearly as much of the emotional conflict roiling Gertrude's soul. I also thought that the scene immediately after with Hamlet and his mother was much improved over Branagh's version, with a lot of intensity put into the performance by Gibson and Glenn Close. Branagh's is hammed up, rushed, and ruined by Branagh's ridiculous over-acting. I thought that the 'play within a play' was much better in Zeffirelli's version than Branagh's. Whilst I think I have a slight preference for the 'theatrical' way Branagh delivers 'To be or not to be', I also really liked Gibson's version. That is not to say Branagh does not have his merits. His delivery of the soliloquies seems so much more natural and unforced and lacking in artifice relative to Branagh's more theatrical performance. I enjoyed how unpretentious his Hamlet seemed compared to, say, Kenneth Branagh's, who hams it up quite a lot in his 1996 film version. That said, I think Gibson put in an impressive performance. Hamlet is effectively foil-less in this version, and it's a shame. The whole subplot with Fortinbras is cut out, and Claudius in particular is a much diminished figure in this, as is Laertes, who comes close to being forgettable.

I think the cuts that were made meant a tighter focus on the character of Hamlet than in the full, unabridged version, in which the other characters are fleshed out more, but it also meant that the character of Hamlet felt less developed in its turn, since Hamlet can only be fully understood in relation to all the other characters, major and minor, in the play.

My main gripe is a lot was cut out, but even so, I think the filmmakers did their very best to be faithful notwithstanding. I've just watched Frank Zeffirelli 1991 Hamlet.

Mel gibson hamlet full movie