I was very intrigued when watching the two nickelodeons of the famous play, Shakespeare's Macbeth. Hollywood's take on the two movies were different, but yet the same. Even comparing the text to the movies, they were very similar. Both movies had the same speech as each other and the same words as the original play. The main difference of the two is the setting. The one is set to copy the play as best as it possibly could and the other is set to be in a WWII setting. Another main difference that really stood out to me would be king Duncan. The movie that did its' best to copy the play, portrayed king Duncan to be a saint. He seemed defenseless and could hardly stand up on his own, having to be carried everywhere he went. It was hard to believe that a man this fragile could start a war and hold up against rebels. The the second movie Duncan was a strong general and fierce leader that still cared much for his solders. One last difference that stood out to me was the three sisters. In movie one, -again the one that did its best to resemble the play- the three sisters were screaming banshees that chanted spells and drooled on each other. The WWII sisters were very mysterious and dark. They were dressed as nurses in a dirty hospital for the war. You really would not want these nurses helping you, for they took the lives of their patients and then ripped out their hearts for spells or witchcraft. As much as I would like to say the Macbeth movie with the screaming banshees that drooled on each other was my favorite, I am going to say that the WWII Macbeth was my favorite. This is most likely to be others pick between the two too. This movie catches today's audience more than the other movie, with better affects, better filming, and pretty much better everything. I would actually recommend this movie to watch personally; Though knowledge of the Macbeth play is needed, or the Shakespearean language must be known for the passage is hard to understand and follow along with.
