Mr. Otter and I love Shakespeare, and this is one of the best. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in it, with a great cast (Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi as the narrator, Brian Blessed, Robbie Coltrane, Judy Dench, Ian Holm and a very young Christian Bale as the boy. Among others.)

This is a bare-bones version, with a lot of the extraneous stuff cut out, and to good purpose. Branagh shows us what's going on instead of talking about it, including some short scenes from Henry IV to give context to his relationships with Falstaff, Pistol, Nym and Bardolph. The costumes and scenery are excellent, and using the narrator as a way to cut between locations (instead of saying, Oh, here we are in France now) works very well.

All the actors are, of course, wonderful, especially the lack of Lawrence Olivier. I'm always pleased that they don't translate Emma Thompson's scenes, which are in French, and which give a good seasoning to the rest of the play. The high-powered acting talent does not overwhelm the rest of the movie, and Branagh certainly makes a convincing Henry, forced to prove that he's worthy of being king and hsving to fight a battle that he, and everyone else, thinks he's going to lose ignominiously.

Not only good Shakespeare, but good Shakespeare for both those who are, and aren't, already familiar with this play. Thoughtful, interesting, beautifully filmed, worthy of inclusion on anyone's DVD shelf.