"Puts the LIT in english literature!" hayley, Letterboxd (2015)

"Zum Glück scheint Shakespeares Name im Filmtitel auf, sonst hielte man die Eröffnungsszenen für "Quentin Tarantinos Romeo and Juliet". Kein Dialog, nur Schüsse, als zwei Familien-Gangs – die Montagues und die Capulets (jede hat ihren Namen als Leuchtschrift auf ein Hochhaus gesetzt) – in den Krieg ziehen. Willkommen im mythischen Verona Beach, wo Banden aufeinander schiessen und Soldaten aus Helis auf sie feuern. ... Die rabiate Extravaganz von Luhrmanns Vision, bemerkenswert untermalt von Kym Barretts Kostümen und Catherine Martins Ausstattung, soll "Romeo and Juliet" für die schwer fassbare Generation X zugänglich machen, ohne dass das Stück dabei zensiert und zerstört wird. ... Wie Zeffirelli kürzt auch Luhrmann den Text, aber auf weniger schädigende Weise. Er will uns nicht von den Worten ablenken wie Zeffirelli, sondern uns zu ihnen hinführen. Und in DiCaprio und Danes, die unwiderstehlich spielen, hat er zwei Darsteller gefunden, die jung genug sind, um diese Rollen zu spielen, und genügend Talent haben, um ihnen gerecht zu werden. Sie sprechen die Verse so natürlich, dass deren Sinn rüberkommt." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone (1996)

"I know u all love pretending Shakespeare would have hated this film but consider this............ you're wrong!" Ellie, Letterboxd (2014)

"Accurate Iambic pentameter, guns drawn with the swoosh of a sword, bright colors, Hawaiian shirts, Ross & Monica Gellar's mom, and Radiohead – ROMEO + JULIET brings Verona into 90s LA and Luhrmann brings the four hundred and twenty eight year old spectacle to a whole new stage, the silver screen.
Most folks introduction to the source material is in middle school and if your teacher put on this version, you lucked out with an educator who really understood the youths of the day. And if you, like me, can’t help but turn every het couple on screen into a sapphic one, baby Leo made it quite easy for us.
ROMEO + JULIET is a film that makes me want to write a film analysis paper and re-listen to Halsey’s sophomore album. It’s art that inspires art, and I hope that in this being my staff pic you too will go out and make some art.
You can’t help but love watching these star-crossed lovers die all over again." IFC Film Center

"'Dost thou get it?' asked the TV commercials for director Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET in the fall of 1996. For millions of young moviegoers, the answer was definitely yes: they were spellbound by the allure of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes (both so amazingly young and fresh-faced!) as Shakespeare's star-crossed couple.
Most viewers also enjoyed Luhrmann's wildly outside-the-box depiction of the Capulets and the Montagues as feuding mafia-style families in violent Verona Beach, where gangsters and hipsters rule the bullet-riddled streets. Five years before "Moulin Rogue!", Luhrmann introduced the world to his pop-operatic style, incorporating gorgeous visuals, stunning sets, and modern hits like the Cardigans' "Lovefool," club classics like Kym Mazelle's cover of "Young Hearts Run Free," and even a choral version of Prince's "When Doves Cry" into his romantic tapestry. This was a far cry from the stuffy, stilted Shakespeare most of us snoozed through in school; even if you couldn't understand every phrase, Luhrmann made sure you got the meaning.
The movie was an international hit, and DiCaprio and Danes – both better known for their TV appearances than their movies at this point – would, of course, go on to have extraordinary careers. Twenty years later, ROMEO + JULIET remains one of the liveliest, most imaginative, and surprisingly moving interpretations of the Bard ever to hit the screen." Alamo Drafthouse Cinema