The film lacks any kind of ingenuity or identity beyond the merits of Olivier’s accomplishments. However, many still consider this to be the categorical Hamlet.

| Jun 27, 2023

When it comes to captivating filmmaking and epic scale even with limited sets, 1948's Hamlet is an honest masterpiece.

| Original Score: A | Aug 28, 2022

Though questioning eyebrows may be raised over some of the measures adopted. even those who may be inclined to take exceptions will find that the film holds their close attention.

| Aug 18, 2022

Mr. Olivier may be looked upon, after this picture, as the most distinguished actor and director in the cinematic world. He has performed a service to art that cannot be measured. He has given us a mark to aim at for the next generation.

| Aug 17, 2022

Here is Hamlet, the ghost story, the revenge plot, the action-filled melodrama, the character study, the fount of great language, the well-spring of thought... Here, in short, is one of the great movies of our day.

| Aug 17, 2022

For approximately two-and-one-half hours, Olivier and his superlative cast of actors sustain the most tense dramatic pace without hamming that I've ever seen on the screen.

| Aug 17, 2022

By the end one no longer thinks of the piece as filmed Shakespeare, but accepts it simply as a splendid production of a masterpiece.

| Aug 17, 2022

Whatever the omissions, the mutilations, the mistakes, this is very likely the most exciting and most alive production of Hamlet you will ever see on the screen.

| Jul 28, 2022

Desmond Dickenson's photography has a stern grandeur that frequently recalls Eisenstein, while William Walton's superb musical score frames the drama in terms of its own dimension.

| Jul 13, 2021

A striking achievement for an actor/director who would continue to helm and star in Shakespeare's works.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 5, 2020

No less than an Expressionist film noir version of the play.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 12, 2020

Olivier's classic Shakespeare tragedy has themes of revenge.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 14, 2020

Its alliance of literature, theatre, and art is peerless proof that the screen can be brought to treat a wild dark poem of the mind, of unseen and unseeable things, in terms that do not corrupt great thought nor stultify cinema.

| Jan 29, 2020

Add to Sir Laurence as Hamlet a cast that is equal to each role, and we have the perfect production.

| Jan 29, 2020

Olivier brings more of everything to his Hamlet, more energy, more voice, more virility, but most of all he brings to it more understanding of Shakespeare's hero.

| Jan 29, 2020

The brilliance of how Olivier has done Hamlet almost sweeps us into forgetting what he has done with it.

| Mar 15, 2019

Sir Laurence Olivier's presentation of Hamlet proves once again that it is possible to translate Shakespeare into photographic terms without losing the full flavour, the richness and dignity of its verse.

| Feb 16, 2019

Altogether Hamlet is one of the most impressive films ever made and, so far as Shakespeare's work is concerned, it need never be done again on stage nor for the screen, as the Olivier production... may stand for all time as THE Hamlet.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 23, 2016

Olivier strikes a balance between Hamlet the brooding indecisive human and Hamlet the funny, mincing stage presence. It's one of the better Hamlet performances you'll ever see.

| Feb 23, 2016

[The film] shows the range of imagination and artistic integrity which belong to all Sir Laurence Olivier's work as producer, actor and film director.

| Feb 16, 2016