Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0030306105390
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Label: MPI Home Video
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 2.0 StereoEnglishPublishedDolby Digital 2.0 StereoFrenchPublishedDolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Manufacturer: MPI Home Video
MPN: D1053D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MPI Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 15, 2007
Running Time: 150 minutes
Studio: MPI Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: March 11, 1964

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com essential video:
Made in 1964, but set in 12th-century England, this is the fact-based story of Henry II (Peter O'Toole) and his dear friend, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Richard Burton). When the king appoints his former drinking buddy to the high religious office, he believes he has placed an ally into power. Instead, he learns that Thomas very much takes his job to heart, prompting Henry to ask that fateful question--"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

This won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, and it is a strong example of finely tuned performances--both leading men received Academy Award nominations for their roles. There is much passion and rage on the screen, but the beauty of their performances is that we always know that love is there as well. The film, shot on location in England, is also visually appealing. Trivia buffs may be interested to know that Peter O'Toole played Henry II four years later in The Lion in Winter. --Rochelle O'Gorman

On the DVD:
The primary bonus feature is a treat: a feature-length commentary by Peter O'Toole, accompanied by a moderator. With only occasional gaps of silence, the still sharp and well-spoken O'Toole recalls the making of the film, how he didn't research the historical King Henry ("The author has made the character; that's his job. My job is to play it."), and his memories of Richard Burton, both personal ("We found that we both enjoyed rugby, we both enjoyed songs, and we both enjoyed drinking, and got along very well.") and professional ("he had an astonishing presence on the stage"). There are also two archival interviews with Burton from 1967 and 1977 (26 minutes total), in which he doesn't discuss Becket, but he does say a lot about his life on stage, he recites some lines, and speaks candidly about his drinking problem.

Don't skip over the interviews with the film's editor Anne Coates and composer Laurence Rosenthal. Coates (7 minutes) has some good stories, and Rosenthal (12 minutes) discusses the influences on his Oscar-nominated score and how he had to teach Gregorian chant to Burton ("He was one of these people whom you really can't teach anything. He had this characteristic that you can only remind him of something he already knows. But he didn't know how to sing Gregorian chant."). In addition to a photo gallery and the four-and-a-half-minute theatrical trailer, MPI's long-delayed DVD looks better than many major-studio classics. --David Horiuchi

Beyond Becket

Other Peter O'Toole Films

Other Richard Burton Films

More King Henrys on DVD

Stills from Becket (click for larger image)










Rating: - highly recommended
In a few words, this movie provides a high class of acting for today's actors so they may do good in watching it before calling themselves "actors". While Thomas Becket's role played by Richard Burton is a fine performance, Peter O'Toole in his role of Henry II is just attonishing. Besides that, the movie offers an interesting and entertaining episode of the conflict between religion (and its associated morality) and politics that could easily be extended to our current times. This is the framework ... Read More

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Rating: - Arresting and Regal Medieval Spectacle
I am reminded, amid viewing the solemnity of this epic that one should never go to the movies for a history lesson.
We begin our story in the early 1170s where a procession of monks and crowds of commoners wait outside Canterbury Cathedral for the arrival of King Henry II (Peter O'Toole)to do penance at the tomb of the slain Archbishop, Thomas Becket (a classically charismatic Richard Burton, very much in his element). Dismounting from his horse, he bestrides the steps of the Cathedral, enters, ... Read More

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Rating: - Dramatic History at its Best
Another "Burton" at his best, "Becket" gives us a superb Peter O'toole as Henry II. No better acting than these two give us has Hollywood ever produced and it's all there in this increibly important film. Thought provoking and ethiically important. The comlexity of being human faces us throughout the two and a half hours. Would that Hollywood were still producing motion pictures of this quality!

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Rating: - Peter O'Toole
I love Peter O'Toole as King Henry II. Becket is great but the Lion in Winter is better. Peter plays Henry a bit mad in Becket while he played him cunning in Lion in Winter. Richard Burton also provides a fine performance as Becket. And Lion in Winter has a star cast, if not when it was made, then over time such as Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton not to mention the wonderful performance by Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

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Rating: - Excellent!
Great move for a great price. I'm a huge fan of The Lion in Winter, in which O'Toole plays the title role of Henry II. That came out in '68, but the events in Becket are about 15 years or so before TLIW. Great acting, great costuming, good play between O'Toole and Burton. If you like classic movies from the '60s, and you like O'Toole or Burton, give this one a whirl.

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