Branagh stars as the title character in one of his finest performances, but as a director, it's a miracle the picture came out as good as it did. Branagh had just finished producing and directing Henry V for the London stage when the opportunity to turn it into a motion picture presented itself.

Having directed nothing but the stage, Branagh was unsure of himself, but he took to the task. He began making visual mistakes immediately, starting with the first day of shooting. No one said a word, cause they considered him the Orson Welles of Shakespeare material. That is until his script suprervisor girl came up to him and asked if he even had a clue about the series of shots he was setting up.

Branagh admitted he was new to the process and asked what she noticed he was doing wrong. His biggest mistakes were, he would consistent break the 180-degree rule of shooting. This is where two characters in a scene are shot from angles within the same 180-degree plane. Branagh was shooting all over the set and would have confused the viewer.

Nervous he would make the same mistake again, Branagh decided to select tracking and steadycam shots as often as he could, so the camera was rolling constantly where ever it moved and wouldn't be breaking the 180-degree plane. This is how Branagh's visual style was born for every movie he did after "Henry V."

The production and costume designs on this picture are awesome, which warrented a costuming Oscar® to Phyllida Law, mother of two time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson, who was Branagh's wife at the time.

Thompson also appears in the picture as King Henry's love interest Katherine of France, daughter to the French king. She didi great, only speaking in French until her final courtship scene.

The picture has a great grabber, but a horrible follow up scene. The grabber is Derek Jacobi in a trenchcoat as the play's chorus, setting the scene. The scene that follows is two priests talking politics, which suddenly starts dragging the movie down.

However, things pick up again when the King enters and we meet the members of his court, including Brian Blessed (Much Ado About Nothing) as the captain of his gaurds.

The flashbacks throughout the picture with Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter movies) were confusing and I still don't know what it had to do with the story of Henry V, except that Coltrane's character was a part of Henry's youth, but I couldn't catch how. Shakespeare's dialogue, which Branagh stays true to, is obnoxiously poetic and almost impossible to follow, even though its being performed in a modern fashion as Branagh's Bard films are.

The best part of the movie was the Battle of Ashencourt, where the English had severely less numbers than the French, but still managed to power through the French lines and break all their ranks. The battle was very historically accurate including the English laying down blankets of arrows to cut the French numbers down before actually charging. Historians say it was the arrow assault that won the English that war.

It was great to see a medevial battle shot in slow motion, rather than jumpy hand held cinematography, another credit to Branagh being audience conscious of his shot selections. The slow motion was an awesome effect, especially with the rain and mud which actors endured.

Overall, the picture is awesome and educational, but it gets very Shakespeare in spots. Branagh left in most of the key elements to the story, so it's easier than watching the stageplay. It's a good adaptation with a far better flow than its original material.