You watched Hamlet instead of I-know-what?! I am surprised and
gratified since I don't watch I-know-what either.

Interesting that you mention high school and Hamlet. You see,
it was a highschool event that introduced me to Shakespeare. At the
time a well-known tv personality named Clifton Fadiman made a film
for teachers on Hamlet. My Hs friend's mother was the teacher who
had this show. What it did was have Fadiman take the viewer through
Hamlet as a detective story-- something a kid could understand. I pretty much got hooked on it from then on and even pursued theatre studies for a time.

I have seen pretty much all the Hamlets. That, as Walter
Brennan used to say is, "No brag, just fact." (cf "The Guns of
Will Sonnet").

I'd have to go back to the Lethal Weapon one but I recall that
it was a pretty weak Hamlet compared to the Kenneth Brannaugh one.

Perhaps you will see another Hamlet to compare and contrast (?)

Right now there is a "Merchant of Venice" in the theatres with
one of the Corleone clan playing Shylock. Thankfully, it isn't
James Caan.

I'm doing this from memory but I think Alan Bates was the Laertes.

And yes, I sort of forgot about the John Daly show even though I
grew up with it.

For a different take on all this, go see if there's a copy
of Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead" over your
way. It's a film that's available on vhs etc. Stoppard does his
play from the POV of R&G. This woulkd put you in mind of the
Absurd.

One of the big criticisms of MG and many others in the role is
that Hamlet is a student on vacation from Wittenberg. So these
old farts going "Words words words" is most often a stretch of the
imagination.

I spoze a really new twist on this would be to have a
Holden Caulfield-type Hamlet showing the angst of youth in all
this. I think what holds directors back from casting like this are
the Gertrude scenes. They tried it in this one but it didn't work:

• Ethan Hawke Hamlet yuck