The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 2, 2025

Cretins on the other side of the pond (meaning my fellow Americans) may have thrilled to the dramatics of The Hollow Crown when it was first broadcast stateside, but isn't just like those boneheaded erstwhile colonists to have only released the second set of films on Blu-rayThe Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses several years ago courtesy of home studio Universal. British fans have been considerably better served with this two volume release, one which offers the so-called Henriad (i.e., Richard II, Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II, and Henry V on four discs in the first keepcase, and The War of the Roses (which includes Henry VI, Part I, Henry VI, Part II, and Richard III) on two discs in the second keepcase. They say there's no greater challenge for an actor than a Shakespeare play, and if that challenge is arguably a bit less daunting in a film (and/or television film) production where retakes are available and other liberties with the original texts have been made, this staggering production is still a master class in acting from a litany of British greats.

The Hollow Crown covers a historical epoch ranging from roughly 1377 to 1485, and if that understandably seems like ancient history to us now, it's compelling to remember that when Shakespeare wrote the first tetralogy (interestingly, the "later" kings starting with Henry VI) "only" around a hundred years after that, beginning in the 1590s. That may not exactly qualify as "ripped from the headlines", but it also means that Shakespeare isn't revisiting even more distantly historical figures like, say, Antony and Cleopatra. That shouldn't imply that Shakespeare himself didn't take considerable artistic liberties with the actual historical record, and that tendency is probably only more apparent in the adaptations that have been done here, which involve at times considerable redaction if no cringe worthy "rewrites". This actually brings to mind a great Rod Serling penned episode of The Twilight Zone: Season 4 called "The Bard" where a time travelling Willie the Shakes tries to work for midcentury modern broadcast television, failing spectacularly. The episode has an early appearance by a young Burt Reynolds, among other pleasures.

The rejiggering is probably most evident in the aforementioned Henry VI, which is here presented in two parts than Shakespeare's original trilogy. There are manifest other differences for those wanting to follow along with their folios (so to speak), but in the long run, the changes, while certainly almost guaranteed to chafe against purist sensibilities, end up paling when stacked up against some truly ferocious performances and a rather luxe production that sees a lot of evocative location footage and resplendent sets and costumes galore.

If the marquee attractions here are arguably Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch, it's in the incredibly deep bench of the supporting cast that the plays may arguably come fully alive. The array of talent is continually impressive, offering great turns to everyone from Patrick Stewart to a kind of almost funny succession of either featured players or guest stars who traipsed through another era of British history in Downton Abbey. There's been an obvious attempt to "open up" the proceedings, which at least gets things out and about with considerable regularity, offering chances for some nice views of the land everyone is vying to control.

The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Hollow Crown is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios with AVC encoded 1080i transfers in 1.78:1. The series of films was directed by different people with different crews, and so there is perhaps an understandable heterogenous quality when watching these one after the other. Some internet sleuthing turned up the fact that, for example, Ben Smithard used the (now obsolete) Panavision Genesis for his British Society of Cinematographers Award nominated work on Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II, while Zac Nicholson reportedly used the Arri Alexa for Henry VI, Part II and Richard III. That ends up giving some of the pieces a more naturally filmic look with a more observable layer of digital grain, while others preserve a glossier, high tech digital capture appearance. Detail levels are nonetheless commendably consistent throughout the episodes, especially on close-ups which can exploit textures on sets and especially costumes. There's a prevalence of wintry outdoor material which offers some evocative vistas and moodiness. Occasional banding can be spotted during some abrupt lighting changes. The interlaced presentation didn't really offer any substantial problems that I noticed, even in some fast motion outdoor scenes.

The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The four discs in The Hollow Crown consortium offer DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options, while the two discs in The War of the Roses have DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as the sole offering. The surround tracks are nicely immersive a lot of the time, especially when things venture outdoors and ambient environmental sounds can fill the side and rear channels. As with the directors and cinematographers, a coterie of composers was involved, but underscoring also regularly penetrates the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Richard II

• Bonus (HD; 10:49) is the first of several similar officially untitled EPKs listed as Making Ofs on the back cover, all with some good interviews with several principal cast members, along with snippets from the film and behind the scenes footage.

Henry IV, Part I

• Bonus (HD; 12:10)

Henry IV, Part II

• Bonus (HD; 13:31)

Henry V

• Bonus (HD; 9:43)

The War of the Roses Disc One

• Henry VI - Part I Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:34)


• Henry VI - Part II Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:45)

The War of the Roses Disc Two

• Richard III Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:18)


• The Making of The Hollow Crown (HD; 28:11) is much more in line with the unnamed supplements mentioned above, albeit here with all the episodes aggregated under The War of the Roses' imprimatur, making the running time a good deal longer.

This is housed in two separate keepcases, which are themselves housed in a slipbox.

The Hollow Crown Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Those who have an interest in Shakespeare and who have been collecting Blu-rays for some time may recall there was a rather nice series from classical musical label Opus Arte which offered Royal Shakespeare Company productions of many plays, including the histories. Those probably give a more "accurate" accounting of the original texts, and obviously offer a more stage bound production, but for those wanting the gist of Shakespeare's work with some rather epic filmmaking touches attached, The Hollow Crown and The War of the Roses should suffice quite handily. Technical merits are generally solid and all of the Making Of supplements are enjoyable. As with many of Shakespeare's dramas, these films take a bit of patience and occasionally a dictionary and/or online reference to consult to get through, but that's part of the fun. Highly recommended.