User Reviews

A very bizarre bringing to the screen of William Shakespeare's tragic love story.

The Que family and the Capulet family have a long running hatred of one another which often results in violence. The hatred has something to do with a film company and the fact that everyone is pretty much crazy. In the middle of all of this insanity are Tromeo and Juliet, literature's most famous "star crossed" lovers that fall for each other at first sight and problems arise when they realize whose family the other belongs to.

The film follows the basic plot of the original play remarkably well and key scenes even use the original, or close to original, lines. But the infamous Troma bizarreness pervades the film from beginning to end. That makes for a movie that is definitely not for all tastes, but it is nonetheless pretty inventive. Tyrone (Tybalt in Shakespeare) has a particularly funny death scene. 7/10

Many differently edited and rated versions exist. Each contains violence, profanity, drug use, and sex, all with a big dose of bizarreness.

Romeo and Juliet, let's face it, is a silly story at its core, about two young dopey kids who live under rival tribe-gangs, and then meet and at first sight fall desperately in love. The rival-gang story might be fine enough, but the 'young-first-love' thing grows tired, at least for me, once I get past the age of reason (certain exceptions, like when Jerome Robbins adds kick-ass choreography and sings for West Side Story, or in little animated spurts, abound). So, mixing this silly story into the mix of Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz's Troma world is actually not a bad idea: lots of torpedo-the-top violence, excessive, icky almost Nickelodeon-slime-like gore, nudity and sex, and punk rock and piercings and tattoos for the characters. When there's a gang-fight here, or any kind of altercation that might result in violence, there's not only gotta be blood - severed limbs, torn and cracked skulls, maybe even the occasional mutation or radioactive penis might do the trick.

Here, it's a story told with a little more down-and-dirt grit (and coming out right around the time, intentional or not, with the Baz Luhrman Romeo + Juliet makes a terrific counterpoint for that film's unknowing stupidity). The Capulets and the Montagues were once partners in a film screening business, until Mr. Capulet screwed over Mr. Montague. Now its years later and Tromeo wants true love, as does Juliet, though they both have intended others (for Juliet, a son of a billionaire Juliet's evil father - and yes, he's evil as you will see, incestuous too). They meet at a costume party and have a dance, and right there it's love. But oh, what light on yon Plexiglas does shine! What does that mean? You'll have to see it to believe it.

Tromeo and Juliet offers up a lot of the gross-out stuff and crazy, X-rated cartoonish violence, including, a hight-light for me, a man's face stuck in a car window as it drives at top speed and then being flung to a fire hydrant. Ouch. But it also has James Gunn as writer and (un-official-but-really-was-co) director of the film, and it's fascinating to see after Slither and Super to see that his mark is on it: the film is more disturbing than one might expect from the crude but playful Kaufman, such as the 'black room' with the Plexiglas Capulet has, and some of the more crazy sexual dialog (though some of it is still Troma-light, like when Juliet calls a phone sex line just cause a picture she sees in the ad looks like Tromeo... and the guy on the other end is a 400 pound guy eating a pizza while he sex talks!) You gotta know, this is not your grand-daddy's R&J; this isn't even Abel Ferrara's 80's rock take China Girl. This is a beast of true B to maybe Z grade coverage of the story, with Lemmy from Motorhead as narrator, and, I should note, lots and lots of sex (though some semi-sweet romance midway through too). It's outrageous, it's stupid, it's childish, offensive, disgusting, maybe pornographic in its fetishizing of special effects and the same car crash footage used in every other Troma feature. But it's fun, and it knows it, and that's what counts here. It's all of a piece, to put it another way, even as certain pieces may fall flat or just astound with how bad the acting is or how obvious a stunt is (or, yeah, a boom mic in a few shots).

TROMEO AND JULIET (3+ outta 5 stars)

Well, you gotta give this movie points for sheer nerve, if nothing else. Basing a low budget sex-and-violence schlock-fest on one of the greatest Shakespearean romances... it's probably not one of the best ideas ever. But, you know what? It works! Not for everyone, mind you... you need to have a high tolerance for sick humour, bloody special effects, gratuitous nudity and Shakespearean soliloquies. Actually they trimmed a lot of the William S. dialogue after test audiences didn't approve (go figure)... but the plot is still the same. Tromeo and Juliet, belonging to two different families with a lot of bad blood between them, meet and fall in love and decide to go against their families' wishes and be together. Tragedy and violence follow... as well as copious amounts of sleaze. I've seen a few movies from Troma Pictures and they are all basically the same... but I think this is probably their best effort.

Tromeo And Juliet is a funny movie. It's a good movie. It's a cool movie. And even a perverted and violent movie. But above all it is a weird movie. Bill Shakespere wouldn't just roll over in his grave if he saw this he'd probably spin like a top. There's a lot to be said for a movie that has a person in the credits under the title "stunt nipple". The found a peanut bouncing head is hilarious, but not as funny as the guy picking up his brain and futily trying to put it back in his head while crying. The religious hymn of "Job We Gather At The River" each time someone dies brings happy recollections of the opening moments in The Wild Bunch. This is definately a good movie. Watch it sober your first time around however.

Lloyd Kaufman isn't exactly a household name. Known largely for his production company Troma Productions and the cult favorite Toxic Avenger (1984), I doubt even movie historians and supposed bastions of good taste have ever heard of him. This is largely because his films don't cater to general audiences, nor does he cater to critics. Lloyd Kaufman and his set of dream makers make films for a small but steadily growing population of fans who have grown to admire his low-brow approach to entertainment. I am one of those fans.

I became a Kaufman acolyte after watching his 2006 Troma release Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. It was a movie with so many grotesque but highly entertaining set-pieces all done with reverence towards the Rob Bottin/Stan Winston School of special effects. After watching it I immediately became interested in his filmography and sat back to watch The Toxic Avenger which was a bit of a let down but nevertheless a strong feature. Recently I watched my third helping of Kaufman's madness while staying the night at a friend of a friend's house.

Tromeo and Juliet is a grungy, perverted and comic retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet tale by William Shakespeare. Two young, star-crossed lovers from feuding families, the Montague and the Capulet, fall in love and get into a whole heap of trouble as they try to love one another in a world that forbids it. Oh and in the end they die. At least in the original they do. I tell you this because if you haven't read the play, seen the play or seen an adaptation in any medium then you deserve to have it spoiled. In the case of Tromeo and Juliet, the set up is about the same.

Juliet is a member of the Capulet clan while Romeo, or rather Tromeo (get it?), is part of the Que clan. This is when things get funky. The Capulets are no strangers to incestuous love as proved in the first scene when Sammy (Sean Gunn) tries to get in the pants of his sister Georgie (Tamara Marie Watson). Juliet (Jane Jensen) is no prude herself and rolls in the hay with her lesbian lover the nursemaid Ness (Debbie Rochon) on a regular basis. But she is only a distraction from the cruel family patriarch Cappy Capulet (William Beckwith) and homicidal butcher London (Steve Gibbons), both of which want to get with her. In comes Tromeo (Will Keenan), son of Monty Que (Earl McKoy) the man robbed from the profits of Capulet's porn distribution racket. He goes to a Capulet party with his floozy girlfriend and best friend Murray (Valentine Miele) but catches the eye of Juliet and thus their romance and a lot of gore and hilarity begins.

In many ways Tromeo and Juliet plays Shakespeare much like it was probably played in the 16th century. Back then the theater wasn't a refined spectacle where people were ushered to their seats, sat on their thumbs and politely applauded when the lights turn dim. No the Elizabethan theatre as it were, was noisy, grungy and even deadly. Playwrights would consider it a compliment if the audience managed to shut up for a scene or two. Otherwise the public would throw tomatoes, chant, yell and chastise any performances that didn't appeal. Thank of that next time you see a person's face dimly lit by the light of their iphone.

Tromeo and Juliet brings the story back where it belongs; to the masses and for that reason is probably the best film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet I have seen. That's right; it's all leading up to that statement right there. For the cheap seats; I think this is the best film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet I have seen! It doesn't help that I'm not a big fan of the story to begin with but what's not to love about an adaptation that has someone break their head open on a fire hydrant? There's blood, mayhem, humor and cheap, cheap sex in this salacious re-imagining and there are just enough changes in the plot to both appeal to Shakespeare originalists and people who aren't fans of ionic pentameter.

Of course this movie is not for anyone. If you're squeamish when faced with an actual nipple being pierced in a close-up or offended by salty language don't watch anything Troma. Yet when I look back at my time in theater and the colorful, bawdy people I knew and called my friends, I can't think of one who wouldn't enjoy Tromeo and Juliet. In my opinion, Baz Luhrmann can eat his heart out.

http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com

Lloyd Kaufman and James Gunn give Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers the Troma treatment, infusing the bard's play with the studio's trademark brand of gross-out gags, cartoonish violence, and sex and nudity. The result is typically tasteless and extremely juvenile, with wee, poo, fart, and penis jokes aplenty, but it also manages to be a surprisingly fun slice of nonsense, Kaufman and Gunn melding their lunacy with Shakepeare's prose to form a script that will delight Troma fans while somehow still managing to keep the whole affair surprisingly faithful to the original (at least until the ending).

Okay, Shakespeare probably didn't envisage Lemmy from Motorhead as narrator of his work, nor is it likely that he ever anticipated the addition of a kiddie-fiddling priest, Juliet (the lovely Jane Jensen) making it with (T)Romeo inside a Plexiglas box, or a mutant cow/Juliet equipped with a massive schlong, but he wasn't above using vulgar tactics of his own, as evidenced by the gore-fest that is Titus Andronicus, the incestuous nature of both Pericles and Hamlet, and the countless crude sexual innuendos in his other plays. In short, I like to think Will would have appreciated Kaufman and Gunn's efforts to please their audience.

The title of this says it all. I think it's very rare that Troma churns out anything that isn't complete garbage. This movie still is garbage but it has a bit more to it than just being offensive for the hell of it. I had a good time watching it because I wasn't expecting a masterpiece or anything of the sort. It's just an entertaining piece of Troma trash with a little bit of heart.

The acting sucks, as usual with a few exceptions. I liked the Romeo and Juliet update for the most part but some of it didn't seem to add up for me. I think it may have been better if the movie would have just gone for its own story rather than trying to base it on Shakespeare's play, but it still works pretty well. I thought the direction was poor but let's face it, Lloyd Kaufman really doesn't know what he's doing, but he does know how to entertain and that's what he did with this movie.

If you decide to sit through Tromeo and Juliet, expect a good time but not anything spectacular. You should have fun.

I've recently became curious about the Troma film industry. I wanted to keep an open mind to its quirky, crude, tasteless, brainless, gratuitous, violent, disgusting style (if you can call it that). These are the type of movies that make great cult flicks. And I have nothing against cult flicks, in general, but this one wasn't completely...up to my taste.

There's lots of nudity and gratuitous violence. There's a steamy lesbian sex scene which is worth rewinding and hitting the slo-mo button on your remote. You can tell this movie was going straight towards "guilty pleasure" territory. However, half of the scenes in the movie are so repulsive, ugly and vomit-inducing that I had a hard time pleading guilty. This is sick, twisted entertainment that is DEFINITELY not for all tastes!

I have to admit I laughed at some scenes, was stimulated by gratuitous nudity and just found some portion of the movie to be oddly appealing. I can't help but appreciate a movie that's different. I'm tired of seeing this standard mainstream Hollywood crap, and I crave for originality--but "Tromeo and Juliet" just doesn't the type of originality I crave. It doesn't have that "Seinfeld" show-about-nothing type of originality. It has that sick, David Lynch type of originality, sometimes used as an excuse to display the evil fantasies that lurk deep down inside and express them on screen. The effects are generally gross--though obviously fake--and the humor is generally stupid--and not the "funny stupid."

I'm sure I'll get fried by the Troma Fans Union of America, but if you pay close attention to my review--like you should--I'm NOT panning this movie on account of EVERYBODY on the face of this Earth. I'm saying what I THINK, and as far as I know--that's the intent of these message boards.

Troma fans will love this movie! Others...beware!

My score: 4 (out of 10)

Once upon a time, Troma, the company that brought us cinema classics such as: The Toxic Avenger, Rabid Grannies, Poultrygeist, Redneck Zombies and Surf Nazis Must Die, decided long ago to adapt Shakespeare's famous play, 'Romeo and Juliet.' This adaptation decided to spice up the story by adding kinky sex, extreme violence, genital monsters, body piercing and incest and it succeeded in creating a bizarre yet hilarious film. Anyone going into a Troma production should know what to expect, and that is irreverent and perverse comedy with plenty of political incorrectness. Expect plenty of nods to other Troma films and plenty of re-used gags (flipping cars and head squashing). Many may think it sounds like utter crap that only morons would find funny...they may be right, but at the same time they may need to lighten up and enjoy the insanity and mind-numbingness that is Tromeo and Juliet.

With a great cast, a funny script (by James Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman), a fitting soundtrack and plenty of great visual gags, Kaufman has yet again succeeded in turning what is right upside down and grossing the hell out of everyone. Get some popcorn, grab a beer, invite your friends over and enjoy Tromeo and Juliet for what it is, a Shakespeare adaptation with plenty of balls. The end.

4/5

A Shakespeare film provided by Troma entertainment? That is certainly something to rouse one's curiosity. And, hey, there is Debbie Rochon, although not the most skintastic babe in the movie, it is always good to see her.

Yes, there is plenty of skin in this wacky tale, starting with Juliet (Jane Jensen) getting it on with Ness (Rochon), but Jensen will provide much more later in a popcorn moment. Bon appeTiT! Of course, skin is featured on movies and TV shows within the movie numerous times. I wonder what happened to Jacqueline Tavarez, who only appeared here. What a performance! But enough about skin, The movie has much more. There is murder, mayhem, and disgustingly bloody bits. Just what you would expect in Shakespeare, but left out for gentile audiences. Of course, there are also scenes I would never expect in Shakespeare. Ugh! It certainly makes Shakespeare more interesting.

The plot is ridiculous. The acting is bad. The effects are fake. The music is horrible. The chicks show tits, but the guys no dicks (if the monster dick doesn't count). They even throw in a kick-ass Juliet and a lesbian sex scene, just for good measure. Basically it has something for everybody who can appreciate some real quality garbage.

Right now, I could waste a few paragraphs describing the 110-minute insanity fest that is Lloyd Kaufman's "Tromeo and Juliet," but I'll put it like this: they don't get any better than this! This film is offensive and moves at an exhilarating, break-neck pace that never lets up once things get going. Kaufman of course is the president of Troma Entertainment with Michael Herz as his veep. Together they've produced and/or directed b-level schlock that's plentiful in atrocious acting, graphic violence/gore, and sex within the last 30 years. They've influenced the likes of Peter Jackson ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Dead Alive"), Trey Parker (co-creator of television's "South Park"), Quentin Tarantino and one Troma alumni, James "Dawn of the Dead remake" Gunn, headed out on his own earlier this year with his directorial debut "Slither." Troma finally hit pay-dirt with "The Toxic Avenger" in 1985 and seemed to reach a level of "respectibility" with 1996's "Tromeo and Juliet," a modern-day punk retelling of William Shakespeare's classic tragedy. The action has been moved from Verona to New York, with Tromeo (Will Keenan) and Juliet (Jane Jensen), the offspring of rival families, meeting at a costume party and hitting it off immediately (and I use "hitting it off" loosely). This retelling is stock plentiful in sex, body piercing, incest and incredibly graphic violence to drive home the point that once again, Troma Entertainment is strictly for adults. I'll admit I know a great deal about Troma but have seen very few of their films. Their style is unique in that they don't much give a damn about the audience, other than shunning political-correctness in favor of shock & awe. The humor is very offensive (whoever thought to use incest as a punch-line needs counseling), so don't be shocked too much. So, if "The Toxic Avenger" is the Citizen Kane of bad movies, then what does this say about "Tromeo and Juliet"?

10/10

Can this really be a Troma movie? Some scenes almost have an "A" movie look. The acting is generally competent (the two leads and the nurse-surrogate were especially good, and I liked some of the confrontations between the young Capulets and Ques); the scenes were smoothly edited; the plot is coherent. It's funny. It has a hip, original sound track.

It does have the usual Troma gross-outs and low humor, but I don't think Shakespeare would have minded so much. In fact, I think he might have gotten a few good laughs out of this.

It's a good DVD. There is an alternate sound track with a very informative commentary by the director, several deleted scenes, and the usual collection of Troma self-deprecating silliness.

I'm not going to tell you this was Citizen Kane, but it is some pretty inspired low-budget filmmaking.

This isn't the worst Troma film I've seen. It was better than Surf Nazis Must Die! but no where near the caliber of Toxic Avenger or Nukem' High. It only has a little nudity and only one good sex scene so I'd say skip this flick if you're looking for cheap thrills. You know the story, the special effects are par for an 80's B movie and the laughs are far and few between. I found myself distracted during this movie and kept checking the clock to see if it was almost over yet. Not the worst flick I've sat through but I won't be watching this again. Skip the popcorn and save the beer because even though this movie is available to watch right now from streaming Netflix it ranks too low on the T&A scale for me to recommend.

I know very little of Shakespeare's personality, so I haven't a clue as to how he would've felt had he seen this masterfully perverse retelling of his work. I don't much care either. I firmly believe he would have liked this one better than the Leo and Claire version. I also firmly believe that Troma will never cease to amaze us all. Every time they make a film they work with a budget smaller than the life-savings of a third-world peasant, and the cast is dominated by more amateur actors than a school play, and yet, the film flows smoother than wine, and the performances are like platinum. Troma will likely never be surpassed in terms of cult following with a feel that is endearingly John Watersesque. If you like Troma, don't pass this up. If you've never seen Troma, let this be your first. If you hate Troma, then s***w ya.

This outlandish Troma movie is actually a very good movie. It is known as their epic and best and most highly rated production. Their version of Shakespeare's play is extremely funny with the usual dose of Troma nudity and gore. Troma has made some very good gore films, one of my favorites is "Street Trash" and of course the Toxic Avenger movies. I have one Troma movie, "Terror Firmer", which has a reputation as their goriest and nastiest movie. I enjoyed "Tromeo and Juliet" so much, that I need to finally watch "Terror Firmer". This is a 2-disc Collector's version with four commentaries and many many features. "Tromeo and Juliet" is an absolute hoot and highly recommended.

I gave it a 3 for adaptation effort and another 3 for being the precursor for Waking Dead.

Three for human characters, another three for zombies acting, or were those the Thespians? I meant actors. Were those actors? I'm just so traumatized.

But it was fun, like a car chase, waiting for the accident to happen.

Honestly, there's still working actors from this film. Tiffany Sheppis, still Hot. Ron Jeremy. Enough Said.

We really need a TJ2.

If only for more pop-corn fun.

If we were drunk.

The first episode of Peacemaker has been released. And what better way to prepare for it than to watch the first film written, and partly directed, by James Gunn? Grotesque, violent, sometimes funny and, above all, even if at first glance it may not seem so, full of heart and respect for Shakespeare.

È uscito il primo episodio di Peacemaker. E quale modo migliore di prepararsi alla visione che guardare il primo film sceneggiato, e in parte diretto, da James Gunn? Grottesco, violento, a tratti divertente e, sopratutto, anche se ad una prima visione non può sembrare, pieno di cuore e rispetto per Shakespeare.

Troma Pictures are an acquired taste, and this one, an 'adaptation' of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman, is no exception.

You want suicidal squirrels? Plexiglass cages? Bad, bad, acting? Bad, bad, bad, dialogue? Scenes and situations of excruciatingly poor taste? Lemmy as narrator? Gory deaths? Loud music which jars on the nerves? Silly jokes involving phalluses, toilets, and bondage? Then this will be a real treat for you. For the rest of us, who hoped and prayed that nothing could be worse than The Toxic Avenger, here is something closer to the bottom of the barrel.

This movie is truly unique. It really captures the spirit of the play, but makes it entertaining to the modern generation. The romance between Tromeo and Juliet was believable, and erotic, not pulled off by many adaptations. It is also so funny I was almost crying with laughter.

Like with most Troma its in your face, taboo subjects, gore and sex, and yet add in some really good acting and a Shakespeare plot. You really have to see this movie to believe it!

There are some hillarious jokes in the credits (best credits I've seen since Hot Shots) loads of Troma in jokes as well as general satire and shakespeare refs. And Lemmy from the house of Motorhead narrates. I lent this movie to a friend and had an almost impossible job of getting it back. Troma at its best, this film really is a gem, and goes in my top 5 favourite movies of all time.

Though its not the sort of film you'd watch with your mum, and might offend some people. For anybody bored with run of the mill cinema, with a wacky sense of humour you MUST SEE THIS FILM.

Unlike most Troma films this one features decent acting and production values. It drifts into the realm of B-Movie campness with a penis monster and prosthetic limbs being pulled off. It's pretty much what I imagine the punk rock version of Romeo and Juliet being. I wonder if it was a response to Baz Luhrmann's version. Lloyd Kaufman has said in his book that he considers this to be the second best adaptation after Zefferelli's film. Honestly I would rather watch this than Romeo + Juliet, but we are comparing apples to oranges. However, if you want to watch a Romeo and Juliet film avoid the BBC Version it's indescribably dull, but authentic to its source material. Unlike most Troma films the soundtrack is also decent on this one with the use of some licensed music (Unsane, Motörhead, Ass Ponys).

Be warned though, the UK VHS and DVD is rated 18 and the US uncut version is unrated, This features some gore and a lot of sexual content, albeit played for laughs. The US DVD features a great print as did the UK VHS tape (and clean stereo sound) I used to own.

As much as I enjoyed watching this movie, it isn't a very good one. I enjoyed the way that the movie played with Romeo and Juliet and I appreciate the stylistic choices, but in the end the movie just fell flat.

Although the characters and storyline are essentially the same, the movie has very little semblance to the parent script. Peppering the script with lines from the Bard's work, the movie is giving a little wink-wink, nudge- nudge to the audience. In fact, Tromeo watches Shakespearean porn. Although some audience members will not know exactly why the porn disks are punny, they will laugh because the reference is clear. From any perspective the porn disks are meant to reference Shakespeare.

It's fun, but not fun enough to watch again.

Tromeo and Juliet (1996) is another jewel in the Troma Studios film archives. Like The Toxic Avenger, Troma's War, Class of Nuke 'em High, Terror Firmer and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. this film is an instant Troma classic. James Gunn updates Romeo and Juliet taking a medieval tragedy and reinvision's it as a modern day street punk drama. If you have seen or read the play before nothing much has change except it has been "tromatized".

Lloyd Kaufman adds his own twisted vision to the screenplay and makes it highly enjoyable film. The actors handle the script very well. I was surprised by how well they performed the dialog, a lot better than some Hollywood big budgeted actors utilizing a monstrous budget and expensive sets. I enjoyed this movie very much. Lloyd Kaufman doesn't disappoint because you know what to expect from his films and other Troma productions. I would rather watch one of his films and be entertained than watch an boring expensive movie with pampered over paid actors, lame scripts, lazy directors and those awful C.G.I. special effects.

I highly recommend this movie. If you like fun films with cheesy special effects, over the top acting and inspired directing, then this movie's just for you!

ah man this movie was funny as hell, yet strange. i like how they kept the shakespearian language in this movie, it just felt ironic because of how idiotic the movie really was. this movie has got to be one of troma's best movies. highly recommended for some senseless fun!