So, my favorite Hamlet version was the first version directed by Franco Zeffirelli. From the beginning of the movie I noticed they did a great job of creating that tragic, sorrowful, dark, suspenseful setting and mood. I also think it was a great idea begin the movie at the funeral of Hamlet Sr, rather then just saying he died because the mood is set right off the bat. A funeral of a deceased king in a dark room. None of the other film versions did that. Hamlet was not a "happy" play in any way and the beginning of the movie let the anyone watching the movie aware from the start.
I also think this version did the best version of re-creating the "medieval times" setting. Hamlet was based in the time period of castles, kings and queens, armor and so on, and the 1st version did the best job of go back to that time and I think that was very important. Just by the first scene you could see that there was some tension between Hamlet and Claudius another important part of the play that was known as early in the other versions. Overall I believe the first version of Hamlet did the best job of bringing the play to life right from the beginning.
