History YMMV / RichardIII

** Although his casting as Rivers becomes somewhat HilariousInHindsight, when you consider that it means we get to see [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Magneto]] kill [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Iron Man]].

** The scene where various messengers are rushing in to give Richard information on Buckingham and Richmond can look quite ridiculous when played.

* AdvertisedExtra: Advertising for the film prominently featured Robert Downey Jr. Downey even appears prominently on the poster and DVD cover for the film, and his name receives one of the highest billings....despite the fact that he plays Rivers. While not necessarily a minor character, Rivers is at most a supporting role who dies a little before the halfway point.

** This was partly debunked / proven by the discovery of his remains, showing that he was not exactly hunchbacked but did had a bad case of scoliosis, resulting in the uneven shoulders seen in his portrait, meaning a case of both sides being somewhat correct.

** It puts into perspective why Edward was so quick to believe that his brother Clarence was prophesied to betray him- it's because [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder it wouldn't be the first time Clarence had done something like that]].

** Creator/IanMcKellen plays the titular character, who kills Creator/RobertDowneyJr[='=]s character. In other words, [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Magneto]] killed [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Iron Man]]!

* CompleteMonster: Richard III is one of the most famous examples of a HistoricalVillainUpgrade in English drama. Richard informs us early on that he is [[CardCarryingVillain determined to prove a villain and ruin the day for everyone else]]. To that end, he [[RomancingTheWidow seduces Anne Neville]], whose noble husband [[MurderTheHypotenuse he himself murdered]], with every intent of discarding her later. He has his brother George, Duke of Clarence, sent to the Tower of London and murdered, drives his older brother King Edward IV into an early grave and has Edward's two young sons imprisoned in the Tower of London, before [[WouldHarmAChild having them murdered]]. He poisons Anne herself,and even begins having his allies killed. On the night before his battle with Henry Tudor, he is visited by the spirits of his victims, who tell him to despair and die. Richard is left alone, deserted by all, and at the end, he admits that even he has nothing but hatred for himself.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The play firmly established the popular image of Richard III as a crookbacked tyrant. To the extent where he's the only king of England to have his own ''fan club'' aimed at exposing this as a case of YouFailHistoryForever (spoofed in the first series of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'', in which he really is a pleasant king who utters inverted versions of Shakespearean lines).

** Richard himself seems more like a straight-up sociopath if one takes the play as a stand-alone, but as a sequel we see that he probably sees himself as the OnlySaneMan in his family with both of his brothers being giant screw-ups in their own respective ways, endangering the dynasty while he was the one actually running the country properly, and growing increasingly frustrated with this state of affairs.

** The tensions and mixed feelings everyone has towards Queen Margaret are explainable as well- in ''Henry VI'', she is an absolutely horrible, downright evil person who abused, cheated on and bullied the husband she mourns for in this play, and killed the York brothers' father and younger brother in particularly nasty, humiliating fashion, and by an attack on their home after a peace treaty was signed no less; at the same time, Richard ruthlessly murdered her young son right in front of her without warning and [[EveryoneHasStandards this horrified the entire Yorkist faction]] and leads them to spare her life, which disgusts Richard further as he saw both of them as threats to the family.

** For instance, Richard himself seems more like a straight-up sociopath if one takes the play as a stand-alone, but as a sequel we see that he probably sees himself as the OnlySaneMan in his family with both of his brothers being giant screw-ups in their own respective ways, endangering the dynasty while he was the one actually running the country properly, and growing increasingly frustrated with this state of affairs.
** It also puts into perspective why Edward was so quick to believe that his brother Clarence was prophesied to betray him- it's because [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder it wouldn't be the first time Clarence had done something like that]].

** It also puts into perspective why Edward was so quick to believe that his brother Clarence was prophesied to betray him- it's because [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder it wouldn't be the first time Clarence had done something like this]].

* SequelDisplacement: A fairly egregious example. The fact that this is a sequel / finale to ''Theatre/HenryVI'' has been lost on both audiences and producers throughout history. Almost all of the characters in this play are originally introduced in that one, and watching ''Richard III'' by itself can actually result in some rather different interpretations of what's going on vs when the plays are watched in order as intended- for instance, Richard himself seems more like a straight-up sociopath if one takes the play as a stand-alone, but as a sequel we see that he probably sees himself as the OnlySaneMan in his family with both of his brothers being giant screw-ups in their own way, endangering the dynasty while he was the one actually running the country properly, and growing increasingly frustrated with this state of affairs. It also puts into perspective why Edward was so quick to believe that his brother Clarence was prophesied to betray him- it's because [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder it wouldn't be the first time Clarence had done something like this]].

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Once Lady Anne leaves the stage after she's agreed to marry Richard, he muses "Was ever woman in this humor wooed? Was ever woman in this humor won?" as if even ''he'' can't believe he actually pulled that off.

* EvilIsCool: Richard. Sure he might be a bastard but he owns it in such a way and has style.

** Not only that, but ''the play itself'' rebels against him. Before the murder of the princes, Richard is dazzlingly evil and full of vitality. After their murder, he loses his vitality and his way with words. Taken from him
just like *that!*.

** Not only that, but ''the play itself'' rebels against him. Before the murder of the princes, Richard is dazzlingly evil and full of vitality. After their murder, he loses his vitality and his way with words. Taken from him just like *that!*.

* MagnificentBastard: Richard.

* RootingForTheEmpire: As evil as Richard is, he's such a MagnificentBastard that it's hard not to root for him, especially in the climax of the play where his opposition is dull.

* CompleteMonster:
** Richard III is one of the most famous examples of a HistoricalVillainUpgrade in English drama. Richard informs us early on that he is [[CardCarryingVillain determined to prove a villain and ruin the day for everyone else]]. To that end, he [[RomancingTheWidow seduces Anne Neville]], whose noble husband [[MurderTheHypotenuse he himself murdered]], with every intent of discarding her later. He has his brother George, Duke of Clarence, sent to the Tower of London and murdered, drives his older brother King Edward IV into an early grave and has Edward's two young sons imprisoned in the Tower of London, before [[WouldHarmAChild having them murdered]]. He poisons Anne herself,and even begins having his allies killed. On the night before his battle with Henry Tudor, he is visited by the spirits of his victims, who tell him to despair and die. Richard is left alone, deserted by all, and at the end, he admits that even he has nothing but hatred for himself.

* AwardSnub: (Re: [[Film/RichardIII the 1995 film]]) Rumor has it Creator/IanMcKellen missed out on a Best Actor Oscar nomination by a single vote.

** In the 1995 film, besides Richard himself, [[ProfessionalKiller James Tyrell]] [[AscendedExtra plays a bigger role]] as a [[CompositeCharacter combination]] of all of Richard's assassins, thus turning into an [[AdaptationalVillainy even bigger bastard]] than he was in the original play. A cold-blooded social climber, loyal to Richard only for [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money]] and the [[AmbitionIsEvil hope of promotion]], Tyrell acts as Richard's [[PsychoForHire pet assassin]], murdering Richard's brother, George, and brother-in-law, Rivers, and hanging Lord Hastings on trumped up charges during Richard's rise to power. Following Richard's ascension to the throne, he has Tyrell—now the head of StateSec—[[WouldHurtAChild smother his child nephews]] for good measure, and when Richard's ally, Buckingham, abandons him, it is Tyrell who captures, [[ColdBloodedTorture tortures]], and ultimately strangles the duke while Richard looks on. [[LackOfEmpathy Void of all emotion]] save [[SmugSnake self-satisfaction]], Tyrell proves himself every bit as monstrous as his [[ANaziByAnyOtherName tyrannical boss]].

* {{Narm}}: Several serious scenes in the 1995 are pretty hard to take seriously. For example, the scene where the members of King Edward's family rush to his bedside... followed by Richard of Shrewsbury on his little pedal car.
** Richard III's death scene is also narmy, as he falls to his death with a massive smile on his face whilst waving to the camera with silly music playing in the background.
** The scene where various messengers are rushing in to give Richard information on Buckingham and Richmond can look quite ridiculous when played.
** Even the film's fans find that one time someone has a vision of Richard as a literal boar-faced monster ridiculous.

* {{Woolseyism}}: (Re: [[Film/RichardIII the 1995 film]]) [=McKellen=] modernized some of Shakespeare's dialogue, removing archaisms such as "thy" or "thou" and clarifying passages that relate to the ''Theatre/HenryVI'' trilogy.
* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/RobertDowneyJr. being cast as Rivers in the 1995 film. His performance doesn't help matters, as he puts little to no effort into his lines.

** This was partly debunked by the discovery of his remains, showing that he was not hunchbacked but simply had a bad case of scoliosis, resulting in the uneven shoulders seen in his portrait.

* AwardSnub: (Re: [[Film/RichardIII the 1995 film]]) Rumor has it Ian [=McKellen=] missed out on a Best Actor Oscar nomination by a single vote.

* WTHCastingAgency: Robert Downey, Jr. being cast as Rivers in the 1995 film. His performance doesn't help matters, as he puts little to no effort into his lines.

** In the 1995 film, besides Richard himself, [[ProfessionalKiller James Tyrell]] [[AscendedExtra plays a bigger role]] as a [[CompositeCharacter combination]] of all of Richard's assassins, thus turning into an [[AdaptationalVillainy even bigger bastard]] than he was in the original play. A cold-blooded social climber, loyal to Richard only for [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money]] and the [[AmbitionIsEvil hope of promotion]], Tyrell acts as Richard's [[PsychoForHire pet assassin]], murdering Richard's brother, George, and brother-in-law, Rivers, and hanging Lord Hastings on trumped up charges during Richard's rise to power. Following Richard's ascension to the throne, he has Tyrell—now the head of StateSec—[[WouldHurtAChild smother his child nephews]] for good measure, and when Richard's ally, Buckingham, abandons him, it is Tyrell who captures, [[ColdBloodedTorture tortures]], and ultimately strangles the duke while Richard looks on. [[LackOfEmpathy Void of all emotion]] save [[SmugSnake self-satisfaction]], Tyrell proves himself every bit as monstrous as his [[ANaziByAnyOtherName tyrannical boss]] (only to [[spoiler:get killed for suggesting Richard flee the battle]]).