Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffry Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton
Studio: Universal Studios
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release: February 5th 2008

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DVD Review

Academy AwardŽ winners Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush join Academy AwardŽ nominee Clive Owen in a gripping historical thriller full of suspense intrigue and adventure!When Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by ruthless familial betrayal and Spain's invading army she and her shrewd advisor must act to safeguard to the lives of her people. But when a dashing seafarer Walter Raleigh captures her heart she is forced to make her most tragic sacrifice for the good of her country.Elizabeth: The Golden Age tells the thrilling tale of one woman's crusade to control her love destroy her enemies and secure her position as a beloved icon of the western world.System Requirements:Running Time: 115 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/HISTORICAL EPIC Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025193333223 Manufacturer No: 61033332

User Reviews

Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen - Rating: 5/5

Our fascination with British history continues as we watched the gorgeous sequel to Elizabeth I, "The Golden Years." Elizabeth I lived from September 7th, 1533 until March 24th, 1603. She was called "The Virgin Queen" and was the fifth and last person to reign from the Tudor dynasty.

Elizabeth I, masterfully played by Cate Blanchett, is more moderate than her father. The movie continues to create great suspense as we learn more about the latter years of her reign. Her loyal aide Walsingham, played in grand style by Geoffrey Rush, continues to help the monarch to uncover every plot to destroy her reign and Elizabeth is able to check mate all attempts against her.

The extra features provide interviews with the producer and we learn that Shekhar Kapur added amazing detail to provide authenticity as to the battle between England and Spain, and they build a ship that is half Armada, half British, then PC replicated, providing awesome battle scenes. The architecture and decorations of the time are exquisite, filming where construction is actually taking place, and dressing in period clothing all construction workers, so the reality is magnificent.

In this film we see a monarch that is now experienced but confronting great challenges because her Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart is after her throne and upon her death, Spain sees the opportunity to attack England under the disguise that she has executed an anointed queen. We see the relationship the queen has with Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Clive Owen, who brings unique gifts from the new discovered lands of Virginia, named in honor of the Queen. His masterful knowledge of the seas provides great insight to Elizabeth during the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

One of the most spectacular scenes is where the Queen is on her horse, encouraging the people of England to fight to death if necessary to keep England free from foreign domination. As with the first installment, Elizabeth is simply superb, don't miss seeing this movie!


Completely Inaccurate. More Hollywood than History - Rating: 1/5

This was awful! The only redeeming value to this mess was the visuals. The costumes and sets look nice, but that's it! This movie was COMPLETELY inaccurate! It completely cuts Robert Dudley out of the story, even though he didn't die until after the battle with the armada. Where was Francis Drake? He harried the Spaniards more than Raleigh ever did and he's missing from the story as well (he also circumnavigated the globe, which made him a national hero). And the Spaniards weren't intercepting Mary Queen of Scots letters at all, Walsingham was too clever for that. Is it so much to ask that movies like this acutaully have some semblence of truth to them?

Poor history, nice visuals - Rating: 2/5

Costumes were beautiful, Blanchett was worth watching most of the time & other actors were pretty decent, but the history sucked and for such a strong female character, they sure made her look petty & idiotic at times. Also, why do so many movies turn Spain into the evil character? The portrayal of King Phillip was pretty absurd & really made the movie laughable. (the movie Amistad really used Spain as a scapegoat, too, when England did it's fair share in the slave trade.) Elizabeth I had a lot more to her life, boiling it down to just a bad romance is a pretty big disservice.

The 3 star folks capture it - Rating: 3/5

But boy what a shame. The splendid (no, unbelievable) costumes and glorious scenery do indeed disguise a limp story, with stale dialogue that sounds like Oprah. Clive Owen, while indeed handsome and dashing (though somehow without an Errol Flynn gleam in his eye) drops his innumerable bad lines as if they are hot bricks. Compare Elizabeth's way too Henryesque battle speech with Will's to see how flaccid this is. Not even poetry with a lower case p.

Too many stories going on simultaneously, each of them plenty sufficient to drive the plot, means that the whole thing becomes a confused and wild mess. But the shame comes in the lost opportunities. The execution of Mary, one of the most bizarre and terrifying events in English history, is really untouched. (Maybe they wanted to keep the Elizabeth as guilty and torn and the Elizabeth unsullied by this.) But for a graphic and visually compelling film such as this, the site of her head dropping from the exectioner's hand would have been rather startling.

And the love stuff, while maybe historically accurate (Raleigh did enjoy the queen's favor to a remarkable degree) just sunk this tale. We know she doesn't get the man, we also know she doesn't seem to want to. Showing her as an emotional and flighty female, while more in line with current sensibilities, just doesn't seem authentic. She was queen for a long time, and ruled with a resolve this script misses.

Worth a watch. But not one for the ages. Nope--unlike Elizabeth, this is soon to be forgotten.

Stirring stuff - Rating: 5/5

Superb photography but I am not sure about the history. It was the wind not the fire-ships which destroyed the Armada and where are the famed quotes about not making windows into men;s souls and her best lines before the Armada at Tilbury? I do not think this was at all an anti-catholic film. As far as England is concerned, Catholic Spain and its supporters were the enemy. A good tonic for a patriotic Englishman.