Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffry Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha MortonStudio: Universal Studios
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release: February 5th 2008
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DVD Review
Academy Award® winners Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush join Academy Award® 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.
User Reviews
Terrific visually but often boring as a box of Quaker oats! - Rating: 3/5
Here we have a wonderfully produced semi-epic film, with sprawling scenes... film art at its best; however, it really drags in terms of action.
In a more positive defense of the film, if you are really into historically-based movies, I think you'll enjoy this one a great deal. But like similar productions such as Becket and Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of Scots, in an effort to accurately convey the tale the details here prey heavily upon the final achievement.
The Story: It's all about the reign of Elizabeth I (1533-1603), daughter of Henry [Tudor] VIII and one of England's most renowned and controversial queens. There's a particular focus on Elizabeth's troubles with both Spain and with the large Catholic population of her country. (Henry VIII had been excommunicated by Pope Clement VII. The King had married the sensual Anne Boleyn, [mother of Elizabeth I] absent the Pope's approval of an annulment from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and then Henry subsequently established the Protestant Church of England.) The story also involves Elizabeth's rocky relationship with her Catholic cousin and rival for the British throne, Mary Queen of Scots who was ultimately executed by a malevolent Elizabeth.
I feel additionally compelled to remark that the casting for this movie was near-perfect as were the indoor sets and outdoor locations. For this specific reason, I would especially recommend that you view the movie in its widescreen version on the biggest widescreen television you can find.
In summary, if history is your thing, you'll likely award this 1 hour and 55 minute film four or five stars. If not, you'll probably be bored to tears.
TIP: Many public libraries carry this DVD to loan out free-of-charge... you might consider borrowing it and afterward purchasing it if it turns out that you enjoyed the film.
Fantasy movie... - Rating: 1/5
If you're not familiar with real history ,like the majority of people are, then this movie would seem like a very entertaning one. On the other hand if you know a bit about history you would realize that this movie is so innacurate that at times it seems like a fantasy. Also they portray the spaniards looking like if they were from some South American country(no disrespect)and all of them dress in black to make them look like the bad guys, prince Phillip II is portrayed like a limping weirdo completely out of touch with reality. I just wish Hollywood would make a real good movie about this subject without taking sides and portraying both the English and the Spaniards as accurate as possible the way they really were along with the real reasons why the armada campaign came to be.......
Nice to look at, boring to sit through - Rating: 3/5
The costumes and props in this movie were incredible. I enjoyed the first Elizabeth movie, so I thought I'd enjoy the sequel. And it starts off promising - but it quickly became tedious and boring. I'm a history buff, I love history movies. But I did not love this one. It had a good amount of historical inaccuracies, and the script was plodding. I let out a sigh of relief when it was over.
Not a disaster but less than commanding - Rating: 3/5
At once more ambitious and less intriguing than its predecessor, Elizabeth: The Golden Age certainly isn't the abject disaster reviewers claimed on its theatrical release, although it's not nearly as engrossing as the original. Unfortunately, while Shekhar Kapur opens up the action and opts for a much lighter palate this time round, with at least a trailer's worth of striking visuals, the results are not particularly compelling. By focusing on the best-known part of the Virgin Queen's reign there's less of the constant sense of danger that marked its predecessor even though it amps up the threat by pitting her not against her own court but the might of the Spanish Empire and its Armada. Yet, being a sequel, it adheres to the `the same but different,' and there's certainly a strong element of déjà vu: the dastardly Catholics are still plotting her death, with Rhys Ifans and Samantha Morton taking on the Daniel Craig and Fanny Ardant roles of Jesuit hitman and conspiring Scottish queen. And, as before, history isn't well served, with the film offering the notion that Philip of Spain conspired to force Elizabeth to execute Mary Queen of Scots to give him an excuse for a holy war.
The script certainly could have been better, running down rather than gaining momentum as the Armada approaches and dropping the ball in many of the obvious slamdunks. Certainly if you're going to omit Elizabeth's famous "I may have the body of a weak and foolish woman, but I have the heart of a king" you need to come up with something with more guts and bravado than the tired horseback speech she gives to rally her troops. Even worse, the Armada itself is something of an anti-climax. The almost painting-like CGi effects aren't as much a problem in a film as occasionally stylised as this as are the all-too obvious budget limitations that reduce it to the odd running commentary that makes it somewhat akin to listening to a football game on the radio.
Performances are highly variable. Blanchett is suitably regal in the lead, with Geoffrey Rush and David Threlfall fare best among the courtiers, but Abbie Cornish makes little impression, Rhys Ifans just seems to be going through the motions and Samantha Morton is fairly awful as Mary. Both bland and risibly hammy at the same time, with her risibly overemphatic delivery she feels like a smug prefect in a school play playing up to the gallery rather than a credible conspiring monarch, giving easily the worst performance in the film even after the worst of her performance hit the cutting room floor. Yet the biggest surprise in the film is Clive Owen's Walter Raleigh.
If at first it seems disastrous casting the zombie-like Owen as the representation of the life and love Elizabeth can never have, but, amazingly, for once he almost rises to the occasion. Like many a bad actor he's utterly hopeless in the moments that aren't about him, looking bored when he's supposed to be listening, displaying complete disinterest in his scenes with Abbie Cornish and sleepwalking through the battle with the Armada, but for once he handles his monologues - the best writing in the film - surprisingly well, even changing his expression a few times, though quite why he chooses to play his early scenes with a bad American accent remains a mystery. It's not a perfect performance (the deleted scenes on the DVD show that his flat delivery and lack of timing botched a gift of a scene with Rush), but for the first time there are signs that if he was willing to really put in the work and had a director who wouldn't mistake talking in a bored Coventry accent for a performance he could be a capable jobbing supporting actor.
The 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is a bit disappointingly short on detail in some scenes, though there are a decent set of extras.
Beautiful Portrayal of Elizabeth I - Rating: 5/5
Picking up shortly after Elizabeth I left off the movie portrays the complicated life of one of England's greatest Monarchs. Elizabeth The Golden Age, shows us the balance which was required of Elizabeth, balancing the incredible tenacity and guts it took to rule England and her fears and longings for real love and security.
Elizabeth's life is a story of overcoming the odds. Born second child of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, she was supposed the be the long awaited and promised son of the King, yet Henry's wishes for a son were dashed upon her birth. In the first movie we see the growth of her strength which Elizabeth must muster to survive, and in The Golden Age we see the strength come into full bloom, the strength she will need to overcome the looming Spanish evasion and the always present question of marriage and producing a male heir.
Europe has become divided by Protestant and Catholic, and Elizabeth's own country and family has fallen along divided lines as well. Queen Mary of Scotland sits to the north imprisoned by Elizabeth, but Mary possesses something that Elizabeth does not have, the backing of Catholic Spain and France. For Elizabeth it is only a matter of time until she will be called upon to do something about the looming threat of Mary. When that time comes we find Elizabeth torn between what must be done to a trader and the rights of a sovereign Queen like herself.
It is this decision which leads to the climax of the movie. Mary is favored by Spain and with the outcome of Mary's fate, Spain steps into action to crush the Protestant [...] Elizabeth. Elizabeth faced with an impeding invasion of the Spanish steps forward to encourage her countrymen in the battle and protect her beloved England.
However The Golden Age is not solely about the battles between countries but the battles of the heart. Elizabeth although known as the Virgin Queen is not without the need of love and passion. Yet Elizabeth knows that this could pose as big a threat to her and her country as the Spanish and French.
This film is truly a feast for the eyes - incredible costumes and sets are only the beginning. I would recommend that one watch The Golden Age after first viewing Elizabeth I. It will assist in knowing where Elizabeth has been and the amount of growth in Elizabeth is amazing to watch.
