A Fascinating Fictional Replay of the Most Famous Queen

Cate Blanchett became a star in this movie. Her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I is fascinating! She played the princess from her teenage years in a rural part of England where she had been sent by Queen Mary to her mid-thirties, when she had overcome so many challenges to the throne.

It is said over and over again in this DVD's special features that this is not exactly the way that Elizabeth ruled. Nevertheless, England was so torn in the late 16th Century by religious differences that it is appropriate for us to see this depiction now. We still have problems with other religions.

Whether it is exactly right or not, Elizabeth had to survive all of these threats to her rule:

Queen Mary, her Catholic predecessor, did everything but murder Elizabeth, the daughter of the Protestant 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn, to keep her from allowing Protestantism back into the country. Mary was also jealous that Henry VIII had left her mother for Elizabeth's mother.

Mary of Giese, the Scottish ruler of sorts, tried to invade the English border from the north. Then she backed off and sent a homosexual French duke to marry Elizabeth. It did not work.

The Duke of Norfolk (played by Christopher Eccleston) would have inherited the throne, it seems, if Elizabeth was overthrown. He was a constant threat throughout the movie. Also, he was a dreaded Catholic.

Prince Philip II of Spain, widower of Queen Mary, also had ambassadors seeking to reunite England and Spain hopefully through marriage. But overthrowing Elizabeth was also in the cards.

Finally, the Pope himself, played by Sir John Gielgud in one of his last roles, ordered Elizabeth's assassination and sends a young monk to do it.

How a young girl in her early 20s survives all of this is amazing.

Elizabeth did have a love, her teenage boyfriend, the Earl of Leicester, better known as Robert Dudley. Joseph Fiennes played this major character so well! He truly loved Elizabeth, and wanted to marry her. She wanted to marry him too, as he spent the night often in her palace chamber. However, the scandal came out that he was already married. This, in the movie, was what really caused Elizabeth to retreat her love life into celibacy supposedly.

Elizabeth had two major advisors: Sir William Cecil (Richard Attenborough), who taught her the manners of the position and protected her at first, and her main advisor, Lord Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) who did a lot of the dirty work for her.

The movie is full of cruelty--brutal persecutions, burnings at the stake, hangings, beheadings, stabbings, and battles. There is also plenty of nudity, but nothing overboard.

This movie will have to be viewed over and over to keep the characters straight and to enjoy it to its fullest extent. The costumes are fabulous, and there is choir and organ chanting throughout.

It is a great movie if you like history!

Reasonable cinema - indifferent history

I liked the way this film started and ended. The middle, on the other hand, was filled (at times) with filler. By that I mean obligatory scenes which really lent nothing of major interest to the main story. In so doing, the film also managed to lose itself historically, so that you had to be a very well-informed viewer to keep up with who was who and what was happening and why. I can imagine the director saying to himself, "I'll make it an historically accurate piece....No, I won't, I'll make it into a love story and let the history stand aside a little....On second thoughts, I'd better keep the history strong....," and so on, never really deciding one way or the other. For a time, it was obvious that the temptation of rewriting history and according Lord Dudley Robert a greater place than was in fact his, passed through the director's mind. Shades of "Shakespeare in Love," indeed, where Joseph Fiennes played a somewhat similar role, but one which was more in keeping with the type of script, if not with the actual history.
It must have been difficult to avoid giving centre-stage time to characters like Norfolk and Walsingham. The latter, in the guise (if you will forgive me for saying so) of Elizabeth's eminence grise, was definitely overdone. Norfolk, besides acting out of character (I felt) on more than one occasion, gave up the ghost rather too easily, further strengthening the reputation of the "heretic" living at the queen's right arm. As for Gielgud's Pope, I think he must have enjoyed every minute of it (there were about four), but I didn't buy it at all.

I must say I especially liked the end of the film. After having proclaimed herself "mistress," there was, in a sense, nothing more to say. The final scene was very well done. Certainly, Elizabeth the First's subsequent reign was such that you could make several more movies about it. Overall, the film was pleasing without being great cinema. For its history, it's of some interest, but not if you are trying to peer into Elizabethan England for the first time. You really have to have some background to be able to appreciate the ins and outs of that particular court. Of recent films dealing with British royalty, "The Madness of King George" and "Mrs Brown" were both superior to this, with more depth and fewer unnecessary charades. "Elizabeth" is a four-star cinematic experience, I think, but not a strong one.

A Golden Film For The English "Golden Age"

You have to appreciate true world and english history to understand the importance of Queen Elizabeth. She was a woman in a man's world. She was a protestant in a widely catholic country, and she was the unwanted bastard daughter of their most controversial king ever, Henry VIII. But with grace from GOD and her convictions, Elizabeth transforms her country into the world's most powerful nation. Kate Blanchette's performance is remarkably accurate in her portrayal of the graceful queen. Her resemblance to the real life queen is uncanny. The writers bring you into the world of Elizabethan England. The actors give performances which give the illusion that you are truly there in that period of time. The world is a better place because of Queen Elizabeth. And we are enlightened because of this movie. It will rank as one of the best movies ever made about the middle ages of England.

Elizabeth (l)

Lots of history here even for those who think they know all about it. This movie seems to tell it down to the Nitty-gritty. Cate Blanchett is superb in this role and it is an award-worthy perfomance. Joe Feinnes is a great Dudley and the movie showed how poor his judement was although I think he truly loved Elizabeth. However,in this film,I wish there had been an explanation about the death of Amy Robsart Dudley . I suppose the truth of that is quite unavailable over time.
This definitely worth seeing for history buffs and those who aren't.
The DVD was in wonderful shape and I was highly pleased withj the product.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Movie

I love this movie. Stayed very close to what happened in the life of Elizabeth 1.
I could not wait for the second movie came out. The stars in this movie were wonderful and believable. Well worth seeing over and over again. Should have won best picture that year as well as the Best actress...