Rating: 
Summary: Are we seeing the same movie?
Review: The negative reviews that have been posted here are puzzling. Cate DID embody Elizabeth's intelligence and drive . Why would she receive universal praise by critics and audiences if her performance were not great? She has received an Academy Award nomination, the British "Oscar", numerous critical awards, the Golden Globe, etc.And the BRITISH should know their own Queen Elizabeth. This film and Cate's performance is highly regarded wherever it plays. The negative people on this board seem to be whining because they are in the minority.
Rating: 
Summary: don't buy--rent
Review: I always get frustrated with historical films which do not follow history, and this is the latest. The actual life of Elizabeth was interesting enough, why change it?
Rating:
Summary: Go see Elizabeth!
Review: This is a riveting drama about the struggles and triumphs of Queen Elizabeth and her reign. Cate Blanchett was amazing in this role aging from the young princess Elizabeth to the wise and resilient Elizabeth of middle age. The entire supporting cast especially Geoffrey Rush was superb. It deserved the seven Academy Award nominations it received.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical fact, no. Good costume drama, yes.
Review: This is basically Hollywood's romanticized, 90's play on 16th century England. Most of it was fluff and extremely historically inaccurate. I can forgive some inaccuracies, but these were outlandish, almost as if Rod Serling was directing this movie for the "Twighlight Zone". Elizabeth I was an enigma and simply one of the most facinating woman of the last thousand years. However, as much as she was a very public figure, she was very mysterious. This movie barely touched the essence of who she was. Most of her character came from a childhood that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; and being a princess did not help. Her father, a tyrannical murderer, beheaded her mother when she was three and he banished her from his presence. After his death, she was constantly beseiged upon by corrupt and self seeking men who wanted to use her in any way possible to obtain power; this put her in extremely dangerous situations. She constantly lived with the threat of execution and she was constantly reminded of her mother's fate that might be hers as well. The worst time being when her Catholic half-sister, Queen Mary, imprisoned her and almost executed her for a Protestant uprising around her. It is actually miraculous that anyone with such a horrid life, before the age of 25, did not become a monster herself. Even after she was Queen, she was not safe from her enemies. For a more realistic video version based on her life, I highly recommend the BBC series, "Elizabeth R" starring Glenda Jackson as the great Queen. Glenda Jackson, in this role, gave the most realistic version of what Elizabeth may have actually been like. It examines every aspect of her life, including those I mentioned beforehand. Cate Blanchett did not show the hardened, quick tempered, highly intelligent personna that embodied this woman. I only saw a fragile, young girl, with not one glimmer of the legendary queen that Elizabeth would become.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The DVD of Elizabeth is wonderful. We really enjoyed the Director's commentary. I wish all DVD's had this feature. To watch the movie again with the director explaining things (some we never noticed) was incredible.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting; beautifully photographed=informative..
Review: This movie holds your attention from the beginning moments to the ending!! Cate Blanchett cleary deserved the Academy Award that she did not receive!! Historically correct, informative, and extremely exciting!! A historical winner!
Rating: 
Summary: MUST SEE!
Review: A wonderful, mesmerizing film about one of England's longest reigning monarch. Cate Blanchette delivers an Oscar winning performance as the young Elizabeth. (Catch her in 'Oscar and Lucinda' if you still need to be convinced of her talent!) Seeing this film in London and viewing the famous painting of her (seen at the opening credits of the movie) at the National Gallery the next day made an indelible impression on me. This is a film that every fan of English history should not miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous and well-acted, but I didn't buy this Elizabeth
Review: Shakespeare in Love, a comparable but much better film, had the advantage of being fiction. Elizabeth I was a real person, and despite the impressiveness of the visuals and the attractive (if occasionally strange) cinematography, at the end of the day what was going to keep me interested in this film was an authentic presentation of Elizabeth - and this is where the film failed for me. I just didn't buy Elizabeth's transition from "sensitive twenty-somthing" to tough-as-nails queen. Having grown up in the court of Henry VIII, watched her mother beheaded, and been imprisoned in the Tower of London, I find it much more likely she was simply tough from the beginning, and the film gave me no reason to believe otherwise. In the BBC presentation, upon Elizabeth's recieving news of her half-sister's death, she has one of the famous quotes attributed to her: "I may not be a lion, but I am a lion's cub and I have a lion's heart". Even if the quote is apocraphyl (which I suppose is likely), I find it a much more plausible presentation of a young, confidant and self-assured Queen than this touchy-feely 90's Elizabeth. Perhaps the real problem here is that we are given no reason to believe her character. We are given none of Elizabeth I's background or history. We don't know why she is the way she is at the beginning, or why (really) she transitions to the character she is at the end. For a characer study, we are given remarkably little insight into her character. We are simply asked to buy it, watching the Queen go from point A to point B without adequatly supplied rationale for where point A was or why the trip is made. We just look out the window. However, If you can get past all this, there is a lot to like in this movie. The performances are excellent and the costumes and period presentation are first-rate. As either history or a character study, though, I'll have to pass.
Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth is AWESOME
Review: This movie will thrill your senses with color and costumes that take you back in time. The story will grab you and capture a feeling from deep inside that keeps you watching. I watched this movie 3 times and will continue to watch it over and over.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Film that Captures the Feel of the Period
Review: A number of those reviewers who have negative opinions about Elizabeth complain about historical innacuracy, calling the film just another attempt by Hollywood to ignore the facts and pander to the audience. I'm unsure how these same reviewers deal with Shakespeare. In his histories -- Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry 6 (three parts), Richard III, etc., Shakespeare changes events for dramatic purpose. He tries to capture the overall sweep of events and examine the important issues, while telling a good story. At the same time, he moves events around, changes the ages of characters, compresses things in time -- in short, all the same things that the makers of Elizabeth did. Elizabeth is a fine film, capturing the feel of the time, and getting the overall issues right, even if it changes the details. The performances are wonderful and the production lavish. Its main flaw is the last 20 minutes too much resemble the Godfather, which is why I give it 4 stars instead of 5.
| 
