Rating: 
Summary: A great movie, moving and intelligant.
Review: I have to start by saying this is a long movie, but it goes by quickly. Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favorite actresses and she does a superb job as Jane. I never cry at movies, I didn't shed a tear at Titanic, but I'll admit I sobbed like a baby during this movie. You get so caught up in Jane's character, this independant but confused young girl who is forced into the role as queen. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Best!
Review: This is a must see! A hidden classic
Rating: 
Summary: Fine movie about a very tragic young life
Review: Helena Bonham Carter does a superb job portraying one of the most tragic characters in history, Lady Jane Grey, otherwise known as "the Nine Days Queen". Her soft innocence and vulnerability are convincing and heart rendering. You also get to see a very very young Cary Elwes providing a fine supporting role as her doomed husband and Patrick Stewart (way before his Star Trek days) giving an equally fine performance as her scheming father. The story itself would make for a great Shakesparean tragedy if history hadn't written it first. I was quite moved at the cruel twists of fate that were handed out to this young girl. It is also a testament to the cruelty of parents to their children in sixteenth century England. This was commonplace at these times, even if one was of royal blood as Jane was. The moving and historically accurate execution scene, in which the blindfolded Jane cannot find the block to rest her neck is quite heart wrenching. You want her to survive the circumstances that her family placed her in, and the wretchedness of her miserable upbringing. However, life is not a fairy tale, even for princesses; this is a profound example of the misery that many Tudor woman, including Elizabeth I, went through. I subtract one star for some of the historical inaccuracies, but overall it is a wonderful and moving film. It also makes you grateful that you did not live in those precarious times.
Rating:
Summary: Dearest Jane..*sigh*
Review: I haven't seen such a profound movie in so long really, they simply don't make films like this today.
I was actually unfamiliar of Jane Grey's story and it was *after*, that I started buying books about it and started to understand. I honestly watched the movie because I wanted to see one of Cary Elwes' earliest roles, and he was so young! And really a divine performance, he truly did not dissapoint! Anyhow, I already knew Helena, but never really was a fan of her, and I saw this!! Wow! She blew me away, she was just, I don't know, and her chemistry with Guilford, ugh! abs. divine!
The feeling, the MUSIC! My goodness, I've been reading others searching for the soundtrack, I am one of them!
If you really concentrate watching it, and connect to the film, regardless of the inaccurate facts, you will BAWL!I cried so, so very much, when we see the last of Guilford, and the ending, Jane's beheading (actually I was still crying b/c of Guilford) and, how, at that point I couldn't stop thinking Mary was evillle..and gosh, why! why Poor Jane, and poor Guilford! It would've been sooooo interesting though, if Jane were alive and kept queen...
*Sigh* I happen to read someone say 'it really makes you wish you weren't living in those eras'...I was thinking exactly the same thing while weeping hysterically,....How fortunate, you live in the modern world where you're not put to death so barbarically, how lucky you or I am not in Jane's position! and how the world has changed so much! And the importance of religion, etc..Gosh, Really! To be made queen, knowing how wrong it feels, and that you are punished because of it! It's one of the reasons I got so emotional, it's the situation she was in, it was literally beyond her control, unloved by her parents, abused, etc.
I also wish (as some of the other reviewers) that they showed Jane before her marriage and accession, living with Elizabeth in Katherine Parr's home, and etc., I guess they used that time to develop the sweet love story...oh well!
Rating: 
Summary: It could have gone farther
Review: with Lady Jane Grey's story than it did. The rose-colored view of Jane's demise was not historically accurate, to my understanding. Jane and her husband were not in love. It turned a story of a woman's amazing helplessness over her fate into a love story, when it would have been more interesting the former way. I wanted to see this movie after seeing Delaroche's "The Execution of Lady Jane Grey," but the movie disappointed me. It would interest those wanting to see a historical romance movie, but for those wanting historical fact brought to light, it's sadly lacking.
Rating: 
Summary: An Absurd Disappointment
Review: I'm a colossal fan of the sweeping costume drama, particularly for this time period. The costume part of this drama is magnificent. Every other aspect is a mockery in the name of dancing some pretty faces across the screen. The script is weak and the characterizations are binary and ridiculous. As if that weren't enough, editing was handled by the drowsiest of the Seven Dwarfs, and the sound production is extremely cloudy and uneven. If you have any appreciation for Shekhar Kapur's 1998 version of "Elizabeth," or even Zinnemann's "A Man For All Seasons," don't bother with this slow, sticky mess.
Rating:
Summary: A historical tragedy turned into more of a fictional romance
Review: One of the most interesting instances of genetic and gender in the history of Western Civilization is found with the death of King Edward VI of England at the age of 15 in 1553. Too young to leave heirs, his older half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth Tudor were both considered illegitimate because of the martial history of their father Henry VIII. Going through the Tudor family the only other potential claimants, Mary of Scotland and Lady Jane Grey, were also female. It seemed that God that determined that a woman would sit on the throne of England and the political question was who that woman would be. The one with the best claim was Mary Tudor, but she was a devout Catholic and the creation of the Anglican Church had created a religious schism in England that would turn ugly with her on the throne. Lady Jane first became connected with the English crown as a potential mate for young Edward, who was more interested in Mary of Scotland or another foreign princess. Jane was supposedly betrothed to the duke of Somerset's son, Lord Hertford, but was then informed by her parents that she was to wed Guildford Dudley, the youngest son of the duke of Northumberland. Handsome and only one year her senior, Jane did not like him and refused the marriage until her mother literally beat her into submission. The couple were married in May of 1553 and lived apart, although the marriage was consummated the following month at the expressed command of Northumberland. Jane was then informed that she had been named Edward's heir three days before the king's death. Northumberland kept Edward's death a secret in order to stop Mary Tudor from claiming the crown and made a speech announcing Jane was the new queen. Forced to accept the title, Jane dismissed the idea that her husband would be made king. When Northumberland went forth with his army to meet that of Mary, who was marching on London, the royal council declared Mary queen and Jane's own father signed the declaration. On November 13 Jane and Guildford we tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Jane believed the Queen would pardon her, but the revolt against Mary by Sir Thomas Wyatt in February 1554 hardened her heart against her enemies. Within days Guildford was executed, with Jane being beheaded on February 11th. None of this historical information consistutes a spoiler because anyone familiar with the kings and queens of England knows that there was never a Queen Jane and even those unfamiliar with the specifics of English history will be aware early on that this is going to be a tragic tale. Even so, the 1986 film "Lady Jane" from director Trevor Nunn would more properly be considered a historical romance, with the emphasis more on the romance than the history as the marriage between Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) and Guilford (Cary Elwes) is turned into a tragic love story. Jane is presented as an intellectual (you would like to see her and Elizabeth Tudor have a conversation), and given a sense of nobility in that she and her husband apparently intend to rule in their own names, not only because it will thwart the plans of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (John Wood), but also because it is the right thing to do. In bed they tend to talk about their idealistic plans, such as not branding men or sending them into slavery because they are starving. This new version of Lady Jane's marriage and her new found political ambitions work to add to the tragedy of her execution at the hands of Bloody Mary, even though her being an unwilling pawn in the machinations of some one else's power games makes her enough of a tragic figure. You have to appreciate the irony that these two privileged children of the British class system were idealistic friends of the common folk. The cast features the standard collection of British character actors, with Michael Hordern as Doctor Feckenham, Mary's teacher, Jane Lapotaire as Princess Mary, Joss Ackland as Sir John Bridges, and Sara Kestleman as Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk and Jane's mother. For me the low moment in the film is when Jane is betrayed by her father, especially since Patrick Stewart plays Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk. Of course, both Bonham Carter and Elwes have gone on to much better films, although I was surprised that she made this after "A Room With a View," one of those much better films. "Lady Jane" runs a bit long, especially given that Jane's "reign" only lasted nine days, and while the fictional romance has its moments I would hope that one day the bleak reality of what happened to this young girl becomes the subject of another film.
Rating:
Summary: Helena Bonham Carter is amazing in her film debut
Review: As is noted elsewhere, there is some artistic license taken with the actual story of Lady Jane Grey. Most notably, Lady Jane and Guildford Dudley were not in love by any documents of the era, which renders the whole "love story" of this film invalid. But as a simple period piece I really love this movie, and here's why:
1. Helena Bonham Carter gives a truly astonishing performance in her first movie. This film began a string of "period costume drama" performances for the actress that have since been surplanted with modern roles such as "Fight Club" and "Planet of the Apes". Her language - both spoken and simple gestures - are so expressive and she portrays a young woman who is well educated and full of passion.
2. The central conflict at the end of the film comes in her unwillingness to give up her religious beliefs. She is a protestant and her cousin, Queen Mary, is a staunch Catholic. Mary wants to make up for a lifetime of slights and abuses given to her Mother, Catherine of Aragon, whom Henry VIII divorced when Mary was unable to bear a male heir to Henry. The real Lady Jane was not only a protestant, but carried on correspondence with the great protestant minds of her day including John Calvin. It is not often that any popular form of entertainment is made depicting a person willing to die for their religious beliefs. I am not advocating protestantism, per se, only admiring this film's willingness to demonstrate a strong faith which doesn't involve religious fanaticism.
3. The real Guildford Dudley wasn't the love of Lady Jane, but Cary Elwes' performance here stands up well next to Bonham Carter's superlative one. I suspect this role may have led to his being cast in "The Princess Bride". Pretty much no extras on this DVD, but this is a truly fine film (albeit historically misleading), and it's not one of those $30 DVD's either.
Rating:
Summary: Undelivered
Review: While Helena Carter is terrific in her role as Lady Jane (Queen Jane for 9 days), the movie as a whole falls short because it doesn't present the sequence of events convincingly. The build-up to Lady Jane's crowning moment is rather lame and a little confusing, and the nine days of her "reign" are not documented well. There's also too much of a love story, with her persistence in her faith more like a sideshow or afterthought. Overall it's still an enjoyable experience, if it does frustrate the viewer a little.
Rating:
Summary: "Blue Lagoon" goes Renaissance
Review: It's a shame that the interesting and relatively untapped story of Lady Jane got this sugary sweet treatment. It alternates between nubile pulp romance and engrossing costume drama. So when it's good, it's very good...and when it's corny, it's ridiculous (even the score is over the top). Excellent supporting cast. DVD offers no compelling special features...it would have been nice to have some extra Tudor treat in there!
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