Rating: 
Summary: Whoa! What A Loser!
Review: This movie is by no means a sequel to the excellent Becket. The plot has nothing at all to do with the former conflict of the martyred Bishop and the self-agrrandizing King Henry played so well by Peter O'Toole. In Lion In Winter, Katherin Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitiane is the King's foil and nemesis, playing one son against each other and the king against them all in order to get all back into her love. The acting is fine for Hepburn and O'Toole both. However the dialogue is so wordy, the action so meager, and the plot so lame it was hard for me to care what happened. King Henry is just as reckless and selfish as he was in Becket. Hepburn as Eleanor does little more than whine, cry, and scheme. There is little or no scenery in this movie so it looses on cinemtaography as well as lame direction and script. Anthony Hopkins I think is one of the most overrated actors on screen and he proves why here in his debut. But for O'Toole and Hepburn this movie is a real loser!
Rating: 
Summary: No Sequel To Becket
Review: "I love being King!" Peter O'Toole says this as King Henry, but probably means it playing the role so superbly as he did in "Becket."Like a good Shakespearean play, most of the action in this drama is regulated to dialogue rather than scenes of violence and intrigue which seem deliberately kept to a minimum so as to focus the attention of the audience on O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn who plays his estranged wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Katherine Hepburn as usual is excellent. However the lack of a significant plot and dramatic action, as well as the homosexual liason between Prince Richard and Phillip of France make the movie boorish to say the least. As in Becket there is not much in the way of scenery limiting the cinematography to a few modest backdrops which might as well be Hollywood stage sets. Of course one must remember that in the twelfth century, there really wasn't much scenery in the first place. A cramped, damp, and dank stone English castle of the middle ages in no way compares to the splendor and the granduer of ancient Greece or ancient Rome. If this movie was meant as a sequel to Becket, it failed. There is only casual mention of the martyred Bishop - Saint Thomas and certainly the storyline does not follow up on King Henry's conflict between the two. Eleanor is his foil this time in place of Becket but she only serves to sound like a terribly wronged matron bemoaning her fate. Her role is not much different than that of the mother in "The Glass Menagerie;" one always crying how her children and her husband hurt while scheming to get them all back. (This sounds like some women I know personally!) Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton have minor roles here; neither of which are well acted. As in "Peter and Paul" Hopkins seems to merely mug the camera - which in turn seems to revolve around him, trying make Hopkins look like he's acting. But for Peter O'Toole, I found this film a very big disappointment. I say again, if this was suppose to be a sequel to Becket, it failed and failed badly!
Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: Could not resist adding my praise for such a superior motion picture. Set in a violent, unstable time of frequent wars and unrelenting political machinations, "The Lion In Winter" captures a vivid 12th Century reality. A story set in the latter part of the reign of England's Henry II (Peter O'Toole), it explores the convoluted dynamics of royal family politics and medieval intrigue. Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), Henry's Queen, is released from her confinement in an English castle to join Henry at the Christmas court in France (at this time, Henry ruled large parts of modern France as well as England). Eleanor was confined due to her support of Henry's sons in their uprising against him. Henry does not want a reoccurence. Their sons included Richard, the Lion-Hearted (Anthony Hopkins) and the Magna Carta's King John, who are also at the Christmas court. A truly amazing cast of characters are propelled by magnificent performances and just about the best written dialogue ever put on film. Miss Hepburn's Eleanor won her an Academy Award for best actress. A terrific accompaniment to the movie is Alison Weir's recent book "Eleanor Of Aquitaine". Eleanor was the wife of two kings, the mother of three kings, the great-grandmother of two saints and lived through two Crusades. A fascinating woman, she lived into her 80s, outliving eight of her ten children. Henry succeeded in building and holding together an empire that stretched from Scotland to the south of France.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Soap Opera that is Flawless
Review: Pound for pound and line by line, this film has the best dialogue this side of "All About Eve." Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole are delicious as they trade barbs with each other in this supremely-acted flick. With Anthony Hopkins heading the supporting cast as one of the couple's sons, this is one truly dysfunctional family. The Ewings of "Dallas" and the Colbys of "Dynasty" have nothing on Richard and Eleanor. Kate should have singlehandedly won the Oscar. Sorry, Babs, but this was the ONE outstanding acting job of 1968.
Rating:
Summary: Intrigue and wit, fast and furious: A show fit for a king
Review: Apparently Henry II was a bit of character from what little tittle tattle there was passed on to us down through the last millenium. Larger than life and now a movie star ! Henry II take a bow. For Henry II is the Lion in his old age surrounded by scheming relatives not least his witty wife. Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine turns her love and marriage with Henry II, Peter O'Toole, into the verbal equivalent of a sword fight. Henry II being more of a man than his namesake and distant relative Henry VIII doesn't have her killed, rather he locks her up. Not you understand because he doesn't like her, but because she tried to overthrow him in a rebellion. Sparks fly when these two meet. "Eleanor: What would you have me do? Give out? Give up? Give in? Henry: Give me a little peace. Eleanor: A little? Why so modest? How about eternal peace? Now there's a thought." Theres a fine supporting cast of then theatrical players now some well known faces of the movies. Theres Sir Anthony Hopkins as Richard, "I am a poet, a warrior and I will be king" ,though his dad thinks him not so straight, for Richard though has a defense, "So! The royal corkscrew finds ME twisted?". And all this before dysfunctional had entered public vocabulary. Next is Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, played by John Castle, a strategist and willing player of the game. Prince Geoffrey: "I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it. [smiles] We're a knowledgeable family." Youngest of the brothers is John Lackland, Nigel Terry of Excalibur fame. "John: Poor John. Who says poor John? Don't everybody sob at once! My God, if I went up in flames there's not a living soul who'd pee on me to put the fire out! Richard: Let's strike a flint and see." Oh but don't worry about John. Knowing the result given in the History books won't stop you being tickled by this film. Will the knives come out ? Let the show go on ! Enjoy it, by the looks of it Henry did. "King Henry II: I've snapped and plotted all my life. There's no other way to be alive, king, and fifty all at once."
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of wit and brutality
Review: O'Toole and Hepburn are the perfect combination of scathing humor and heartrending pain when they gather their dysfunctional family to hearth and home for a Christmas celebration infused with drama, trechery and less than loving reunions. Sometimes loathsome, sometimes pitiable, this pair and their children are always fascinating to watch. The dialogue is quick on it's feet and delivered with impeccable timing by the entire cast. As Henry and Eleanore struggle to determine the heir to their kingdom, their children, Richard, Jeffery and John spin webs that would confound a spider. Funny, sad and occasionally irreverant, this tale is nonetheless an accurate historical portrayal of the dynmaic present in the Platagenet family. A must have for any video collection!
Rating:
Summary: BRISTLING DRAMA
Review: Anthony Harvey wisely chooses to allow his superb leading players, the brilliantly biting Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, to essentially dominate, and therefore transform, this movie of power and familial relationships. The screenplay is wordy indeed, but the movie never feels long - it is crackling throughout, and the blows between the stars are electrifying. The mesmerizing location sets not only evoke the era but feel lived in; it strikes me that this was perhaps the first historical drama that allowed the stench and brutality of life without our many conveniences to show in its own peculiar splendor. And, like icing on top of a spectacular cake, John Barry's moody score will have you shivering with grand emotion, underscoring the movie with a tenderness and majesty that deepens the resonance of the compelling and bitter struggle over power, and the ties that unbind. Classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Royal Disfunctional Family
Review: Exceptional performances of royal family intriques and betrayals. The double and triple crosses are both tragic and comedic. No one can be trusted. This is a drama borne upon words. It is an intelligent person's film. Not for those mezmerized by bloodletting and carnage action films.
Rating:
Summary: The Lion in Winter
Review: This has to be my all-time favorite movie! I am hoping that the studio will re-release it in VHS as well as DVD format. My copy is ancient. The acting is intense and right on target. Hepburn and O'Toole play the complex script like a finely tuned duet, with the rest of the cast as a tight backup ensemble. Just a touch melodramatic, but it can be easily forgiven because of the crafting of the script. It is a truly intelligent film. The movie is challenging to follow as you really must catch the asides in order to follow all the nuances of the plot. This is probably one of the first truly commercial widely released examples of cinema verite, complete with mud and chicken-killing dogs. It sure ain't Camelot!
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: I was lucky enough to purchase this movie while it was still available on VHS. I am anxiously awaiting for the DVD release! The acting is superb, especially betwen Hepburn and O'Toole and I try to view my video at least once a year. I first saw the movie in the theater in 1968 when it was first released and that was the first time I had seen Anthony Hopkins who is now one of my favorite actors.
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