Elizabeth

Rating:
Summary: Nice love story, but historically inaccurate
Review: Whether or not you should buy this depends on what you want from a movie. If you want romance and good costuming, this is the movie for you.

If you want historical accuracy, this movie has flaws. For example, the Earl was approximately 25-35 years younger than was Queen Elizabeth in real life.

On the good side, there was some historical truth in this movie, and it is worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: 'Spectacular'
Review: I just loved this movie. Cate Blanchet`s acting was inspiring. Even if the historical accuracy was forgotten here, I did take the movie for what it was: a movie. It always has been that way. Movies interest people on some topics and give them the desire to read about the subject. Geoffrey Rush has once more made an incredible job. I was fascinated by his talent. My heart is still beating.

Rating:
Summary: Charming film!
Review: The younger years of E1 were not much covered in my history texts, therefore I assumed the script was historically accurate. I learn from other reviewers this is not the case, however I think the movie has charm and flow, and eminently worth watching on its own merits, like superb acting, directing and a good script. Since the movie led me to believe it was historically accurate I am not giving it 5 stars as I would otherwise given!But, definately worth owning a copy of this video.

Rating:
Summary: Historical inaccuracies galore!!
Review: I completely agree with several reviewers here that the historical inaccuracies are so numerous, I cannot even begin to count them all and I don't think the fans of this film even care. I respect their opinions and I can understand why they admired the film. Who could argue that it is not a beautifully directed and acted film? However, for anyone that is familar with Tudor England, they will be greatly disappointed. The countless events in this movie that never occurred, in addition to the way several actual historical figures were portrayed, were too distracting for me. I began to think that this was not a movie about Elizabeth Tudor, but a fictionalized person. Probably all historical movies are inaccurate in some way, shape or form. If I had to guess, I think only the first 20 minutes of this movie remained soemwhat true to history.

Cate Blanchett gave a fine performance, but it was not the Elizabeth of history. It was the Elizabeth of director Shekkar Kapur's imagination. For many reviewers here, that sufficed. I must say that the only character that was written to remotely provide some historical fact was Mary Tudor, Elizabeth's delusional half sister who preceded her as Queen of England.

I greatly anticipated this film because, as many individuals, I have been fascinated with Queen Elizabeth I for a very long time. I wish Hollywood could do this great woman more justice and produce something resembling who she truly was. The BBC certainly did when they produced the miniseries "Elizabeth R" with Glenda Jackson. I highly recommend that for those of you intellectually stimulated by this drama and want to know the "truth". If you want "Hollywood fluff", stick with "Elizabeth."

Rating:
Summary: Appreciate as a fictional film, and you'll enjoy the movie
Review: All those people that are fretting that the movie is not historically accurate are missing the point of the movie. A film drama, tells a story. A documentary tells of reality. Cate Blanchett gave an amazing performance as the virgin queen. She, as well as the other actors, including Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes, gave commanding and believable performances. The movie was also beautifully shot and well presented. Even details that are often overlooked like music and sound were fabulous. I left the movie humming tunes from that movie, but the quality of the music never took away from the movie. It truly enhanced the film. Overall it's well put together with all the aspects combining to make a good story and a good movie. I recommend this movie highly, as long as you can sit through the first few minutes. As for those criticising the historical accuracy; try watching it again remembering that it's a movie, meant to entertain.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but historically very inaccurate!!
Review: If you want a good entertaining period drama, this is a good film, but if you want to know anything at all about the real Elizabeth Tudor, try the Elizabeth R video series with Glenda Jackson.

The costumes were drab - compare them to Shakespeare in Love's costumes, or even to any period paintings of the people featured in the movie. Their costumes were highly decorated, more than this movie portrays. The cut of the costumes was very wrong at times also - some of Elizabeth's dresses looked Victorian!

As for the history, well: Elizabeth was not the crying, scared, dependent young girl that she is portrayed in at the beginning. She never would have survived that long if she was. Cate Blanchett's portrayal of her at the end is much more what Elizabeth was like at the *beginning* of her reign. Walsingham was not running the country behind the dress of Elizabeth - he didn't have nearly the control the movie shows. Elizabeth most likely never slept with Dudley - I'm sure they fooled around, but pregnancy was too great a threat for anything else. Norfolk was not plotting to kill the queen from the very beginning - he wasn't executed until 1572 - 14 years after she took the throne (and he was only rebelling because he could not practice his religion)!! And Kat Ashley was not a nubile young lady-in-waiting blushing hotly at the sight of Dudley - she was the 60 year old governess that raised Elizabeth!

The acting is good, for what they had to work with. I thought Cate Blanchett could have made a wonderful Queen Elizabeth if she would have had a better script to work with.

Rating:
Summary: Good but seriously flawed
Review: This was an excellently done movie, well worth owning, but it did have some serious problems with the story. The director really played fast and loose with the actual history of this time period, as even a slight knowledge of this period in history would show. Several of the major plot elements in the movie are complete piece of fiction. But, these issues in mind, the movie is a sumptuous production, superbly acted and filmed. The costumes are absolutely mouth watering, as any renaissance re-enactor would admit. See the movie, then go and get one of the many books available on the Elizabethan age, and find out what really happend then. It was a fasicnating period of history.

Rating:
Summary: Let's stick to history -- puulllllease!
Review: I looked forward to this film but found its portrayal of Elizabeth very disappointing. Even as a young girl, she was far more clever and wily than this movie makes her out to be -- if she hadn't been, she would have been dead at 14. I disliked the many historical inaccuracies -- for instance, Mary of Guise (Mary Queen of Scots' mother) did not die of an assassination attempt but instead succumbed to dropsy. (And where is Mary Queen of Scots anyway?) Nobody ever shot arrows at Elizabeth, although there were plenty of plots against her. And the queen knew all about Dudley's first marriage -- indeed, there is quite a dramatic story about that, which was not included in this movie and should have been. It seems doubtful, too, that Elizabeth ever had the kind of sex shown in this movie -- not after what her father did to her mother and to her stepmother (i.e. lop off their heads). What I did like about this film was its beautiful art direction -- in the scenes from the coronation, Blanchett is made to look just like the contemporary coronation portrait of Elizabeth. A lovely touch.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: This film is dark and mostly serious, but does that make it a lesser film? Personally, I think "Elizabeth" is a better film than "Shakespeare in Love." Cate Blanchett was wonderful as Elizabeth I. She should have gotten the Oscar, not Gwyneth Paltrow. Geoffrey Rush's character - can she trust him or not? This movie helped me to better understand why Protestants and Catholics don't care much for each other. The scene at the beginning of the movie where the Protestants are having their heads shaved, and then being burned at the stake, is very realistic. This movie made me want to read up on Henry VIII and his relationship with Elizabeth's mother, Anne Bolynn.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Enthralling, Breathtaking
Review: I am absolutely in love with this Movie...it actually drove me out to read more about Elizabeth the First. And contrary to other people's opinion, I found Joseph Fiennes performance was outstanding. When I read about Sir Robert Dudley, he was truly was a weak and ineffectual man with inner turmoil. I thought that the magnificent Mr. Fiennes portrayed him perfectly. The costumes and settings were to die for. My biggest problem with the movie was the ending...It left me feeling like I was being set up for a joke with a punch line. I don't believe for a minute that Elizabeth set out to emmulate the Virgin Mary...Give me a break. Other than that, I loved the movie and thought it capsulized her life and the times very well.