BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Micitype Pretty Good

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Kirpianuscus and not surprising. because Helen Mirren has the science and art and force to be inn and out of her characters in a magnificent manner. because nothing could change the powerful impression about her performance. a performance who, in subtle way, transforms the character in a masterpiece. Elizabeth I is a good example. first because, after books and movies, theories and speculations, she is a profound different Queen. rigid and vulnerable, old and energetic, seductive and cruel. the solitude of the Queen becomes not only realistic but an ice show itself. because its roots and ways and maps are so clear. because the story has a special dose of realism. because she is Elizabeth and any comparison with other interpreter becomes strange.

samantha Being an aspiring historian i love nothing more then to sit and enjoy a historical drama / film. I hold a huge interest in Elizabethan England (Or English history in general really)and the Kings and Queens of the past, most especially one of our best loved monarchs -Queen Elizabeth 1. However, although being only 16, i am not so naive as to believe that the content of this film was entirely factual,however, i Thoroughly enjoyed it - in fact LOVED it! and am currently trying to purchase it on DVD. And may i just add that Hugh Dancy is a suburb actor and extremely dishy!! :P Having seen the adaptation with Cate Blanchett in, but did not feel as connected to character as with Helen's portrayal. I felt Helen Mirren brought more emotion to the character and gave an added human touch to the Queen. I am a big fan of Jeremy Irons and think he portrayed the Earl of Leciester with his usual brilliance . All in all, i have not in the 16 years of my life, seen a Drama / film that i have fallen in love with so greatly, i can not say how worth a watch it is - watch it and see. I highly recommend this film - no questions!

kayaker36 Perhps it is my male chauvinism, but the charm of Helen Mirren always has been lost on me. People say she is a great actress. Certainly she had a great role to play in this HBO miniseries filmed in Lithuania (?). I found her spinsterish and plain ugly. The scenes of her, wrinkled and painted like a doll, kissing Jeremy Irons and Hugh Dancy were nauseating, as remarked by another reviewer.Jeremy Irons, an actor whose work I have always appreciated, lacked appeal here. This was partially the fault of some lame scriptwriting as to the role of Sir Robert Dudley. Dudley died of cancer in 1588 just after the defeat of the Armada. Trouble is, from the very start of the film Jeremy Irons looked exhausted and emaciated. He and Helen Mirren played their scenes like a couple of elderly gay men who have been together for years and years--no sense that this was a man and woman who responded physically to one another at any time. To see how this role should be played, with swagger and style, check out Tom Hardy as the Earl of Leicester in the Grenada TV production of "The Virgin Queen". In fact, see that movie over this for a slew of reasons.One bright spot was Robert Devereaux as played by young Hugh Dancy. He brought the physical presence, the youthful fire, that the historical Earl of Essex was said to have shown during his short life.

annog There is some sort of mass hysteria going on here. I think people have been fooled into believe that Elizabeth I, is deep. Here as on Masterpiece Theatre, expensive costumes and flash photography do not a "masterpiece" make.Mirren's "Bess" is a good one basically. She does swing well into the part, playing Elizabeth as a lusty CEO. Through 80% of the film this characterization works. But, when her character is emphatic in her darker emotions, Mirren is really over-the-top overwrought. And it reminds me of Mel Blanc, doing such things in the guise of many characters he voiced in Warner Brothers cartoons. I am actually embarrassed for her.Some of the blame for this poor acting must be shared with the script writers. There is an old axiom in screen writing that you can not just have the actors stand about and shout out their emotions. I am angry! I am anguished by your betrayal! You have to have clever dialogue to weave the fabric of the story for the audience.Elizabeth l commits the sin of having Mirren, and others, shout out their feelings. And it happens many times throughout the series.There is also the small matter( to some) of the very large liberties taken by the film with historical fact. They are numerous and at times completely at odds with the woman and her times.Elizabeth l is designed to be smutty, emphasizing Bess' odd, conflicting libido. I doubt that she and Leicester, or Essex, ever petted each other in public, let alone at a mass ceremony for the people.The Earl Of Leicester died at his house in Oxfordshire. Bess was no where close. and certainly not in bed with him. Essex, a shallow man, was no great fan of his step father, and was not there at his deathbed either.There are more and they pollute the truly fascinating story of one of history's most remarkable monarchs