Elizabeth I

True story of Queen Elizabeth

A superb, intelligent, and intimate portrait of the golden age of the Virgin Queen, with the magnificent Helen Mirren as the embodiment of Elizabeth I (one of her greatest roles, in my opinion). Very reminiscent of the BBC mini-series, Elizabeth R., as it more historically accurate than any of the other Elizabeth I films and has no problem showing the complexities and intrigue of her court. It also has no problem showing the extremely gruesome details of the more tragic nature of her otherwise glorious reign.The fantastic production is full of beautiful sets, costumes, and music, witty brilliant writing and great cast that make the historical characters come alive because they are so well cast. Extras include a few "making of" and history documentaries. A must see for fans of historical or costume dramas.

There are countless portrayals of Elizabeth I in film. Certainly, the best known and unforgettable of these are Dame Flora Robson, Betty Davis, Dame Judi Dench and more recently Cate Blanchett in Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age". In HBO's "Elizabeth I", Helen Mirren's portrayal of England's greatest monarch shows an Elizabeth who has now moved past the flower of her youth into middle age and narrowing prospects of using her virginity as a political bargaining chip on the world power stage. And yet it is no less a push by her Privy Council for her to find a husband and produce an heir and keep England safe and independent from a world that is far more Catholic than it is Protestant. Jeremy Irons is certainly a well considered Lord Robert Dudley, who was the love of Queen Elizabeth I's life. Irons and Mirren play beautifully off one another and the tenderness, even at times when they are at odds or at the passing of Dudley is a palpable thing both historically and on the screen. The movie is well researched, and the portrayal of Mary Queen of Scots was far more acurate than the version by Shekhar Kapur. Mary Queen of Scots spent most of her life in France and would have a decidedly French accent rather than a Scottish one. HBO's producers of Elizabeth I thankfully did not omit this detail. Mirren gives a very good insight into a very complex and incredibly intelligent women who kept herself several steps ahead of her courtiers and ministers and someone who was very much the product of her father, King Henry VIII and mother, Ann Boelyn. Helem Mirren shows us a glimpse of a woman who loved and loved deeply and yet was not free to live as other women lived and had to make decisions not just for her own considerations but for the people and Country to which she considered herself married to first and foremost. No matter how you feel about Elizabeth I or the times in which England began to truly become an Empire, you can empathise with Mirren's Elizabeth right up until her legendary end. If you are interested in history, particularly the history of the Tudors and Elizabeth I, this is a film that is definitely not to miss. An important thing to note to those who are concerned about violence in film/ There are a few scenes depicting graphic violence dealing with torture, punishment and execution of those who went against the Crown. The scene of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots showed that it took more than one strike of the executioner's axe to behead her. While all of this is certainly in keeping with the times, it is not for children or the squeamish.

This has been remade and edited from the original version. All the history, that the historians comment on as a special feature, and history was removed and distorted in this version. Do not purchase this or any remade versions. Seek the originals at garage sales etc they are rewriting history in all books, movies etc. Treasury your grandparents & parents libraries - seek for the real truth!

Amazon.com has asked me to write a review for my recent purchase of "Elizabeth the First" played by Helen Mirren. I've always been a fan of Helen Mirren, her acting has always impressed me in that she seems to always take on acting roles that deal with the reality of peoples lives. However, she has outdone herself in this miraculous portrayal of Elizabeth the First. The production of the film itself is absolutely superb and created with the skill of a very fine painter. Most films done about historical characters with personalities bigger then life are often lofty, and almost surreal, though well done. But this particular film with Helen Mirren as Elizabeth really focus on Elizabeth the woman, with her associates in her life as Queen of England being just as human. I highly recommend this film to anyone who may be having problems deciding as to whether they should purchase this film. I certainly was paying very close attention to Helen Mirren when she played a detective on public television, but I do believe after this role as Queen Elizabeth, her acting career will and should enter new heights of character acting which I look forward to seeing in the future.

I admit to being an Elizabeth I addict. I read everything I can on her and will buy a movie sight-unseen just to see how well the cast and screenplay present their material. This version of the latter years of Elizabeth I does not disappoint. Helen Mirren provides the feisty, passionate, enigmatic Elizabeth one would expect as she moves through her "Gloriana Regina" years to old age. Jeremy Irons' portrayal of Robert Dudley has a crusty, arrogant edge - and the two performances compliment each other. The supporting cast is also genuinely fine. The costumes were gorgeous, the sets opulent, the cast of characters over- whelming. It is a lavish production. And that is my major criticism. There is so much going all the time that the eye and the ear are frequently in competion with each other to discern what's happening. And at times I could have sworn I was in Renassaince Italy - not England. As always, there seems to be no getting away from historical inaccuracies which makes me a bit crazy! But it is a sin all of these historical productions share, and to allow them to ruin the entire experience (if there are no mortal sins) is to overlook all of the positive. I still find the comparative simplicity of the BBC Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen the best and most refreshing of all the recent Elizabeth productions.

Ok

Helen Mirren es sinónimo de calidad y en esta serie lo demuestra con creces. Calidad de imagen buena al igual que el audio.

Ein sagenhaftes Werk, wunderbar besetzt, grandios gespielt: 210 Minuten englische Geschichte, von denen keine Sekunde langweilig ist. Historisch gesehen ist diese Verfilmung mit Helen Mirren (der einzigen Schauspielerin, die beide Queens Elizabeth gespielt hat) viel authentischer als die Inszenierung mit der ebenfalls großartigen Cate Blanchett, deren zweiter Teil soeben in die Kinos gekommen ist. Teilweise sind dort die Abweichungen so groß, dass Kenner der englischen Geschichte manchmal schon schmerzlich zusammen zucken dürften. Hingegen ist die Geschichte der alternden Königin in der HBO-Produktion zum größten Teil historisch getreu wiedergegeben worden, klar, im Schlafzimmer war niemand dabei und ein Treffen Elizabeths mit ihrer großen Rivalin Maria Stuart hat laut der verfügbaren Quellen nie statt gefunden. Der Regisseur behilft sich hier mit einem Trick und macht daraus eben eine Geheimmission. Spätestens seit Schiller wissen wir, welchen dramaturgischen Reiz eine Konfrontation der beiden Gegenspielerinnen bietet, auch wenn man es dabei mit den Fakten nicht so genau nimmt. Jedoch zeigt die kurze Szene hervorragend die unterschiedlichen Auffassungen von Herrschaft, die die beiden Queens hatten. Überhaupt gelingt es der Inszenierung, sehr viel vom Charakter Elizabeths wiederzugeben, etwa ihre ambivalente Haltung was Marias Hinrichtung angeht, ihr stetes Zaudern. Hervorragend wird auch der Aufstieg und Fall des Grafen Essex geschildert. Wie gesagt, Zeugen eventueller intimer Zweisamkeiten gibt es nicht. Doch es unterliegt der künstlerischen Freiheit, solche Leerstellen aufzufüllen. Und in der Mirren-Verfilmung werden dabei bekannte Fakten nicht drastisch verfälscht, wie es in den Blanchett-Filmen (leider) der Fall ist. In der HBO-Produktion dient Erfundenes immer einem absolut legitimen Zweck, indem man etwa zeigt, wie einsam ihre herausgehobene Stellung Elizabeth als Mensch machte. Ihre liebsten Männer, Leicester und Essex, sind mit Jeremy Irons und Hugh Dancy ebenfalls hervorragend besetzt. Die historische Akkuratesse dieser Inszenierung schreckt auch vor drastischen Folter- und Hinrichtungsszenen nicht zurück. Auch das gehörte zum "Golden Age" der Queen Elizabeth. Bei allem Fokus auf den Herzensangelegenheiten der Königin, denen vielleicht mit Schielen aufs Publikum sehr viel Platz eingeräumt wird, biedert sich diese Verfilmung nicht so sehr an unser heutiges Verständnis an, wie es etliche Vorgänger-Streifen taten. Es war eine andere Zeit, mit anderen Lebensumständen und philosophischen und auch psychologischen Voraussetzungen. Wenn eine Inszenierung dies außer Acht lässt, missrät sie zur Kostümklamotte. Das ist hier nicht der Fall. Das Bonus-Material der DVD enthält unter anderem auch die heraus geschnittenen Szenen sowie visuelle Effekte im Vorher/Nachher-Modus. Diese anzusehen macht echt Spaß.

Mais surtout quelle actrice !!! Helen Mirren est une actrice remarquable qui peut jouer n'importe quel rôle et ce avec perfection... Ses films sont incontournables. Alors, si vous aimez le cinéma, vous savez ce qu'i vous reste à faire !!!! :o)

I am an unabashed, gushing Helen Mirren fan, due in large part to this piece of work. In Elizabeth I, this sumptuous, lusty look at the latter half of the Virgin Queen's reign, we are treated not only to the great range of Mirren's acting skill, but also to a beautifully told history lesson (there are very minor historial liberties taken; Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots likely never met, and if they did, it would've been a well-kept secret, as is intimated here). In the first half of the story, we examine Elizabeth's complex and passionate relationship with Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, played with great depth by the always terrific Jeremy Irons; we also look at the pressure put on her to marry and to secure the English Protestant Church, and at her difficulty in deciding to have her Catholic cousin executed. While I will acknowledge that the film does get off to a little bit of a slow start, I think that this is actually a good thing because the audience is so ready and yet so unprepared for the first time Elizabeth I loses her temper. The first half covers about 10 years and is extremely well done; the writing, directing, costumes, sets, and acting are all absolutely first-rate. Patrick Malahide, Ian McDiarmid, Jeremy Irons, and of course Dame Helen are all spellbinding in every scene, and with the exception of Irons (who does not appear in the second half for reasons I will not specify so as not to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it), their performances continue to amaze in the second half. By 1589 things had changed a great deal for Elizabeth I; her reign is secure but her self-esteem is not. With age she has become more vain and more prone to lashing out at those who threaten to show her up, and there are many instances in this half of the story where she loses her temper. It is nearly impossible for me to pick a favourite scene, so I won't; I will simply say that all of the scenes where she is angry or upset left me sitting wide-eyed, not only due to Mirren's unparalleled acting skills but also due to the type of woman that Elizabeth I was. Mirren showcases her passion, her vulnerability, her fierceness, and her devotion to her country and her people in every scene, and she is truly amazing to watch (for the record: I knew almost nothing about her before I saw this film; seeing her in this made me want to see everything she's done to date and though she is great in everything, this is my favourite performance of hers). As in the first half, we are treated to a look at how Elizabeth I's personal decisions and behaviour affected her political decisions, and it's fascinating. I cannot say enough about this movie. Also, I have not mentioned Hugh Dancy or Tobey Jones yet; both are great. Eveything about this piece of work is great, and if you are even remotely interested in British history, costumes, or fabulous performances from ridiculously talented actors, see this. Dame Helen rules.