Elizabeth I [DVD]

Helen Mirren portrays Elizabeth I to perfection, this is a truly epic performance by her, with several other well known actors alongside her. A Fantastic watch

Dvd good quality

great movie

I have just reviewed the Glenda Jackson version, so I can compare them. Despite Helen Mirren being an excellent actress, I felt that Glenda Jackson was marginally better. However, as with any historical drama, I cannot comment on the accuracy or otherwise of the portrayal of true events. This time Ian MacDiarmid and Patrick Malahide were superb, and the costumes were exceptional. The outdoor scenes added authenticity, I preferred Jeremy Irons to Robert Hardy. There was too much emphasis in the second DVD on the attraction of The Queen to the young and dashing Earl of Essex, and she displayed some childish and inappropriate behaviour during their many encounters. The scenes of torture and beheading were too gory for some, although those disgusting scenes were part and parcel of life in those days, unfortunately. I am always interested in the background music adding depth and atmosphere to events,but this time it seemed too heavy, intrusive, and not quite what was appropriate for the times. Overall, the series was very good, but beaten by one star by the Glenda Jackson one.

What a film,what a film!!Wonderful acting by an actress who is top of the league,namely Helen Mirren.Then we have the man who for me made this film so powerful,so strong,so memorable.His name?? Jeremy Irons of course.This has to be one of his all time greats in his illustrious career.Elizabeth and Leicester,the beautiful romance that carries on through the ensuing centuries.Their devotion to each other throughout the first half was sheer electricity ~~ his jealousy,her tantrums,his banishment from court for 7 years,and then the wonderful scene of his re-instatement,the love that could not be broken.I loved the part played by the Duke of Anjou.We were expecting an ugly old man,bent and twisted,and,then voila! "What did we see!" but a handsome virile man in his prime who captivated Elizabeth and broke old Leicesters heart.But, as with all loves in Elizabeths life,marriage was not to be alas,as she waved him adieu from an awe inspiring scenery of how London and the Thames must have looked at that time.We must not forget the Scottish Queen,Mary ~~ the perennial thorn in Elizabeths side.How sad to see this devoutly Catholic Queen,despised by all,including her son James the 1st.Then the scene of Mary being decapitated.Dreadful,truly dreadful,especially when the axeman missed her neck and plunged the axe blade into poor Mary's skull instead.There was also plenty of Tudor brutality too,as we see men hung,drawn and quartered in the most gruesome way imagineable.The crowds apparently enjoying this awful spectacle.If you love Elizabethan history then this is a must.The background music is just right,absolutely perfect.It has the elevation of choral Cathedral music,down to heart rending,tenderness with violin strings of sorrow.I always say,a good film is exactly like a good book.You can watch it over and over again and yet,you never tire of it.A film to treasure.

Helen Mirren Nails Queen Elizabeth I. I think I have watched all things about Elizabeth I. I have certainly watched and own most films produced in the last 50 years. Also watched many many documentaries too! And read large books!!. I think this performance by Helen Mirren is 'The Best'!! She is able to portray a picture of an older Queen who is mortal and yet have the confidence of one who has had to portray herself as immortal for all of her life!! In the poem she wrote which is quoted in the film on the Duke of Anjou's final departure back to France, 'I freeze and yet am burned' 'My care is like my shadow....It flies when I pursue it. She says how she feels. Over and over in the film are little dewdrops which give you an incite into Queen Elizabeths' life. Impressive attention to detail and a close atmosphere created by showing the rush matting in the palaces and very low ceilings which gives an oppressive feeling. I come from Plymouth and have been to Sir Francis Drakes' house many times as a child and older, a beautifully preserved Tudor/Elizabethan Estate at' Buckland Abbey', Yelverton on the edge of Dartmoor Devon.This film reminded me of it. Drakes Drum is there too! In the second part Hugh Dancy is a real treat as the Earl of Essex. In the first part Jeremy Irons as the Earl Leicester is perfect. All acting extremely well done. Also the sets. If you want to watch a film that gets fairly near your imagination as to what times were really like then this is the one to watch!! Near perfect in it's genre 🏵️

As expected

Helen Mirren n'est malheureusement pas assez connue en France : elle est so british, terriblement, mais si remarquable ! Bien que le "sujet" ait été régulièrement et savoureusement incarné par les plus grandes, comme un "morceau imposé", elle donne ici dans le rôle d'Elisabeth, les failles imperceptibles d'une femme déjà mûrissante, extraordinairement passionnée, ardente à la fois de fraicheur amoureuse et de devoir politique dévorant.Ceux qui l'ont adorée pour sa justesse émouvante auprès du très grand N. Hawthorne dans "la folie de Georges III", retrouveront les infinies nuances de son jeu dans sa relation avec l'exceptionnel J. Irons - magnifique charmeur vrai, encore et toujours -, très bien secondé dans cette aventure, par H. Dancy dont la belle jeunesse craquante met en valeur les masques blancs de la reine.Magnifique interprétation qui résiste à toute critique, dans une mise en scène historique juste et suffisamment discrète pour justement mettre totalement en relief le talent des acteurs : les splendides P. Malahide, I. McDiarmid et T. Jones. Quel casting !Tom Hooper rend ce film plein de finesses incontournable : un très excellent moment à renouveler sans modération pour apprécier les infinis détails de chaque scène...Un très grand plaisir.J'y retourne immédiatement...

Ok

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)

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

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.

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.