FILM ONLY Spoiler warning - look guys, it's a historical film so most viewers will know the plot. To avoid talking about the plot in order to preserve the surprise would be like writing about a second world war movie and expecting the reader to not know who won. So since any historical film assumes that the viewers know at least a bit about the story I hope you'll go easy on me for plot 'infringements' - I think they are necessary and you can be expected to know the key bits. ******************************** Elizabeth the Golden Age is a wonderful feast of frocks and soaring ceilings - fab architecture, atmospheric floaty fabrics, great ...  Read the complete review

Ten years ago, the original Elizabeth attracted brickbats and bouquets in equal measure, for its fascinating, yet highly inaccurate portrayal of the early years of the life of Queen Elizabeth I. Now, the same team are back to look at another turbulent period in that monarch’s life: the Spanish Armada. Like its predecessor, The Golden Age pays scant regard to minor details like historical facts and plays fast and loose both with characters and continuity for the sake of a story. Yet, this isn’t as annoying as you might suppose. My specialist area in history is the Tudors, so I thought the inaccuracies would spoil the films for me. Yet it doesn’t actually ...  Read the complete review

I recently watched the original 'Elizabeth' movie from 1998, I wanted to remember how the film went and what links could be made between this film and its predecessor. Apart from director Shekhar Kapoor, Geoffrey Rush and star Cate Blanchett it's all change. The years in between have been kinder to Cate Blanchett. She has matured hugely as an actress - starring in excellent films like Notes on a Scandal (a film where she again flexed her British vocal tones.) She appears much more confidant and mature, as does her alter on screen ego. The film continues the story of Elizabeth I and her reputation as the 'virgin queen'. In this film she meets the ...  Read the complete review

Directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I and Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham reprising their roles from the 1998 film Elizabeth The Virgin Queen. The other main characters in this film are Walter Raleigh played by a buccaneering Clive Owen and King Philip II of Spain played by Jordi Molla. The action is set in 1585 and the plot revolves around the activities of Phillip who is a devout catholic. His mission is the spread of Catholicism and with England the last kingdom in the whole of Europe to practice as Protestants he tries to rally Europe against England. Elizabeth holds firm despite attempts to marry her off to European ...  Read the complete review

"People called me the virgin queen, unmarried. I have no master. Childless. I am the mother of my people. I am the queen. I am myself..." This is an amazing movie about the historical drama of Queen Elizabeth of England starred by Cate Blanchett as the Queen. Queen Elizabeth are the greatest queen of England, whose duties took all her life to serve the kingdom that she loved. She sacrifices her personal life, trapped between the duty as a queen and a life as a woman. She had to choose and she made a great choice between options. Had to face the treason and the rebellions inside the kingdom and went to the battlefield and fight ...  Read the complete review