Download Elizabeth: The Golden Age movie

2007, UK, France

BUY POSTER

Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

Actors:

Jordi Mollà		King Philip ll of Spain
Geoffrey Rush		Sir Francis Walsingham
Aimee King		Infanta
Cate Blanchett		Queen Elizabeth I
John Shrapnel		Lord Howard
Susan Lynch		Annette
Elise McCave		Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton		Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish		Elizabeth Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie		Margaret
Rhys Ifans		Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne		Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin		Savage
Clive Owen		Sir Walter Raleigh
Adrian Scarborough		Calley

Directors:

Shekhar Kapur |

Certification:

Switzerland:12 | Canada:14A | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A ... show all

IMDB Rating:

7.00 out of 10 (3626 votes)

Downloads

pick a version:

HD 1080p ($4.99)

HD 720p ($4.99)

DivX ($2.99)

iPod ($1.99)

Storyline

Taglines:	1: Woman. Warrior. Queen.
Plot Summary:	Nearly a decade after Cate Blanchett drew the attention of audiences and critics alike with ELIZABETH, the Oscar-winning actress returns to the role of the Virgin Queen. Though the protestant ruler has been on the throne for decades in 1585, Elizabeth I's reign is still under attack from both inside her country and from the continent. Her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), carries the favour of the nation's Catholics as she schemes for the throne from prison, while Spain's King Philip II (Jordi Molla) plots an invasion with the power of his famous armada. But Elizabeth is also concerned with the arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), a charming pirate and adventurer. Unable to reconcile her feelings with her crown, she encourages Bess (Abbie Cornish), her beloved lady-in-waiting, to pursue a relationship with Raleigh. Nine years haven't dulled Blanchett's ability to play this—or any other—character with an impressive range of fire and tenderness. Her chemistry with the infinitely watchable Owen is one of the film's highlights. As in ELIZABETH, director Shekhar Kapur doesn't restrict himself from using artfully constructed shots that aren't normally used in period dramas. It's a modern retelling of history, and Kapur and his director of photograpy, Remi Adefarasin, aren't content to let the film have the standard look of many films in the genre. Costume designer Alexandra Byrne follows the same logic, creating stunning dresses for Elizabeth that draw inspiration both from modernity and the time period. If Blanchett weren't such a gifted actress, the gorgeous costumes might threaten to overtake her as the star of the film.
Plot Keywords:	historical \| queen-elizabeth-i \| queen \| 1500s \| sequel \| character-name-in-title \| ... show all Complete list of certificates: hide historical \| queen-elizabeth-i \| queen \| 1500s \| sequel \| character-name-in-title

Stills Gallery

These are the best stills we have for the "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" movie. Click on small image for larger view.

Customer Reviews

Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

Reviews found: 1, viewing from 1 to 1

Page: 1

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

posted on 7 May 2008

Queen Elizabeth I caught a lucky break with her navy's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Her luck runs out, though, with "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a gorgeous but flaccid film about that incident that is all the more disappointing for being a sequel to 1998's superb "Elizabeth."

I said the new film is about the war with Spain, but that's not entirely true. The film is "about" several things, and that's its problem. Where the 1998 movie, also directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett, painted a compelling portrait while also telling a riveting narrative, the sequel simply takes a chunk out of Elizabeth's life and says, "Here's what happened during these years," without bothering to shape it into a story.

It's about her friendship with Sir Walter Raleigh; about the beef with Spain; about the Catholic/Protestant division; about her desire to be a fulfilled, happy woman despite also being the queen and thus confined in so many ways. But it doesn't focus enough on any of those things to fairly say that it's what the film is "about."

And so this good-looking but dull film floats listlessly from one thing to another, with only a few blessed consistencies to keep us involved. One is Blanchett's characteristically impeccable performance as the queen, a woman capable of being royal and splendid during state dinners, capricious and angry in the face of betrayal, and shrewd in matters of war and politics. Blanchett's approach is to play Elizabeth as a woman first, queen second. Even with her outlandish costumes and pancake makeup giving her an air of untouchable regality, Blanchett's Elizabeth remains recognizably human in her imperfections.

She's joined this time around by Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, the dashing, chivalrous New World explorer who is devoted to Elizabeth both as his sovereign and as the object of his affection. Elizabeth likes that he speaks to her honestly, and she's envious of the freedom he has to jaunt around the world. Yet a full-blown romance is not in the cards, and deep down they both know it. Owen is a perfect choice for the character, very nicely balancing Raleigh's political and personal loyalty with his manly frustration over Elizabeth's mercurial behavior.

Geoffrey Rush is the only lead besides Blanchett to return from the first film, reprising his role as the queen's trusted adviser Walsingham. Once again, Walsingham's machinations are positively Karl Rovian, the type of snake in the grass you're glad to have on your side but wouldn't want to be in opposition to. His role is expanded somewhat this time -- we actually meet his family -- yet somehow he's not as vivid a character as he was in the first film. This time, he's merely a function of the plot.

One of the other consistencies is Remi Adefarasin's breathtaking cinematography. Oscar-nominated for the first "Elizabeth," he returns to the vast, echoey palace halls and finds more stunning shots of richly detailed sets and costumes.

The trouble, I suspect, is in the screenplay. Written by Michael Hirst (the first "Elizabeth") and William Nicholson ("Gladiator"), it is less a study of Elizabeth's character and more a recitation of the things that occurred during the middle years of her reign. It's not cohesive -- nor, for that matter, is it much of a stickler for historical accuracy. That's fine if you're only using history as the backdrop for an interesting story, but if the history is the story, then shouldn't you adhere to it?