Golden year Queen Elizabeth

Rating: -4

Take a look if you happen to be interested in bygone eras—specifically a shift from the present back about two hours or just a visual feast of old-fashioned times. My rating is primarily based on the fact that the actors did such an incredible job that they managed to keep the film well above average. Between them, Mary Stewart, and King Philip, everyone is deeply convincing. The film truly shines when depicting war preparations, international intrigue, and life within the court; therefore, don't go in expecting fifteen-minute naval battles, rivers of blood, or scenes made by Gibson it’s just not that kind of movie. Best scene: Raleigh offering potatoes to the Queen as a gift.

Characters:
Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) - expertly portrayed; I believe she came the closest to the actual historical figure of the Queen 🙂
Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) - a bit of a surprise to me; he was very good in this pirate role, though I hadn't really noticed his range before... 🙂
The Ambassador of Spain - if this weren't a movie, I'd say the guy was a total son of a bitch. 😁

I was actually just about to sit down and give this one a watch... why hasn't anyone said anything about it yet?

Honestly, this movie is total trash. -2.

I’m definitely planning on catching this. I saw the trailer and honestly, the movie looks incredible.
The only thing is, I have no clue when it actually hits theaters here.
But hey, if AMC Theatres opens up a screening this week... I am absolutely going to see it.😛

What a stunning film!

Cate Blanchett is absolutely phenomenal in this! 👍

It’s just like Joshua Diaz10 said—the Spanish ambassador and his entire entourage are such convincing, dark, and incredibly pompous villains. 😂 😁 Simply brilliant!
And the Spanish King, Philip II, is just so incredibly good, and even his little daughter, the young heiress Isabella—she doesn't say a single word throughout the whole movie, yet she manages to communicate so much just through her eyes and those little glances.

I did find Mary Stewart to be a slightly weaker part of the story, though...

Sir Walter Raleigh (played by Clive Owen) was also a total revelation for me; he was so much better than I expected, especially since I had never really viewed him as much of a "tough guy," pirate, or officer and gentleman before.😉 🙂 😁.

By the way, speaking of Virginia in the USA, which Raleigh famously explored (and even named after the Virgin Mary), there's actually a city called Raleigh out there, isn't there? Jeeeee, 😁 I immediately thought of the city the moment I saw Raleigh on screen, thinking about how he brought all those potatoes and tobacco back to the Queen... hehehehe... definitely worth a watch!

Just wonderful, truly wonderful... :klap: :klap:

I was talking to a friend of mine—arguably the most dedicated Cate Blanchett devotee in the country—and she was adamant that this movie is an absolute disaster. She claims the script is a complete train wreck and that it’s painfully boring. Honestly, I’m on the fence about whether to give it a shot, especially since I actually enjoyed the first installment, even if its historical accuracy was pretty much non-existent.

Look, it’s just the same old Ivanna Orleans nonsense we've seen a million times before, except somehow we're stuck in 2007. And then there's Kate... Honestly, it feels like they're just remaking Cleopatra for the fifty-sixth time, only now it's 2008.

This movie is fantastic, I highly recommend it! It’s subtle and smart. The acting is top-tier across the board—both the British and Spanish cast members are incredible (especially Jordi Molla playing the Spanish King Philip II—truly impressive, first-rate stuff!). The cinematography is gorgeous!!

I have to agree with Charles Ross3; even the little girl playing Isabella is phenomenal. You really need to pay attention to the scene where she gives her father-king this look of barely perceptible, yet totally unmistakable contempt, almost a sense of disgust, the moment he realizes he's lost and drops to his knees. I honestly can't believe such a small child could deliver a performance that powerful. (By the way, you're going to miss it—we're talking a tenth of a second—if you're too busy shoving popcorn in your face, sipping a Coca-Cola, or texting. This definitely isn't a film for people who can't stay focused in a theater). 😁 😁

Cate Blanchett is wonderful: she plays the queen with a bit of a "twist," I'd say... she has this certain quirky charm that I personally wasn't expecting; I thought she might play it a bit more "formally." But man, what a great movie.

One more thing: I feel like the director, Indian Shekhar Kapur, provided a unique departure from our typical Western perception of 'period pieces.' He brought a specific "touch," a new light, and a really distinct aesthetic to everything. You can tell it feels "different" compared to if it had been directed by some European or American filmmaker.

I have to admit, I’m feeling a bit let down. While the first part was much stronger, the movie as a whole just falls flat. The cast is absolutely stellar, but the filmmaking itself is lackluster—it feels like we've seen so many of these scenes before in other films. The transitions between shots felt incredibly rushed and cluttered, which completely stripped away any sense of atmosphere. The only standout moment for me was that beautiful shot of the Queen standing on the rock in the middle of the battle, but honestly, that’s about it. If there's any silver lining, it's that the incredible cast truly carried the entire production on their backs.

I ended up feeling pretty disappointed. Given the caliber of this cast, I was really expecting something more substantial than just a mediocre romance about a queen dealing with some late-blooming teenage angst.

An absolutely phenomenal film! I mean, there are certain parts that aren't exactly handled perfectly—Mary Stewart is just painfully pathetic in some scenes, I guess—but everything else was truly excellent. Especially the depiction of the Spanish court during that era.

The movie’s a solid 4/10. Caught it last night and honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. My only gripe is that it occasionally feels like a high-budget music video or one of those cinematic trailers you see before a video game starts.

Some people might complain that it paints Catholicism in a bad light, but I’m not buying that argument. 😁

It’s a decent movie. Not boring, actually—pretty interesting. The acting is solid, too. But if you're sitting there expecting some massive action-packed adventure, just skip it. Save your time for something else.

Hmm, interesting how polarizing these comments are... but hey, at least nobody is indifferent! That means the movie definitely makes an impact. As a huge fan of the first one and Cate Blanchett (plus some of the other actors 😳), and honestly just obsessed with the costume design and sets in films like this 😬, I seriously can't wait to check this out 😁

I’m giving this a flat three out of ten. Honestly, it’s way too melodramatic for my taste. You could have achieved half those effects without leaning so hard into the cheap pathos. Take that one scene where she’s standing barefoot in a white nightgown, hair blowing wildly in a storm, staring out at the ocean while ships burn and sink, all while the waves swell beneath her as if she’s somehow pulling the strings of God himself... blah blah.😛 And don't even get me started on that final shot, where she looks like some bizarre hybrid of a porcelain doll and the Virgin Mary bathed in divine light.😳 Look, I get it—they were trying to sell the idea that they were God's chosen instruments, but having the movie insist on that being the actual reality was incredibly grating. These people were just humans like us; their faith was merely a convenient excuse to push their own political agendas and grab power however they saw fit. If the film had actually told the story from that perspective, it would have been much more tense and genuinely interesting.
The costume design is solid, but I couldn't help but notice how they slipped up and used certain materials—like that PVC stuff used for the pants under the armor. It literally screams "fake" during the scene where Elizabeth is on horseback with her hair flowing free (hm😕, is that even a wig? Because the whole movie implies she's wearing a wig over short-cropped hair) while she gives a rousing speech to boost her army's morale.
So, a three because of the writing and the costumes. There are plenty of much better movies about Elizabeth.

I was absolutely floored by Cate Blanchett's performance; she was just as captivating as Helen Mirren. I’d give this film a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It does a masterful job of capturing the Queen's external frostiness while simultaneously hinting at that playful, almost childlike spirit hidden underneath.
While the battle sequences are well-executed, I found myself much more drawn to the quieter, more static moments in the story.
I highly recommend giving this a watch if you haven't already.

Dammit, I was hunting for this thread thinking it didn't exist, but here it is after all.

Alright, let me just grab my entry from my "recently watched" list...

"Golden year Queen Elizabeth" - Shekhar Kapur

If we’re going by Polimchev’s rating system, I’d give this a yellow—and honestly, it's leaning pretty hard toward red.

It’s boring, lacks focus, and feels pretentious at times.

The only redeeming quality is that one 5-6 minute sequence near the end where they cut between Elizabeth on the hill and Philip in the palace—the acting and the score actually make that part work quite well.
Everything else? Total waste of time.

Then again, maybe it’s just because I’ve been bingeing six or seven Scorsese masterpieces lately, so my standards are through the roof right now.

I will say, Cate shines in certain moments, and the overall vibe isn't a total disaster.
I haven't seen the first movie or the prequel, though.

ambermoose22 said:I was totally blown away by Cate's performance. Honestly, I felt the exact same way about Helen Mirren.

Really? I didn't even notice Mirren was in it.
I guess Cate just had my full attention.

Nothing to write home about—just your run-of-the-mill commercial flick aimed at the female demographic.

Honestly, there are plenty of much better classics out there dealing with this exact same theme.

Great movie.
The acting was top-notch.
Nice camerawork, interesting angles, and some scenes that felt almost surreal...
The color palette, set design, and costumes were all excellent too.

The film portrays Queen Elizabeth both as a historical figure and as a woman. It offers two perspectives on the same person, showing how she had her own strengths and weaknesses in both roles.

Jealousy and love, uncertainty and understanding, pride and generosity, cowardice and courage, suppressed passion and coldness, anger and composure—the Queen is shown as controversial, unidealized, and stripped bare, both as a ruler and as a woman. But because of that, she feels very much alive and real within the context of the era she lived in. Cate Blanchett masterfully shifts the character's psychological center from a confused, lovestruck woman to a dignified monarch, and finally to a legendary ruler... The film totally met my expectations.