• click here to return to the homepage •
Home > Categories > Movies > Drama > The Virgin Queen review
Vulnerable and imperious, passionate and unreachable, from teenage princess to accomplished queen, forever torn between duty and personla longing. The reigh of Elizabeth I is exposed in lavish and spectacular style. Amidst an atmosphere of plotting and intrigue, torture and murder, Elizabeth reigned alone for more than 40 years.
This captivating drama sees the beguiling queen defend her throne and lead troops into battle against the Spanaish Armada. Zealous and loving, her duty as monarch always took precedence over her emotions. The Virgin Queen delivers the fears and loathings, loves and pleasures of television's favourite monarch.
Lara Croft : Tomb Raider 2 - The Cradle of Life
Time Team - Friars Wash and Other Digs
Life As We Know It
The Next Three Days
Bewitched
Casper
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Hercules
Million Dollar Arm
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Battle Of The Sexes
RBG
Swimming With MenProduct reviews...
Members are welcome to post a review. You will need to log in to post yours.
Review by: bronnie (Bronwyn)
Dated: 26th of March, 2009
The Virgin Queen mini series tells us of the life of Queen Elizabeth I. It begins by showing us how she was a victim of Queen Mary's reign of terror, through to her love affair with fellow royal childhood friend Robert Dudley. Following this the movie focuses on her triumph of the Armada, and of course it portrays her final years and her relationship with her protege, The Earl of Essex.
I found this mini series to be a great portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I, however I must admit I felt that at times Anne-Marie Duff, who played Queen Elizabeth, was quite forced in her character, almost as if she was out of her depth in this role.
I thought the costumes were absolutely stunning and very accurate of the attire of that era. However in saying that I felt the hair and make up looked quite odd. Her wig was great, but how it was positioned on her head, showed more head than hair. Yes there was lots of hair but it went upwards, not around the head. The nape of her neck was bare, and she showed lots of forehead. I felt this took the line of vision away from the head. I zoomed in on the skin rather than the character itself. When Queen Elizabeth finally aged, she looked very ugly. I don't know if she was actually an ugly lady or not, but I felt the older Queen Elizabeth looked fake, especially with the added veins that were put on her neck.
The classification on this film is rated M as it has violence. Since you don't actually see anyone getting killed I felt this lacked realism.
I feel the mini series dragged on a bit. At 198mins (3hrs 18mins) long you need to be in the right head space, be uninterrupted and to like historical/periodical movies to enjoy it.
Joanne Whalley played her part as Queen Mary tremendously. She was very believeable, and it was a sad but joyous moment for Queen Elizabeth when she died. Everyone thought she was having a baby, however it turned out to be a tumour.
I can't say that I thought Tom Hardy (Robert Dudley) was the studmuffin I'd heard about, but in saying that I didn't think any of the leading characters were picked for their great looks. I guess people really weren't as beautiful back in the 16th Century as we are today. We have too much technology out now to help us in that area :)
Random listing from 'Movies'...
Set in World War II England, C S Lewis' timeless adventure follows the exploits of the four Pevensie siblings - Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley) - who enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of hide-and-seek at the rural estate of a mysterious professor.
Once there, the children discover a charming, once peaceful land inhabited by ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Education is what you get when you read the fine-print. Experience is what you get when you don't."
anonymous
