ELIZABETH
THE GOLDEN AGE

"I too can stir the wind Sir!"

Tension grows, as King Philip II of Spain (Mollà) laments over the loss of England from the Catholic faith and the imprisonment of Mary Stewart, the Catholic Queen of Scotland, he decides that the country needs to be saved and starts to build a huge armada of ships. Queen Elizabeth (Blancett) is distracted from her royal duties by the arrival of explorer Walter Raleigh (Owen) and Sir France Walsingham (Rush) uncovers an assassination plot that will put the Virgin Queen's life in danger.

The life of Queen Elizabeth I has intrigued storytellers and filmmakers across the ages but Shekhar Kapur's continuation of the story of her life still captivate audiences?

The Virgin Queen's reign from 1558 to 1603 has been dramatised in books, on film and on television numerous times through the ages but in 1998 director Shekhar Kapur told the story of the Queen's accession to the throne of England in 'Elizabeth'. Nine years later he turns to Tudor times to dramatise the events of 1588, a time of exploration and conflict for the Queen and a time that would become known as 'The Golden Age'.

Three storylines run concurrently through the movie and shape the destiny of Elizabeth and her people. Firstly we have King Philip of Spain building an armada of ships to invade England and bring it back into the arms of the Catholic faith. Secondly we have the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots plotting the assassination of Elizabeth so that she would become Queen of England. Finally we have Elizabeth's friendship with and attraction to explorer Walter Raleigh. All of these stories are connected and push the movie towards its gripping conclusion but unfortunately it takes it time getting there.

The splendour and glamour of the Tudor court is recreated with astonishing detail. The costume design is exquisite, guaranteeing Alexandra Byrne another Oscar nomination, with Elizabeth herself wearing a different costume in virtually every scene she graces. The Spanish armada is also recreated with great visual aplomb, utilising computer generated graphics to great effect, with sea battles intermixing with Elizabeth rallying the troops in the usual speech on horseback that seems to grace every battle since Mel Gibson's 'Braveheart'. While the film looks superb, regal in fact, the pacing and lack of any real engagement with most of the characters makes the movie not as riveting as it should have been.

The performances from the cast do lift the movie however. Geoffrey Rush returns as Sir France Walsingham and gives another sterling performance. Samantha Morton is well cast as the traitorous Mary Queen of Scots. Abbie Cornish makes a splash as Elizabeth's lady in waiting Bess, in a role that will really get her noticed. Clive Owen has nothing to do except look dashing and debonair however as Sir Walter Raleigh. He is wasted in a role that needed more development and screen time but instead we get a Tudor version of James Bond.

The movie is all about the performance of Cate Blancett as Elizabeth however and she is completely majestic. One of the finest actresses working in film today, she returns to the role that gained her, her first Oscar nomination and moves the character on from the timid princess who became Queen to the leader and monarch she became remembered for. This is a powerhouse performance from an actress on top form and a role that she will be remembered for.

'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' shows the more regal and leadership qualities of the Virgin Queen but the story itself is far from been royalty. With underused and developed characters, a slow pace with not enough substance but a conclusion that satisfies, the movie is not as epic as it should have been. The performance of Cate Blanchett is astonishing however and worth watching the movie for alone, as this could well be a career defining character.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted Scenes (8.49 mins)
Entitled 'Mary under house arrest', 'Raleigh meets Beth', 'Walsingham questions Raleigh', 'Walsingham warns Beth', 'Elizabeth questions Mary's motives', 'Mary's head', 'Walsingham questions Elizabeth's sources' and 'Elizabeth and Raleigh on horseback', these deleted scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary or introduction to reveal why they were removed.

The Reign Continues: Making Elizabeth: The Golden Age (11.25 mins)
Director Shekhar Kapur, producers Jonathan Cavendish and Tim Bevan and stars Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish take you behind the scenes of 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'. The group talk about continuing the story, the new theme of the film, the famous aspects of Elizabeth's reign and the characters that inhabited the time.

Inside Elizabeth's World (7.24 mins)
Director Shekhar Kapur, producer Jonathan Cavendish, production designer Guy Dyas and star Geoffrey Rush talk about the locations of the movie and recreating the Elizabethan era. The featurette also includes a tour of main sets of the production.

Commanding the Winds: Creating the Armada (12.05 mins)
Director Shekhar Kapur, producer Jonathan Cavendish, production designer Guy Dyas and historian Justin Pollard talk about creating a ship of which one side is Spanish, the other is Raleigh, with other elements used to double for the Ark Royal and the fire ship.

Towers, Courts and Cathedrals (10.44 mins)
Director Shekhar Kapur, producer Jonathan Cavendish, production designer Guy Dyas, historian Justin Pollard and stars Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush talk about the different cathedrals they used to double for St. Paul's in London.

Feature Commentary with Director Shekhar Kapur
The man behind the original and the sequel provides an informative commentary. In it he explains why he wanted to continue the story of the Virgin Queen, the importance of getting Cate Blanchett to return and telling the story of the most famous era in the Queen's reign. This is a good commentary track from an excellent filmmaker.

Trailers
Previews of 'Atonement', 'Definitely, Maybe', 'Charlie Wilson's War' and 'The Other Boleyn Girl'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' is one that fans will enjoy. The featurettes are very informative, covering most aspects of the film's production and the commentary track allows the director to have his say on the sequel. This is a well packaged DVD that will appeal to 'Elizabeth' aficionados.

DVD

Elizabeth

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2007