The Tudors - The Complete First Season | 
| Directors: Alison Maclean, Brian Kirk, Charles McDougall, Ciaran Donnelly, Steve Shill
Actors: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, James Frain, Natalie Dormer, Nick Dunning
Studio: Showtime Ent.
Category: DVD
List Price: $42.99
Buy New: $19.50
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Seller: Beary Good DVDs
Rating:  316 reviews
Sales Rank: 223
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 4
Running Time: 556 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 851604
UPC: 097368516045
EAN: 0097368516045
ASIN: B000P12LWY
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
No Description Available.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 1-JAN-2008
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
The Tudors: The Complete First Season may cover the same subject matter as the 1970 BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, but in every other respect it is a different idea of historical drama. Sexy and violent, The Tudors envisions Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) as a young man of both passion and ambition, driven by boundless sexual energy and the desire to establish a legacy early in his monarchy. When he isn't sleeping with any available beauty--heedless of whose daughter or wife a lover might be--he's getting fired up about going to war with France. He is amenable, however, to alternative ideas, including the counsel of his Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey (Sam Neill), who wants his king to sign a treaty of universal peace with all of Europe. Henry's fiery temperament endangers such a move, but Wolsey persists in hopes of gaining France's support for his own, possible ascendance to the papacy. His ambitions are not to be, however, and his fortunes go downhill as Henry's desire to wed Ann Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) puts Wolsey in the position of petitioning Rome for a hearing on the legitimacy of Henry's marriage to Queen Katherine. Henry's shrewd alliance with the king of Spain is also testament to his desire to have more influence over European affairs. But his even greater desire for another woman proves an obstacle there, too. Over the course of the ten episodes on The Complete First Season, Henry's confidence grows as a monarch while his self-interest undercuts his better judgement about making a difference to Europe's progress. While the series makes the historical events rich and captivating, it also makes Henry's love life a voyeuristic delight, full of candlelit flesh and romps in the royal bed. Some of the most fascinating characters in the show are those who figure out the link between Henry's libido and his exercise of power--including Boleyn's own father (Nick Dunning), who encourages Ann to keep up the good work. Sheesh. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 316
 Excellent February 6, 2010
Mr. K. De Soldos (Gold Coast. Australia)
This is an entertaining account of the very famous Henry V111. The characters are all portrayed beautifully. Jonathan RM is very good, Sam Neal, is also very good as the sometimes very conniving character. A little bit of poetic licence is used as to the historic detail, but if not an actual history lesson, you get a very entertaining rendition of the era.
Amazing! February 1, 2010
K. Reika (Paso Robles, CA)
Just the name Jonathan Rhys Meyers, what more do you want! Another "HIT" from Showtime.
 Fair Period Piece January 31, 2010
William Alexander (Spartanburg, SC)
I am not of a single mind on Showtime's Henrician bodice-ripper, "The Tudors." On the one hand, the lavish sets and costumes, and generally above-par acting (which skillfully covers occasional dreadful dialogue) certainly make it watchable. But, it is structured like an extended soap-opera. In a sense, though, Henry's story is exactly that. So, for those who like their historical fiction laden with attractive people, much heavy breathing, and sumptuous glamour, "The Tudors" will not fail to disappoint.
The problem here is from the historical point of view. Many, many others in this thread have complained, and justly so, of the vast liberties taken with commonly accepted historical facts and evidence to truncate the story-line and move the plot along at the break-neck clip the melodrama demands. The "suicide" of Cardinal Wolsey" is especially troubling, as is the conflation of Henry's two sisters into one persona. Alone, liberties like this are not fatal. "I, Claudius," the brilliant BBC miniseries, often used the same technique, and this is sometimes what the limited media of television and film scripting demands. But, the gross liberties taken will astound anyone remotely familiar with the period to the point the series becomes an off-putting bore, contrived to the point of wanting to shut the DVD player off before the next turgid and overblown sex scene.
Further, while many have lavished praise on Jonathan Rhys-Meyers for his portrayal of Henry, especially as a young man, I cannot enirely agree. I am familiar with other work he has done, and I find him both an engaging and accomplished actor. But over the course of the series, while he captures Henry's choleric and lusty nature well, I have not seen him demonstrably grow in the part. The emotional layering I have come to expect from him seems curiously absent. Perhaps he is concentrating on the historical Henry's penchant for engaging in bouts of protracted adolescence, but I do not see any depth to the segue from glittering young monarch to tyrant as much as a protracted exercise in evolving royal petulance, certainly not the probable socio-psychological product of the political and personal forces threatening to rip both Henry and his kingdom into pieces. And the "porn star" looks he casts about, replete with "come-hither" stares and flared nostrils, are sometimes just laughable. Henry VIII, venal party-boy though he was, could also be a man of fine sensitivities, elevated tastes, hellish and murderous spite, and a brilliant mind. And I am just not seeing him come through in whole cloth.
So, is it good? Yes. Is is accurate? No. Can I recommend it? Yes, and no. Just depends on what you are looking for. But if you are one who enjoys, as I mentioned, soap-operatics with a little intrigue thrown in, it's certainly worth a rental if not a purchase.
No firm recommendation one way or the other.
Worth Upgrading to Blu-ray! January 31, 2010
Jason (COLORADO, USA)
The Season 1 of The Tudors on Blu-ray is worth tracking down. I wish Showtime would make The Tudors available in Blu-ray in the U.S., but I was happy to order it from a private seller to get it. If you're a Tudors fan, you definitely have to upgrade to the Blu-ray version!
The Tudors - The Complete First Season January 30, 2010
Courtney L. Hetzel (WI USA)
This was the first opportunity I had to watch the Tudors series. I really enjoyed it. This was a very good product. It was in excellent condition when I received it and I received it promptly. I liked how the seller told me exactly what the product was and in what condition I should expect to receive it in.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 316
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