Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD] | ![Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QclYBsHcL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Shekhar Kapur
Actors: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy New: $4.43
You Save: $35.55 (89%)
New (22) Used (16) from $3.71
Rating:  152 reviews
Sales Rank: 8403
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: HD DVD
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 02129
UPC: 025195021296
EAN: 0025195021296
ASIN: B000ZOXDG4
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Universal Pictures Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) In 1998's Elizabeth, Shekhar Kapur added a layer of suds to his history lesson; the director follows the same audience-pleasing recipe in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Since the first film, Blanchett scored an Oscar for her note-perfect rendition of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, and she plays the preternaturally bemused monarch in a similar fashion. By 1585, Elizabeth I is an experienced ruler about to face two of her biggest challenges: betrayal by her Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart (Control's Samantha Morton), and invasion by the Spanish Armada. It isn't so much that the ProtestantElizabeth wishes to rid England of "papists," butthat she wants her country to remain free from foreign domination. Closer to her home, she enjoys asisterly relationship with lady-in-waiting Bess (rising Aussie star Abbie Cornish). That changes when Sir Walter Raleigh (a dashing Clive Owen) hits the scene. In order to continue exploring the New World, he seeks the queens sponsorship. She is charmed, but Raleigh only has eyes for Bess. As in the previous picture, Elizabeth enjoys better luck at affairs of state than affairs of the heart, butthe conclusion is more beatific than before (and Kapur intends a third installment if Blanchett is willing).
Amazon.com
In 1998's Elizabeth, Shekhar Kapur added a layer of suds to his history lesson; the director follows the same audience-pleasing recipe in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Since the first film, Blanchett scored an Oscar for her note-perfect rendition of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, and she plays the preternaturally bemused monarch in a similar fashion. By 1585, Elizabeth I is an experienced ruler about to face two of her biggest challenges: betrayal by her Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart (Control's Samantha Morton), and invasion by the Spanish Armada. It isn't so much that the Protestant Elizabeth wishes to rid England of "papists," but that she wants her country to remain free from foreign domination. Closer to her home, she enjoys a sisterly relationship with lady-in-waiting Bess (rising Aussie star Abbie Cornish). That changes when Sir Walter Raleigh (a dashing Clive Owen) hits the scene. In order to continue exploring the New World, he seeks the queen's sponsorship. She is charmed, but Raleigh only has eyes for Bess. As in the previous picture, Elizabeth enjoys better luck at affairs of state than affairs of the heart, but the conclusion is more beatific than before (and Kapur intends a third installment if Blanchett is willing). Elizabeth: The Golden Age is a rush of royal intrigue, bloody torture, fantastic headpieces, and irresistibly ripe dialogue, like "I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!" To Kapur, victory for the Virgin Queen was a viable alternative to sex. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Elizabeth - The Golden Age on DVD 
More from Cate Blanchett | 
British Royalty on DVD | 
More Drama from Universal Studios | Stills from Elizabeth - The Golden Age (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 147 more reviews...
 Fantasy movie... June 7, 2009
A. Senalle
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're not familiar with real history ,like the majority of people are, then this movie would seem like a very entertaning one. On the other hand if you know a bit about history you would realize that this movie is so innacurate that at times it seems like a fantasy. Also they portray the spaniards looking like if they were from some South American country(no disrespect)and all of them dress in black to make them look like the bad guys, prince Phillip II is portrayed like a limping weirdo completely out of touch with reality. I just wish Hollywood would make a real good movie about this subject without taking sides and portraying both the English and the Spaniards as accurate as possible the way they really were along with the real reasons why the armada campaign came to be.......
 Nice to look at, boring to sit through May 27, 2009
M
The costumes and props in this movie were incredible. I enjoyed the first Elizabeth movie, so I thought I'd enjoy the sequel. And it starts off promising - but it quickly became tedious and boring. I'm a history buff, I love history movies. But I did not love this one. It had a good amount of historical inaccuracies, and the script was plodding. I let out a sigh of relief when it was over.
Not a disaster but less than commanding May 9, 2009
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
At once more ambitious and less intriguing than its predecessor, Elizabeth: The Golden Age certainly isn't the abject disaster reviewers claimed on its theatrical release, although it's not nearly as engrossing as the original. Unfortunately, while Shekhar Kapur opens up the action and opts for a much lighter palate this time round, with at least a trailer's worth of striking visuals, the results are not particularly compelling. By focusing on the best-known part of the Virgin Queen's reign there's less of the constant sense of danger that marked its predecessor even though it amps up the threat by pitting her not against her own court but the might of the Spanish Empire and its Armada. Yet, being a sequel, it adheres to the `the same but different,' and there's certainly a strong element of deja vu: the dastardly Catholics are still plotting her death, with Rhys Ifans and Samantha Morton taking on the Daniel Craig and Fanny Ardant roles of Jesuit hitman and conspiring Scottish queen. And, as before, history isn't well served, with the film offering the notion that Philip of Spain conspired to force Elizabeth to execute Mary Queen of Scots to give him an excuse for a holy war.
The script certainly could have been better, running down rather than gaining momentum as the Armada approaches and dropping the ball in many of the obvious slamdunks. Certainly if you're going to omit Elizabeth's famous "I may have the body of a weak and foolish woman, but I have the heart of a king" you need to come up with something with more guts and bravado than the tired horseback speech she gives to rally her troops. Even worse, the Armada itself is something of an anti-climax. The almost painting-like CGi effects aren't as much a problem in a film as occasionally stylised as this as are the all-too obvious budget limitations that reduce it to the odd running commentary that makes it somewhat akin to listening to a football game on the radio.
Performances are highly variable. Blanchett is suitably regal in the lead, with Geoffrey Rush and David Threlfall fare best among the courtiers, but Abbie Cornish makes little impression, Rhys Ifans just seems to be going through the motions and Samantha Morton is fairly awful as Mary. Both bland and risibly hammy at the same time, with her risibly overemphatic delivery she feels like a smug prefect in a school play playing up to the gallery rather than a credible conspiring monarch, giving easily the worst performance in the film even after the worst of her performance hit the cutting room floor. Yet the biggest surprise in the film is Clive Owen's Walter Raleigh.
If at first it seems disastrous casting the zombie-like Owen as the representation of the life and love Elizabeth can never have, but, amazingly, for once he almost rises to the occasion. Like many a bad actor he's utterly hopeless in the moments that aren't about him, looking bored when he's supposed to be listening, displaying complete disinterest in his scenes with Abbie Cornish and sleepwalking through the battle with the Armada, but for once he handles his monologues - the best writing in the film - surprisingly well, even changing his expression a few times, though quite why he chooses to play his early scenes with a bad American accent remains a mystery. It's not a perfect performance (the deleted scenes on the DVD show that his flat delivery and lack of timing botched a gift of a scene with Rush), but for the first time there are signs that if he was willing to really put in the work and had a director who wouldn't mistake talking in a bored Coventry accent for a performance he could be a capable jobbing supporting actor.
The 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is a bit disappointingly short on detail in some scenes, though there are a decent set of extras.
 Beautiful Portrayal of Elizabeth I April 21, 2009
A. Zinner (Tennessee)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Picking up shortly after Elizabeth I left off the movie portrays the complicated life of one of England's greatest Monarchs. Elizabeth The Golden Age, shows us the balance which was required of Elizabeth, balancing the incredible tenacity and guts it took to rule England and her fears and longings for real love and security.
Elizabeth's life is a story of overcoming the odds. Born second child of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, she was supposed the be the long awaited and promised son of the King, yet Henry's wishes for a son were dashed upon her birth. In the first movie we see the growth of her strength which Elizabeth must muster to survive, and in The Golden Age we see the strength come into full bloom, the strength she will need to overcome the looming Spanish evasion and the always present question of marriage and producing a male heir.
Europe has become divided by Protestant and Catholic, and Elizabeth's own country and family has fallen along divided lines as well. Queen Mary of Scotland sits to the north imprisoned by Elizabeth, but Mary possesses something that Elizabeth does not have, the backing of Catholic Spain and France. For Elizabeth it is only a matter of time until she will be called upon to do something about the looming threat of Mary. When that time comes we find Elizabeth torn between what must be done to a trader and the rights of a sovereign Queen like herself.
It is this decision which leads to the climax of the movie. Mary is favored by Spain and with the outcome of Mary's fate, Spain steps into action to crush the Protestant [...] Elizabeth. Elizabeth faced with an impeding invasion of the Spanish steps forward to encourage her countrymen in the battle and protect her beloved England.
However The Golden Age is not solely about the battles between countries but the battles of the heart. Elizabeth although known as the Virgin Queen is not without the need of love and passion. Yet Elizabeth knows that this could pose as big a threat to her and her country as the Spanish and French.
This film is truly a feast for the eyes - incredible costumes and sets are only the beginning. I would recommend that one watch The Golden Age after first viewing Elizabeth I. It will assist in knowing where Elizabeth has been and the amount of growth in Elizabeth is amazing to watch.
 Childish, and peppered with thinly-veiled racism... April 4, 2009
A Human (Austin, Texas)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
To begin with, Kate Blanchett is good, no matter what you put her in. But then there is the matter of the director, Shekhar Kapur. This Pakistani born, managed to paint Spaniards in a cartoonish depiction, whereby their walk and mannerisms are equated to The Planet of the Apes. They used several actors who don't even look like Spaniards, and who can't even speak the language! The accents are completely ridiculous. As is typical of right-wing financed films, they got a director of color to push their agenda. It is expected of Hollywood to rewrite history, and paint Spaniards as animals, but this one goes over the top, to the point that it is obvious and laughable. YOU BE THE JUDGE. It is understandable that it must be central to the film to portray Protestantism as "the light" and Catholicism as brutal dogmatism, if you are to paint Elizabeth as the hero that she was. But there are ways of doing it tastefully and with historical accuracy, none of which are present in this film. It is obvious that it isn't for a mature, educated audience, but rather one more of the new wave of light and fluffy period films for a new breed of morons who know nothing about history, and who are easily manipulated and polarized by the new wave of hatred-filled propaganda in the U.S. and England. In a sense, the Neo-Conservatives behind this film, in an attempt to discredit Spaniards, actually made a portrayal of themselves, because THEY are the anachronistic imbeciles that humanity is desperately trying to get rid of. How's THAT for irony?
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