Elizabeth
User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 29
  3. Negative: 5 out of 29

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  1. EricC
    Apr 6, 2009
    3
    Saw this for the first time a few days ago, and I'm astonished by how bad a film it is. How do you take such an interesting and entertaining slice of history and turn it in to such a bland, unengaging movie? Too often, the movie is overdramatic when it needs to be subtle. The actors bounce around from overacting to just phoning in their perfomances (which is wildly disapointing considering the incredible cast). The director is clueless how to shoot the movie, clearly believing all that is needed to establish mood and atmosphere is turning down the lights. The script is completely generic and empty period babble (those that compare this to the Godfather; have you ever even seen the Godfather?). And the edidting, my god. The scenes are just lazily slapped together, giving the film an awful and confounding flow that I can only compare to a daytime soap opera. Obviously, fans of period epics will gobble this up (and the Academy loves them some period epics). For everyone else, this is just a massive mess of a movie. I can't even imagine what the universally panned sequel was like.… Collapse
  2. AuskaP.
    Feb 14, 2008
    10
    I just love Cate. She is just a perfect Elizabeth!!
  3. KenB
    Oct 11, 2007
    10
    This is a great period piece, period.
  4. Stupac
    Dec 14, 2006
    10
    If the only flaw you can find in this movie is the historical inaccuracy, then you should realize that this movie isn't a book report. It's not a historical documentary. Any inadequacies are meant to drive the story or provide elements of the overall theme: how Elizabeth overcame all the plotting against her and consolidated her power... As far as I'm concerned, this movie is the Godfather of period epics. If you want to learn the facts about Elizabeth (or anything for that matter), take a class or read a book. This is a movie, and it's about feeling and meaning. So enjoy it.… Expand
  5. SonyaW.
    Aug 27, 2006
    0
    THe worst. Nothing accurate about it save the fact Elizabeth was Henry VIII's daughter. After that bit of fact, the rest of it goes sharply downhill. Costumes are nice. If you know nothing about the history, you'll be entertained, if you know the facts, you'll be disgusted.
  6. BriannnaD.
    Mar 21, 2004
    10
    I thought this movie was awsome!I had recently finished a report on Queen Elizabeth and they didn't miss one detail.
  7. HannahW.
    Jan 31, 2004
    9
    Fantastic, Kapur's use of colour is fantastic! A great Brithish film. I recomend anyone to see it you wants to find out about how brutal British history really was!
  8. PatC.
    Jan 6, 2004
    9
    Counts the cost of assuming political power. And Blanchette is simply the greatest actress in the world. I don't know if this show is historically accurate, but intuitively one would think so. And Elizabeth is still revered as the savvy politician who presided over England's emergence as a world power. Such a film is important to remind us what a really good film is. My only complaint is, God, there must have been something fun about going through that experience. There must be good perks for being queen? Lighten up already. … Expand
  9. RodH.
    Aug 29, 2003
    1
    Boring, inaccurate, cliched and about as thrilling as slamming my dick in a door. Blanchett may know how to act, but Kapur would have been better to learn the facts of Elizabeth's reign before making the movie. The storyline is a typical women's rights sell-out, has an over telescpoed plot and is a pure disapointment from the Brittish film industry. Has the character development level of a dramatised Mills and Boon.… Expand
  10. EdwinB.
    Mar 16, 2003
    10
    Very intriguing movie, beautiful costumes and actors, exciting from begining till the end. Hopefully they will make a sequel from the rest of the golden age.
  11. RenG.
    May 9, 2002
    10
    Absolutely perfect.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    90
    The fabulous Elizabeth reinvents English Tudor history as gangster movie.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    90
    Superior historical soap opera that shrewdly sidesteps all the cliches of British costume drama with its bold, often modern approach.
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  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    90
    Where Elizabeth really triumphs over its dusty source material is in transforming all this boring history into a real, rip-roaring adventure tale.
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