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Elizabeth
Gramercy Pictures


7.1

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 14 votes
Read user comments
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FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for violence and sexuality

Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough, Sir John Gielgud, and Judi Dench

This historical drama chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth I, from her days as an innocent young woman through her transformation into England's legendary "Virgin Queen." Formidable. Untouchable. Unbeatable... (Gramercy Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Michael Hirst
DIRECTED BY:	Shekhar Kapur
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 25, 1999 Video: September 14, 1999 Theatrical: November 6, 1998
RUNNING TIME:	121 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK

Received 7 Academy Award nominations in 1999, including Best Picture.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

This historical epic about the "virgin queen" of England's early life moves with the crackling urgency of a contemporary political thriller.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The fabulous Elizabeth reinvents English Tudor history as gangster movie.

Variety David Rooney

Superior historical soap opera that shrewdly sidesteps all the cliches of British costume drama with its bold, often modern approach.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Where Elizabeth really triumphs over its dusty source material is in transforming all this boring history into a real, rip-roaring adventure tale.

Film.com Peter Brunette

What's best about the film is not the hot romance, but the coldness that lies at its heart.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The texture of the film is enough to recommend it, even apart from the story.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A fascinating whirl of politics and palace intrigue.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

This is a sensual, psychologically modern costume drama influenced by both "The Godfather" and gals' guides to empowerment.

Salon.com Laura Miller

A handsome, diverting coming-of-intrigue story studded with meaty performances.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Elizabeth's most triumphant aspect is Blanchett's transformation from saucy, spirited toe-tapper to iconic Virgin Queen.

Slate David Edelstein

The movie's approach makes for juicy melodrama.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

This Elizabeth is presented as a glamorously stressed-out modern woman who must cope with a super-intense case of having it all.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Bollywood meets The Godfather.

Time Richard Schickel

This darkly sumptuous, hypnotically complex movie ought to have many constituencies.

Los Angeles Times Jack Matthews

Period movies inevitably reflect more about the period in which they're made than the period of their subject, and rarely has that been more evident -- or more distracting -- than it is with Elizabeth.

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

Despite the florid trailers' emphasis on bodice-ripping romantic imagery, Elizabeth is above all a political thriller.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Elizabeth works in a number of ways. It's a feminist film. It's also a kind of spy thriller and a superior historical drama.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Acted and directed with great energy and imagination.

San Francisco Examiner Walter Addiego

History rendered with enough brains and imagination to more than make up for its few stumbles.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's a rousing adventure that keeps the audience involved for the entirety of the two hour running time while opening a window into the culture that gave birth to Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Francis Bacon, and William Shakespeare.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Bad history it may be, but Elizabeth is a movie that makes you want more, as it plays to the myth of history's great actress-monarch, a character who puts today's tinselly political heros and heroines (royal and not), to shame.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The film belongs to Blanchett -- this hellcat Virgin Queen is something to see.

Newsweek Jeff Giles

Kapur can't decide if he's making an art movie or a melodrama, an opera or a soap opera.

New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer

Although frustratingly confusing -- often the viewer can't be sure who is on which side or why -- the film brims with physical grandeur, exquisite costumes, and a captivating performance by Blanchett.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The movie -- directed in such a frenziedly self-conscious style you often wonder whether the camera will topple over on his actors.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

But much of it, like its subject, is so cryptic, distractingly stylish, and impenetrably posed that it's rough going most of the way.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Whether the story's bald ironies are historical cliches or just dramatic ones, they convey only platitudes about gender, sexuality, and power.

TV Guide Sandra Contreras

The conspicuous lack of emotional resonance makes this film "Queen Margot's" poor cold English cousin.

USA Today Mike Clark

A notably undynamic treatment of Protestant Elizabeth I's ascension to the British throne.

Film Threat Ron Wells

All of the nutty editing and the loud score just grated on my nerves and failed the story.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Auska P. gave it a10:
I just love Cate. She is just a perfect Elizabeth!!

Ken B gave it a10:
This is a great period piece, period.

Stupac gave it a10:
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.

Sonya W. gave it a0:
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.

Briannna D. gave it a 10:
I thought this movie was awsome!I had recently finished a report on Queen Elizabeth and they didn't miss one detail.

Hannah W. gave it a 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!

Pat C. gave it a 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.

Elizabeth Gramercy Pictures

Elizabeth
Gramercy Pictures