Rating: R (violence and sexuality)
Length: 124 minutes

Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

French, Spanish

The film follows Queen Elizabeth for her first few years as the Queen of England starting with the death of her heirless half-sister, Mary Tudor. The country is split into two camps, the Catholics and the "heretic" Protestants; Elizabeth falls in the latter while most of the powerful people do not. The writers admit in the extras that though they have gotten the main characters right, they've pretty much had to fill in the blanks with what "could have happened" since there's apparently no detailed written record to go by.

This is the first major role given to Cate Blanchett and she certainly pulls it off as flawlessly as she had her other roles since (she was nominated for an Oscar but somehow Gwyneth Paltrow won it that year; Cate did win the Best Actress Award from numerous other sources and rightfully so). The director also took the time to surround her with a very strong supporting cast (see below) and the costumes/sets were very well done.

"Elizabeth" had so much promise with the political and religious intrigue yet it spends much of it's time in a contrived love story between the queen and one of her Earls. Too much fluff, boat rides and dancing and not enough character/motivational development with everyone around her; her friends and the people plotting against her. When things look like they're going to get interesting we're suddenly transported back to the queen and her boyfriend making eyes at each other.

• Audio Commentary with Director Shekhar Kapur
• The Making of Elizabeth
• Elizabeth Featurette
• Cast And Crew Biographies
• Photo Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer And Teaser

Elizabeth is an entertaining film with great acting that is perfect for people that don't like a lot of details; they can simply accept that people do what they do without wanting to know why. I enjoy watching movies about English Royal family (Becket, The Lion in Winter, etc.) for all of the political plots and subplots that are constantly being spun in the background, not for fluff. To be fair, I just watched Elizabeth I a few days ago which might have lead to a more harsh review of this film than it might have deserved; then again probably not. This is an enjoyable movie that simply failed to meet my expectations but is worth watching to see how strongly Cate Blanchett started her career and, if for no other reason, we should all be happy that this film was made.

Shekhar Kapur   [Elizabeth: The Golden Age]

Fanny Ardant - Mary of Guise

Richard Attenborough - Sir William Cecil

[The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Great Escape, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park II: The Lost World]

Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth I

[The Aviator, Bandits, Charlotte Gray, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Heaven, The Good German, Indiana Jones IV, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring/The Two Towers/Return of the King, The Missing, The Talented Mr. Ripley]

Kathy Burke - Queen Mary Tudor

Eric Cantona - Monsieur de Foix

Vincent Cassel - Duc d'Anjou

[Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc]

Rod Culbertson - Master Ridley

Christopher Eccleston - Duke of Norfolk

[Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others]

Joseph Fiennes - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

[Enemy at the Gates, The Great Raid]

Paul Fox - Male Martyr

John Gielgud - The Pope

[Becket, Chariots of Fire, The Elephant Man, First Knight, Gandhi, Julius Caeaser, Merlin, Murder on the Orient Express, The Scarlet and the Black]

Liz Giles - Female Martyr

Edward Hardwicke - Earl of Arundel

Emily Mortimer - Kat Ashley

[The Ghost and the Darkness, Scream 3]

Geoffrey Rush - Sir Francis Walsingham

[Elizabeth: The Golden Age, House on Haunted Hill (1999), Intolerable Cruelty, POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl/At World's End]