Did anyone see "Elizabeth" on HBO last night?

[LostinVA]

OMG... it was so good! Great cast. I worship Helen Mirren... or rather, Dame Helen. VERY accurate prodfuctiuon... but with HBO and the Beeb involved, not surprised!

Tomorrow night... we get to see that pretty toad Essex get hoisted on his own petard... literally!

Slimy SOB.

Queen Bess pretty much rocked!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. It was awesome!

Best version of Elizabeth I've ever seen. And I'm old enough to have known the original!

[LostinVA]

6. I knew your last name was Leicester!

[sarge43]

11. "And I'm old enough ...."

Snerk. Yes, court life was exciting, wasn't it Talla? :silly:

Wow, Mirren and Irons, what a combo. I don't have HBO, so I pray they bring it out on DVD. I'm there.

[Ava]

2. i didn't see it on HBO

but i saw the "elizabeth" that came out a few years ago. it was awesome!

[Hissyspit]

9. But not very historically accurate.

I hope the new one gets the facts better. Having said that, I did enjoy the Cate Blanchett version as a movie.

[philosophie_en_rose]

16. You should try the Masterpiece Theatre Version with Ann Marie Duff

I think it's called "The Virgin Queen" and came out last year.

[necso]

18. I had a hard time getting into it

(the Masterpiece Theater version) the first time it showed.

But when it came around the second time, I developed considerable empathy for good Queen Bess.

A great woman, and a top-flight player.

Highly recommended program.

Would be a great block broadcast.

[tjdee]

3. Helen Mirren was fantastic....she's got the Emmy for sure.

I only caught the end, but she was just wonderful. I really enjoyed she and Jeremy Irons together.

[maveric]

4. Helen Mirren is a Goddess!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000545/
I loved her in "Some Mother's Son".

[Fredda Weinberg]

5. Elizabeth never met Mary

The Duke of Anjou was scarred by smallpox and had a deformed spine.

I wasn't watching carefully, but the movie seemed to imply that the Duke of Anjou died soon after leaving Englad and was murdered. He died three years later - but I believe it was from natural causes.

[LostinVA]

7. Mary and Elizabeth meeting

The point was that no one knew about it -- a bit of license, but a very fascinating "what if."

Re: the Duke of Anjou -- I didn't get that he was murdered, and it actually was several years after the time he left until the time he was killed. I watched it again today, so I'm sure of that part.

[Fredda Weinberg]

8. Where did you get that Hercule François was killed?

And if the movie were historically accurate, he'd be a scarred hunchback.

[LostinVA]

10. Because Elizabeth was told he had died

Why are you being so argumentative over a TV thread in the Lounge???

There was a scene where one of Elizabeth's advisers told her Anjou had died, and it was right after a SUPER that had "X amount of years later."

Anjou had been a very handsome youth, had smallpox scars, and was not a hunchback, although he had a spinal deformity. Elizabeth and Anjou did indeed become very, very close despite the close to 20-year difference.

The movie was very historically accurate, although it wasn't perfect. No historical work of fiction is perfect. Good grief. There is really no need to get so hyper about this.

[6000eliot]

17. Seven years later

[Fredda Weinberg]

20. Ah, when you lose the argument, resort to ad hominem

We're talking history here - facts that are either accurate or not. Someone appeared to be fooled because the BBC was involved ... I'm simply pointing out that liberties were taken.

Hyper? That's in the eye of the beholder I suppose. I never denied Elizabeth was fond of her "frog" - just that he wasn't as attractive as the actor who portrayed him.

Call it an historical work of fiction - fine. See? We can agree!

[CBHagman]

14. Oh, that one's been around at least since Schiller.

The play Maria Stuart also takes some liberties in that department, creating a climactic confrontation scene between the heroine and her tormenter. I don't know if Schiller signed on as a consultant for cable channels. :-)

[jukes]

12. yes

marvelous production.

i'd be ms. mirren's bodyguard, CHEAP.

or her cabana-boy!:D

[jukes]

13. HI! LiV

:hi:

[Pithlet]

15. It was very good.

I can't wait for part two, tonight. It's supposed to be the better of the two. It wasn't perfectly historically accurate, but it was close enough that it didn't diminish my enjoyment. It was better in that regard than any other production I've seen regarding that era. And, the gory scenes! Usually the producers will show the victim walk stoically to the chopping block, and then it cuts to the ax falling down and out of the scene, and that's it. This one didn't spare a detail. It really showcased the brutality of that time period without overdoing it, IMO. Gotta love HBO.

[AtomicKitten]

19. My fave movie even though Shakespeare in Love won best picture

Elizabeth is really an excellent film.