The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Yes, here we go again ! Hollywood hard at work putting its skew on British history. You can hear the American accents in this effort. Overall, the film is quite good, but it is NOT true to history, which MUST be taken into account. Children in particular (and viewers looking for a history lesson), need to be aware that this is a kind of partial-imaginary, made up, fictional version of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First. It is a great shame that movie-makers, in particular those in Hollywood, will not stay with the known FACTS. I prefer Cate Blanchett as QE, rather than the vastly over-used and over-rated Helen Mirren (who apparently was given a Damehood for portraying both Elizabeths: silly). In my book, this flick rates 6/10, and while it is NOT "film perfection", I can recommend it ~ but ralways bear in mind that it is NOT true history and the script should have been so much better.

Elizabeth is a 1998 'historical' drama portraying the rise of one of history's most notable women, Queen Elizabeth of England. The film first portrays her as a princess who lives out on the countryside before delving into the first few years as the new queen after the death of Mary. It focuses primarily on the perils she faced, both at home and abroad. Directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring the likes of Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Joseph Fiennes, the movie was a huge success at the box office as well as with the critics. It was not only nominated, but also won, several Oscars. After watching it myself, I can see why it was as lauded as it was since it was a very well done film. However, how does it fair in historical accuracy? Well…yes and no. Elizabeth's portrayal as a foil to her half-sister's religious authoritarian-style rule is spot on, especially when recounting the film's gruesome opening. The large-scale opposition of opposition from the Pope is also fairly accurate. The film even mentions England's poor fiscal and military status at the beginning of her reign, nicely done. In spite of all this, the film takes several liberties, both large and small. The death of Mary of Guise at the hand of Walsingham is one such instance, but by far the biggest is the portrayal of Robert Dudley. The move opens with a seemingly accurate depiction of just how close he was to the Queen. The cracks begin to show when Elizabeth discovers Dudley is married, which is a shock to her. In reality she knew of the marriage before she was even Queen. The film takes it even further by having Dudley become involved in a plot to betray Elizabeth. This is quite literally the exact opposite of how their relationship actually was. It is a well-known historical fact that the two remained close friends until his death which devastated her. To go over all of them would be an essay in itself, but simply put the film clearly had no intention of sticking to what actually happened. It is almost insulting to call it a 'historical biography' since it is more of a historical fantasy. All that being said, the movie is still spectacular in all other regards. The acting and cinematography are breath taking, and the score by David Hirschfelder is just timeless. It captures many emotions, from terror to pure magnificence.

The performance in this movie is really the big reason to watch it because she does a great job portraying a younger Queen Elizabeth. I was fascinated by that if not by the story going on around her, or other characters involved in her life. This performance was well deserving of the Academy Award for Best Actress in that year but the movie itself was nothing to write home about, aside from that phenomenal acting job. Just a basic historical drama.That said there's nothing wrong with it and I would recommend watching it. It's just not the kind of movie where all the pieces are great and add up to an "epic" film. It's all well done and the acting is fine, it's just that the titular performance makes this movie rise up above what it would have been without her, which would have been just another average historical drama.

Elizabeth is a realistic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth's ascendance to the throne of England. The casting is good, from the exquisite Cate Blanchett to the fine Joseph Fiennes. Blanchett does a wonderful job at portraying Elizabeth and her Oscar nomination was very well deserved. The production of the film is great. The costumes are wonderfully designed and historically accurate. The makeup is spot on too, hence the Oscar win for best makeup. The movie begins with a scene of "heretics" (people who renounced or went against the Catholic Church being burned, by the order of Queen Mary, aka Bloody Mary. Then we see Mary's death and Elizabeth's ascendance to the throne. It is very uncertain times and her ascendance is a turbulent one, and the film depicts it all very well. The middle part of the movie may have some viewers drifting, since it is slightly slow moving, but the ending is worth staying around for in my opinion. This film is not in the greatest movies of all time category, and it shouldn't be. It's not amazing, but it is well made, and really does the source material justice, and if you are a student studying this time period, or just really interested in history, then I suggest it. 7/10.