ANALYSIS:
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE is the second in a proposed trilogy. It deals with Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) in her early 50s. She is still a virgin Queen as the Catholics plot against her still and she puts off getting married to anyone. She becomes enamored with Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Also Mary, Queen of Scots is in her castle prison as she plots to get rid of Elizabeth. Blanchett shows the range of emotions as the character while Owen stands his ground as Raleigh. The naval battle against the Spanish Armada is the high point of this film. Some may say this sequel isn't as good as the first one (which I haven't seen), but it is a good look at history. ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (like any good historical drama) should inspire people to learn more about that time in history. Also listening to the director's audio commentary makes me have more respect for this film and hope the third ELIZABETH film gets made. I like that director Shekhar Kapur stands by the choices he made for the film whether they make this film as good or not as good as the first film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Director Shekhar Kapur talks about the characters and the production of ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE on the film's audio commentary track. He mentions the waves crashing shot was taken from Ryan's Daughter.

The nine minutes of deleted scenes don't amount to much. basically stuff cut for pacing reasons.

Four featurettes are also included on the DVD:
THE REIGN CONTINUES: MAKING ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE-
promo fluff featurette. You'll learn more about the film by watching the other featurettes and listening to the director's audio commentary. Skip this featurette.
INSIDE ELIZABETH'S WORLD- all about the production design
COMMANDING THE WINDS: CREATING THE ARMADA- how they built one ship set against blue screen and CGI ships for the armada scenes.
TOWERS, COURTS, AND CATHEDRALS- a look at all the real buildings they used for the film's production.

FINAL ANALYSIS: ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE is the type of film I hope inspires more to read about that time in history. The acting and production design is top notch. I also like the director stands by the choices he made (listen to the audio commentary).

this DVD review is (c)2-7-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com

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