DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 542 minutes (10 episodes on four discs), bios, photo galleries, two featurettes, bonus episodes, bonus features via PC

VIDEO: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Surround, Spanish Mono

Subtitles: captions for the hearing impaired

STUDIO: CBS DVD/ Paramount/ Showtime Entertainment/ Peace Arch Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: 1-6-2008

King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is about to finally marry Anne (Natalie Dormer) and maker her his queen. Season 2 is the story of Anne as queen and her fall. Also you see the introduction of the woman who became the next wife after Anne, Jane Seymour (not the one who plays Dr. Quinn).

The Tudors continues to dramatically show history of King Henry Tudor. The costumes and sets are lovely while the writing is top notch supported by the excellent casting. Peter O'Toole is sly in his playing of the Pope. THE TUDORS fully shows how politics and religion shaped history and how both were used to shape countries (and control pople). Henry decalred himself the head of the church of England because the Pope refused his divorce from his first wife Catherine while The Pope and others use religion as an excuse to punish (and even murder). Henry is shown as a flawed man in THE TUDORS. He regrets some of the choices he made (including the excution of a friend who wouldn't swear to the new church and accept Anne as Queen- I wonder if he will regret Anne's death too in season 3).

SPECIAL FEATURES:

I wish Showtime, CBS DVD, and Peace Arch would gather more extras for the DVD sets of THE TUDORS. Two breif Showtime featurettes on the living descendants of Henry and a tour of The Tower of london with Natalie Dormer just doesn't fly. I want to see audio commentaries and featurettes that look at the making of the series. Also included are photot galleries and bios for each actor (who plays a major player in history). I like seeing the first season 2 episode of CALIFORNICATION (also the first seaosn 2 epsidoe of THIS AMERICAN LIFE can be found on disc 4), but I rather see extras for THE TUDORS.

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE TUDORS Season 2 is as good as season 1. Too bad there aren't more show related extras and season 3 won't start on Showtime until April.

Internet Gimmicks:

http://www.whothetudorareyou.com/  is one of those sites where you can get a Tudor era job profile. It's a gimmick that some will love while other will just roll their eyes.

this DVD review is (c)1-2-2009 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  and look for additional content at http://enterline-media.tripod.com