Elizabeth the Golden Age (Combo format)
HD DVD Title: Elizabeth the Golden Age (Combo) Rated: PG 13 Screen format: 1080P, 1.85:1, VC-1 Encoded HD Studio: Universal First theatrical release: 12 October 2007 Other DVD or HD Releases: Day and Date with Widescreen DVD Director: Shekhar Kapur Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Rhys Ifans, Jordi Molla, Abbie Cornish and Samantha Morton Sound Formats: English Dolby True HD 5.1, English & French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Length: 1 Hour 55 Minutes Subtitles: English & French |
Plot: 3.5/5
After a 9 year break, Cate Blanchett returns to the role of Queen Elizabeth of England, the role that won her an Academy Award Nomination, tho she lost to Dame Judy Dench who also played Elizabeth in a vastly different film, Shakespeare in Love. Also returning is director Shekhar Kapur, who along with writer William Nicholson and returning writer Michael Hirst, have crafted a political potboiler whose themes of freedom and patriotism echo strongly with current geo-political worries while simultaneously adding romantic interest for the now mature Queen, while delivering a costume epic that drips with saturated color and boasts a well realized sound-field.
Elizabeth (Blanchett), the “virgin” queen, faces two great struggles during this film. First, the Catholic world has declared her a bastard monarch, and Philip II (Molla), King of Spain vows to take her out. One way he helps engineer this is by plotting the ascension of Elizabeth’s closest relative (and next in line for the Monarchy should Elizabeth be killed), Mary Stuart (Morton), Queen of Scots. Philip also vows to have the greatest fleet ever known to man, a huge armada, ready to assault England, miraculously before anyone believes it possible.
The wild card that Philip hasn’t counted on is explorer Walter Raleigh, who returns from the new world bearing many gifts: Native Americans, Potatoes, and plundered Spanish gold, along with dreams of returning and establishing great colonies. Elizabeth is charmed by Raleigh, and assigns her trusted lady, Elizabeth “Bess” Throckmorton (Cornish) to work with Raleigh to bring him into the Queen’s trust. Despite playful flirtation between Raleigh and Elizabeth, it is Bess who ends up his wife, causing a minor scandal and tension between all 3 points of this triangle.
If there is weakness to this story it is that too much of the film is dedicated to this renaissance soap opera, to the detriment of the much more interesting political intrigue. While most readers will likely be aware of Mary’s fate as well as the results of the English fight at sea versus the Spanish Armada, it is perhaps the tones that underscore these results that are found much more interesting. As noted above, the intent to find relevant ties between the characters in this story and present political situations is a bit obvious and heavy handed.
In the end, I did find myself inspired to read more of the REAL story here, and for that I am glad to have watched this film. While it certainly isn’t in the realm of classics, it is a quite beautiful film and the characters of Mary, Elizabeth and Raleigh are amazingly well portrayed by their respective actors, Owens in particular continues to astound with his range. While I have not yet seen the first film, I’m told that that movie is a quite a bit stronger story-wise, as the challenges Elizabeth faces are more dynamic, and given the seriousness of having to put your cousin to death and fending off an invading horde, that says a lot. Viewing The Golden Age makes me want to go and see that original, and given that costume dramas aren’t really top on my list, that says a lot too.
Sound Quality: 4/5
The Golden Age has a wonderfully enveloping sound field that is most heavily populated by the orchestral score (by composers Craig Armstrong and AR Rahman), though environmental effects are also used throughout. This surround field never felt forced or like it was using undue trickery, it was solid and felt right, and surprisingly deep for a film of this nature. There aren’t a whole lot of times where the Bass gets to shine, though the canon fire and assorted carnage during the fight against the armada near the films end nearly makes up for it. Dialogue is well centered, though several of the accents gave me a bit of a run, and there were 2-3 times where I was tempted to turn on the English subtitles! In the end, this isn’t quite a reference surround track but it does the job quite well and a heck of a lot better than I would have guessed before I sat down and had a listen to it.
Visual Quality: 5/5
Likewise the video components of this disk are magnificently clean and vibrant. Every stitch of clothing, every nook and cranny of the palaces and dungeons, and every timber of the Armada are crystal clear, sharp and eye popping. In addition to the detail level, the vibrant color palatte just springs to life, not only in the costumes but especially in the outdoor scenes where Elizabeth and Raleigh go riding and in the superbly contrasty battle at sea.
While there were never any pops or scratches or a single hint of edge enhancement or other artificial or digital anomalies, the full effect of the original grain of the film stock was often in view. While I personally did not mind it and suspect it looked remarkably similar or BETTER than what one might have seen in the theater due to how well it has been cleaned up, there may be some that do notice it and find it distracting. Personally I think this is reference worthy, and given the subject matter it’s perfect demo material suitable for those folks for whom explosions and blood and guts aren’t the right choice!
Extra Features: 3/5
While the packaging boasts a few more minor inclusions, there are several major extras that I explored and recommend. First are 5 deleted scenes which flesh out the characters a bit more and each of which could have been inserted back in to the film without major disruption. Next up is a featurette that bridges The Golden Age back to the original Elizabeth, titled The Reign Continues. Truthfully this one was interesting but had just enough detail to get going and then ended suddenly. “Creating the Armada” shows a bit behind the scenes on how the Armada was created, and is definitely of interest to folks like me who want to know more about the story behind the special effects. There are two other featurettes which I found somewhat forgettable however, “Inside Elizabeth’s World” and “Towers Courts and Cathedrals detail production design elements which really didn’t capture me. Overall this collection is adequate but not exemplary or truly exciting.
Overall: 4/5 (not an average) Recommended
The Golden Age has a tremendous amount going for it, not least of which is a reference quality transfer that is appropriate for all viewers along with a surround track that is better constructed than those in just about any other biography I’ve watched. While the story is no great mystery and the extras are a little flat (and lets not forget the one big downside to combo disks is their high price), the positives definitely outweigh any quibbling negatives I can add and find this easily worthy of being ‘Recommended’.
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. The Invasion is one of the worst remakes I have seen in ages.