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Elizabeth: The Golden Age

  • 20072007
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
71K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,439
1,331
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.
Play trailer0:36
2 Videos
97 Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • History

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

IMDb RATING
6.8/10
71K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,439
1,331
  • Director
    • Shekhar Kapur
  • Writers
    • William Nicholson
    • Michael Hirst
  • Stars
    • Cate Blanchett
    • Clive Owen
    • Geoffrey Rush
Top credits
  • Director
    • Shekhar Kapur
  • Writers
    • William Nicholson
    • Michael Hirst
  • Stars
    • Cate Blanchett
    • Clive Owen
    • Geoffrey Rush
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 253User reviews
    • 195Critic reviews
    • 45Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 7 wins & 33 nominations total

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 0:36
    Official Trailer
    Cate Blanchett Almost Played Clarice Starling?
    Clip 3:37
    Cate Blanchett Almost Played Clarice Starling?

    Photos97

    Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Clive Owen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Geoffrey Rush in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Samantha Morton in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Samantha Morton in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish, and Penelope McGhie in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
    Best Actress
    Abbie Cornish in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Cate Blanchett
    Cate Blanchett
    • Queen Elizabeth Ias Queen Elizabeth I
    Clive Owen
    Clive Owen
    • Sir Walter Raleighas Sir Walter Raleigh
    Geoffrey Rush
    Geoffrey Rush
    • Sir Francis Walsinghamas Sir Francis Walsingham
    Jordi Mollà
    Jordi Mollà
    • King Philip ll of Spainas King Philip ll of Spain
    Aimee King
    • Infantaas Infanta
    Laurence Fox
    Laurence Fox
    • Sir Christopher Hattonas Sir Christopher Hatton
    John Shrapnel
    John Shrapnel
    • Lord Howardas Lord Howard
    Susan Lynch
    Susan Lynch
    • Annetteas Annette
    Elise McCave
    • Laundry Womanas Laundry Woman
    Samantha Morton
    Samantha Morton
    • Mary Stuartas Mary Stuart
    Abbie Cornish
    Abbie Cornish
    • Bess Throckmortonas Bess Throckmorton
    Penelope McGhie
    Penelope McGhie
    • Margaretas Margaret
    Rhys Ifans
    Rhys Ifans
    • Robert Restonas Robert Reston
    Eddie Redmayne
    Eddie Redmayne
    • Thomas Babingtonas Thomas Babington
    Stuart McLoughlin
    Stuart McLoughlin
    • Savageas Savage
    Adrian Scarborough
    Adrian Scarborough
    • Calleyas Calley
    Robert Styles
    Robert Styles
    • Palace Doorkeeperas Palace Doorkeeper
    William Houston
    William Houston
    • Don Guerau De Spesas Don Guerau De Spes
    • Director
      • Shekhar Kapur
    • Writers
      • William Nicholson
      • Michael Hirst
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Two faiths, two empires, two rulers - colliding in 1588. Papist Spain wants to bring down the heretic Elizabeth. Philip is building an armada but needs a rationale to attack. With covert intrigue, Spain sets a trap for the Queen and her principal secretary, Walsingham, using as a pawn Elizabeth's cousin Mary Stuart, who's under house arrest in the North. The trap springs, and the armada sets sail, to rendezvous with French ground forces and to attack. During these months, the Virgin Queen falls in love with Walter Raleigh, keeping him close to court and away from the sea and America. Is treachery or heroism at his heart? Does loneliness await her passionate majesty? —<jhailey@hotmail.com>
    • queen
    • spy
    • elizabeth i character
    • female ruler
    • female monarch
    • 112 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Woman. Warrior. Queen.
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
      • History
      • War
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and nudity
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the film, when Elizabeth arrives at St. Paul's Cathedral, construction is going on. In real life, St. Paul's actually needed repair work. Director Shekhar Kapur decided to improvise, and gave the workers costumes and period tools to cut real stone that was being installed in the cathedral. The workers in the scene are real-life stonemasons and construction workers.
    • Goofs
      The real Babington Plot, to assassinate Queen Elizabeth at the altar, was thwarted in the planning stages. The dramatic confrontation shown in the film is pure fiction.
    • Quotes

      Queen Elizabeth I: Go back to your rathole! Tell Philip I fear neither him, nor his priests, nor his armies. Tell him if he wants to shake his little fist at us, we're ready to give him such a bite he'll wish he'd kept his hands in his pockets!

      Don Guerau De Spes: You see a leaf fall, and you think you know which way the wind blows. Well, there is a wind coming, Madame, that will sweep away your pride.

      [turns to leave with his ministers]

      Queen Elizabeth I: I, too, can command the wind, sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!

    • Connections
      Edited from Ryan's Daughter (1970)
    • Soundtracks
      Volta a 4
      Written by John Dowland

      Performed by The Consort of Musicke

      Conducted by Anthony Rooley

      Courtesy of The Decca Record Company Ltd

      Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd

    User reviews253

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    The Virgin Queen Redux in an Odd Mix of Old-Fashioned Melodrama and Romance Novel
    There is something stubbornly old-fashioned about Shekhar Kapur's 2007 sequel to his 1998 art-house triumph, "Elizabeth". I don't mean the newer movie is a stodgy historical pageant. Far from it, all the production values are first-rate, including a relatively seamless use of CGI in the Spanish Armada sequence, but beyond all the pomp and circumstance, the mindset of the story is pure 1940's-era studio melodrama. Set in 1585, the film picks up the Queen's life a quarter century after the first film, and what follows in the strangely cautious screenplay by Michael Hirst and William Nicholson is a simplistic portrait of an aging, superstitious woman aware of her power but ironically at a loss to define her own fate. This period of her life is familiar from a number of previous films and miniseries, but this time, the psychological complexity behind such a fascinating historical figure has been downgraded in favor of romance novel plot turns and paper-thin character development.

    The set-up is rich with possibilities only partially realized on screen. Protestant England is on its knees, as Roman Catholic Spain has become Europe's most powerful country. Now in her early fifties, Elizabeth is vulnerable since Phillip II of Spain is intent on conquering England and especially because she has not married and produced an heir. Next in line is her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, a devout Roman Catholic imprisoned in a castle in Northamptonshire. Elizabeth has proved to be a tolerant ruler as she allows her country's Roman Catholics to maintain their religious beliefs, even though they see Mary as the only rightful Queen. In the meantime, Sir Walter Raleigh has just returned from the New World and stimulated Elizabeth's passion for adventure and her long-dormant desire for romance. Complicating matters is Elizabeth's devoted lady-in-waiting, Bess, a comely beauty who attracts Raleigh's attention. Just as this standard triangle is established, there is a threat on Elizabeth's life known historically as the Babington Plot. Mary is beheaded for her connection to the plot, which gives Philip free rein to gain the Pope's approval to attack England. Elizabeth inspires her troops to face off with the much larger Spanish Armada, and the rest, as they say, is history.

    It's no surprise that Cate Blanchett commands the screen in the title role and does her best to fill in the blanks left by the routine script. She manages to imbue the Queen with a hidden vulnerability at which comparatively imperious predecessors like Bette Davis and Glenda Jackson merely hint. The one drawback is that she is too young for the role, a point emphasized by the periodic and somewhat conceited use of flashbacks from the previous film in which her appearance has not changed significantly despite the make-up. Geoffrey Rush returns from the first film as Elizabeth's adviser, Sir Francis Walsingham, but he has less to do this time. As Raleigh, Clive Owen has no problem playing a dashing figure, but he seems more like a romantic's fabrication of what a bodice-ripping swashbuckler should be. Speaking with a strange burr, Samantha Morton has precious few scenes as the fanatical but forgiving Mary, and her pouty face and petulant manner seem at odds with previous characterizations. As Philip, Jordi Mollà is forced to play the king as a religious zealot, while Abbie Cornish's Bess strikes me as far too contemporary in manner to be credible as a lady-in-waiting, especially with the ongoing hints of lesbianism and a soft porn-like lovemaking scene with Raleigh.

    Guy Dyas' production design, Alexandra Byrne's costumes and Remi Adefarasin's cinematography are all impressive in their splendor and meticulous detail, though I found the music by Craig Armstrong and A.R. Rahman far too intrusive. There are several extras with the 2008 DVD release starting with Kapur's commentary track, often insightful but excessively verbose. An eleven-minute making-of featurette is included, of course, but it is pretty standard with plenty of now-and-then comparisons with the 1998 film. Three other shorts are included – one on Dyas' intensive work on the production design, one on the recreation of the climactic battle with a mix of ship replicas and CGI, and one on the actual locations used for the filming. There are nine minutes of deleted and extended scenes including one that too-realistically shows Mary's decapitated head. None of these extras helps make the experience of watching this film any more involving.
    helpful•15
    1
    • EUyeshima
    • Mar 5, 2008

    FAQ2

    • Should I watch the first Elizabeth movie before this one?
    • Is this a sequel to "Elizabeth" starring Cate Blanchett?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 12, 2007 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
      • Swedish
    • Also known as
      • Elizabeth - La edad de oro
    • Filming locations
      • Eilean Donan Castle, Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland, Scotland, UK
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • StudioCanal
      • Working Title Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $55,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,383,509
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $6,153,075
      • Oct 14, 2007
    • Gross worldwide
      • $75,782,758
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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