Richard Harris and Sir Alec Guinness star in this sweeping handsomely-mounted epic drama recounting the battle which raged between the monarchy and a commoner over the very soul of Great Britain. In17th-century England ambitious country gentleman Oliver Cromwell (Harris) dared to challenge the political oppression and corruption which besieged his nation. Watching his power being usurped by a commoner King Charles I (Two-time Oscar(r)-winner Guinness 1957 Best Actor The Bridge on the River Kwai; 1980 Honorary Award) springs to challenge his adversary. One man will become absolute ruler; the other will be executed. Rousing battle sequences excellent lead and supporting performances fromRobert Morley Dorothy Tutin and Timothy Dalton Academy(r) Award-winning costume design and spectacular photography by renowned cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret Tess) make CROMWELL an outstanding historical drama in the tradition of Braveheart.System Requirements:Running Time: 140 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS Rating: G UPC: 043396008595 Manufacturer No: 859 Product Description
Very good movie about the English civil war between parliament and the king.Both Richard Harris(Cromwell) and Alec Guiness(Charles) are excellent representing two different views of government.While the king lost the war and his head, the political situation which started the war was never really resolved. Cromwell became "Lord Protector" a king in all but name, until his death and the restoration
July 18, 2008 |  | The History is completely wrong...but it's still a good movie |  |
I cannot imagine why anyone would even dare to show this movie to their history class...especially if it's a MILITARY history class...BUT if you have a teacher who does make this mistake...you will get an A if you remember the following points (which will also show you the drastic flaws with "history" in this movie.) First BIG flaw...Cromwell is shown as a main player at the battle of Edgehill. In the movie, he actually starts the battle because he looses his temper. FACT: Cromwell was NOT at Edgehill. He came AFTER the battle had ended (yep...English Civil War 101.) In the movie Cromwell utters the famous Edgehill prayer (Oh Lord, thou knowest how busy I will be this day...) FACT: Not only did Cromwell NOT say this prayer but it was actually said by a ROYALIST commander at Edgehill, Sir Jacob Lord Astley. So, as you can see, this movie simply goes down hill historically from here. True, Cromwell was a great commander, true, he did (sort of) lay the foundations for the modern British Army (i.e the New Model Army.) HOWEVER...virtually everything in this movie attributed to Cromwell he didn't do. So why the hype to make him a hero? "Cromwell" came out the same time as "Patton" (which slammed the British very unfairly.) It was a response to "Patton" and the British producers wanted to make Cromwell into a sort of Parliamentarian version of Georgie P. In fact, when I was in London, "Cromwell" came out and the logo was a mailed fist holding aloft a Lobster-pot helmet. So, is this movie worth buying? A guarded yes...the Naseby battle scene is decent (one of the best musket-pike battles I've seen on the screen.) And..the best scene with Cromwell throwing out the Long Parliament makes this movie worth owning. This scene is awesome, and is the BEST coup d'etat scene I've ever seen in a movie. It's also fairly accurate and is actually toned down from what really happened (In real life, Cromwell began cursing and swearing...in the movie he doesn't do this.) So remember...Cromwell had nothing to do with Edgehill or the Edgehill prayer, BUT despite historical flaws the scene with Cromwell throwing the Long Parliament out makes the movie worth owing. Face it...how many of us have dreamed someone would do this to our stupid congress?...think about that and you'll see realize how awesome this movie is despite the flaws. "Cromwell" also has decent costumes to boot. The film originally had some scenes of Cromwell in Northern Ireland. When the movie came to America, these scenes disappeared (politically incorrect maybe?) One final point with historical glitches, Prince Rupert is depicted as a dolt in the movie. He was in reality quite a good commander and ended up returning to England during the Restoration to become a fairly successful admiral (yep...talk about a radical job change...he went from being a cavalry general to an admiral...and a pretty good admiral at that!)
June 23, 2008 | | History the way it should be taught in schools | |
In my opinion this is one of the best things Richard Harris ever did, and that is saying a lot. This area of English history is not as well known by Americans as Queen Elizabeth R, Henry the VIII, and others, but it is a part of English history that is taught well in this masterpiece of acting and storytelling. Alex Guinness is excellent as the King who just didn't get it. Don't miss this.
June 15, 2008 part documentary and part drama makes it easy to understand more our Christian heritage.
May 27, 2008There may be a cast of thousands, they just don't do much. In the battle scenes people collapse and fall motionless. Meanwhile, in Parliment no one speaks or even stirs when Cromwell is talking. The political scenes play a little better.
Harris spits out or bellows each line before inevitably tapering off into a hoarse whisper. (In some scenes his voice is so shot he can barely speak and he sounds just like Bette Davis.) There's no vanity in Guinness' self-pittying Charles -- you may cringe.
Is Cromwell a hero or a power mad despot? Not much insight here as the film ends before his genocidal adventures and tacks on a testimonal to his greatness.
April 13, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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