Henry VIII (2003)

Decent film despite all the negative reviews

I cannot figure out for the life of me why so many people are giving his movie horrible, almost vicious, reviews. The main complaint seems to be the historical inaccuracies. Well, the showtime TV show The Tudors is worse, grossly inaccurate, yet many people still enjoy it. This movie is inaccurate as are many film interpretations, but get over it. Other reviewers said that the actors were miscast and didn't look anything like the real-life personas. I 100% disagree. One only needs to compare a painting of Henry VIII to Ray Winstone to see the resemblence. In fact, Ray Winstone is probably my favorite Henry VII as he somehow manages to make a man who was overweight and unattractive seem sexually appealing. The show The Tudors, which I do like as well, is basically a Hollywood soap opera version where everyone is incredibly attractive. But what I liked about this film was that it was the opposite - the actors looked similar to the real people (more similar than any other film interpretation) and, as a result, seemed more realistic. The movie itself is a bit long and not the most exciting - more of a docudrama than a soap opera like the Tudors - but it definitely is worth watching, if at least to see another interpretation of Henry VII's life. July 6, 2008

great other than showing a rape

thought this was a great series. loved it. other than one part that i absolutely hate. they had no need to show a rape. April 1, 2008

EXCELLENT MOVIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is an older movie ..but so excellent. Remember seeing it all a mini series on Masterpiece Theather and NOW ITS ALL MINE.
Beautiful costumes..and wonderful history listen.

You get to see King Henry from his youth up until his death. He had many beautiful..and not so beautiful wives. Its again an excellent movie.

Enjoy March 18, 2008

Not bad but.....

Okay first off this is a movie not a History lesson if you want straight up history read a book. That being said the movie is very well done as ENTERTAINMENT. The actors are good and Emily Blunt is always a good actress and good eye candy. The problem I have is the film is a little over three hours long and the first half deals with Henry's divorce from Catherine and the Anne Bolyn affair. The last half tries to cover Queens Jane,Anne,Catherine and the last queen also a Catherine. It just goes to fast Anne of Cleves gets ONE scene, the last half is WAYYY to rushed. Other than that though, not too bad. If you liked the Elizabeth movies you should like this too. February 26, 2008

Bottom line, it's entertaining

I am not a historian and follow this period purely as a hobby, so I am in no position to argue with those who feel this movie is historically innacurate. However, in the research I do on the period, it seems there are differing accounts of various events in history-when information is that old it's going to be twisted around a bit. And frankly, there have been major historical innacuracies in a LOT of the Tudor films-Elizabeth, anybody? I will say this-I was bothered by the scenes in which Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were executed publicly, when, as far as I know, they were both extended the privilege of being executed privately on the tower green, with only a few select people present. To have Anne coming out and having people mock her and shout "whore"-that was one innacuracy that stuck out to me.

All in all though I must say I was indeed entertained by this film. Dramatically I think it is a nice achievement, with excellent acting if not the best script. The pacing is awkward, with the entire first half focusing on Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon, and the second half whizzing through the other four wives, barely paying any attention to Anne of Cleves (she doesn't even SAY anything in this version) and Catherine Parr (A fascinating woman and the stuff of great drama). But the other stories were nicely condensed I feel.

I greatly enjoy Winstone, in fact he is my favorite portrayal of Henry VIII and here is why: He adds a humanity to this tyrant that you rarely see. For dramatic purposes he becomes softer as he ages, and while I realize that is not entirely accurate, it makes the audience feel for him and tempts us to look beyond the black and white wife murderer image of this king. I particularly enjoy his scenes with Catherine Howard-here we are two hours into the movie and we are seeing yet another side of his character-humility.

I enjoy all of the portrayals of the wives with the exception of Bonham Carter. First of all she is WAAAY to old. She doesn't look her age but this is film, and you can't get away with casting someone who is obviously age innappropriate. She exerts herself nicely in the scene where Henry rejects her once and for all when their son is born dead, but in other scenes she seems indifferent. For what Henry put the country through for her, we should have seen more fire-it is hard to believe that he found this woman so special that he tore England apart on her behalf. I wanted Genevieve Bujold from Anne of the Thousand Days-her paired with Winstone, now that would have made for some incredible drama. (I know, I know, the two films are 35 years apart...but one can dream!)

All in all, I didn't learn anything from this adaptation, but the story of Henry's wives is like a fairy tale that I just like to hear over and over, and this version is an entertaining adaptation. February 1, 2008

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