Catherine the Great
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Movie Reviews of Catherine the Great
Movie Review: Jazz Doll
Summary: 4 Stars
The story line was good and a very good follow through in the understanding of what was going on and why she did what she felt she had too do.Movie Review: Coulda, shoulda been better
Summary: 3 Stars
The real CTG was a chubby blonde and CZJ is a slender brunette, and, okay, I probably liked watching CZJ more that I would have the real CTG. But surely there must be actresses who could have played the role better. It's a shame we couldn't peel (sorry, I couldn't resist) a few decades off of Diana Rigg, or CZJ's co-star Jeanne Moreau, or better still, Francesca Annis. Get "Lillie" and watch Annis and a much better supporting cast (and direction and production) put CTG to shame (and they did it a quarter-century earlier) in a MUCH better costume show about a young woman who starts as an unsophisticated teen and conquers a man's world, royalty and all. Annis is a lot more believable as she charms, beguiles, teases, scorns, tolerates, manipulates, and sometimes frostily discards kings, princes, artists, ministers, captains of commerce, seemingly whatever men she chooses -- all this without being a princess, czarina, or empress. The boss ladies in "I Claudius" and Lindsay Duncan in "Traffik" likewise showed how it should be done. The fake duchess in "Hornblower" and the perfect cast of "Pride and Prejudice" show that A & E can find great actresses now. Why didn't they do it here? For instance, the actress who played CTG's lady-in-waiting could probably have done a lot more with the lead role. The one star performance is by Jeanne Moreau as the aging / dying Empress Elizabeth. Too bad she's gone before the movie's half over. Ian Richardson is satisfactorily sly and slimy, but Omar Sharif helps prove that actors, like wines, do not all age well (sorry to say that about a fellow bridge freak). The role of Potemkin could have been so much greater than the hardly believable boy-toy play it got.
This movie is worth watching because it depicts highly significant times and events often ignored in the US as we focus on our late colonial and early revolutionary events occurring about the same time. Also, for the guys, sure, CZJ is definitive delicious brunette yumminess (but Sophia was better), and we get lotsa good cleavage shots, but in a skin flick, I want more skin.
Movie Review: Yet Another Plea Against Editing!
Summary: 3 Stars
My main problem with this A&E production was the fact that they cut about half of the original mini-series that this "presentation" was taken from. As a result the film as A&E showed it is EXTREMELY choppy (particularly the ending, where you can tell they skipped about an hour of the action). The only redeeming thing about this is that at least they kept a lot of Paul McGann (Potemkin), who is one of the best English actors of his generation. Look for the scene were the Orlov brothers beat Potemkin; the Orlovs are played by Paul's real-life brothers, Mark & Stephen McGann. Great if you are a McGann fan; stay away if you have any real interest in Russian history.Movie Review: Catherine the Great
Summary: 3 Stars
Movie is good. Condensed and needed more detail.
Shipping and packing of product very good. DVD in good condition.
Movie Review: Could have been so much better
Summary: 2 Stars
What a waste of money and talent! To begin with, Catherine Zeta-Jones should never have been cast as Catherine. She may be pretty and nice to watch in the campy sex-scenes but that's it. She couldn't handle this complex and GREAT character but reduces her to a slutty bitch in corsets. (Pardon my language) Maybe it's the script, the actress or the director but with the leading lady of this movie being so horribly miscast the entire movie goes downhill. The script is campy and not based on the real facts, romping between the sheets seems to be the single focus here. If you want to see Catherine played by a beautiful woman who CAN act, get "Young Catherine" with the wonderful Julia Ormond instead.