Henry VIII (2003)

Too much of everything

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Passable but not great rendition based on the life and loves of the famous and lecherous king Henry VIII . A tour de force for Ray Winstone as the robust 16th century ruthless king who loved and killed wives . In 1526 Henry tosses aside his current wife the Spanish Catherine of Aragon played by the Spanish Assumpta Serna. Firstly , Catherine married Arthur , Henry VIII older brother, but Arthur died 6 months later , and Catherine then married Henry . As Henry falls for the young and devastatingly beautiful Anne Boleyn , Helena Bonham Carter . But after the birth of princess Elizabeth , Henry tires of Anne and wishes to marry another, Jane Seymour : Emily Fox . So he decides to rid himself of her presence .Anne was judged and accused of adultery with his brother and four commoners .11 days later Henry married Jane who died 12 days after giving birth to a son , later Edward VI. For political reasons , Henry next selection was Anne of Cleves whom he married by proxy in 154o. She was not to his taste , however , and the marriage was annulled by Parliament 6 months later . Catherine Howard had the misfortune to be Henry' s fifth wife but she was charged with having committed adultery before the marriage. Catherine Parr married and tended the ailing lecher in his last years .Soon after Henry death in 1547 , she married a former lover and died in childbirth.This is a lavish historical spectacle lustily portraying the life and lovers of notorious British Monarch , and shot in Soap style . Ray Winstone's acting as the amoral and womanizer king garned him awesome reviews .Including outstanding performances by the entire cast , such as Emily Blunt as Catherine Howard , Clare Holman as wife Catherine Parr , David Suchet as Cardinal Wolsey, Danny Webb as Thomas Cromwell , Michael Moloney as Thomas Cranmer , Charles Dance as Duke Buckingham and Sean Bean as the rebel Robert Aske. The series was well directed by Pete Travis . He is a good craftsman who has made a lot of films and TV series as Fearless , Falcon, The Jury , Cold Feet , Omagh , Vantage point and Dredd.Henry VIII life has been adapted several times, as TV as Cinema , for example : The private life of Henry VIII by Alexander Korda with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon , Elsa Lanchaster , Robert Donat ; Anne of the thousand days by Charles Jarrot with Richard Burton, Genevieve Bujold , Vanedsa Redgrave ; The other Boleyn girl with Natalie Portman , Scarlett Johansson , Eric Bana , Jim Sturgess . And series as the starred by Keith Mitchell, Charlotte Rampling , directed by Warris Hussein and the successful starred by Jonathan Rhys Meyers produced by Michael Hirst .

"Henry VIII" is a Cliff Notes version of the story of Henry VIII, King of England. They managed to squeeze a lot of history into a 4 hour miniseries that aired on "Masterpiece Theater," and casts Ray Winstone (Nil By Mouth, The Departed, Sexy Beast, etc)as the monarch. He is a passionate, violent, nasty person when you look on the surface: He dumps his wife Katherine of Aragon (Assumpta Serna)just so he could hook up with Anne Boleyn (Helena Bonham Carter) and have a son with her (He's INCREDIBLY obsessed with having a boy to rule England after he dies). Doing this caused a break with Rome, but this is only the beginning. As he marries over and over again, we watch Henry's moral decay and decadence, the destruction that he causes along the way (The dissolution of the monasteries, the burning of so-called heretics), and his advisers who use the king to claim more power and money (And often with fatal results). Things get incredibly bloody (Like Anne Boleyn's execution), and hearts are broken. This gives the first time viewer who are just getting into the story of Henry VIII, but don't expect to see accuracy in this adaptation. And although the casting is superb (Winstone and Carter spark up the screen beautifully), you get a bit disappointed when they skip over other people (Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr don't get much time compared to the other 4 wives). However, as I said, the performances are incredible. When Katherine of Aragon defies the king by refusing to give into his demands of divorce, it breaks you into goosebumps.You may do better watching "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" with the magnificent Keith Mitchell for a better look inside the Tudor court. Otherwise, as mind junk-food goes, this can satisfy the hunger.

Henry VIII is a fantastic film. Granted, there are several mistakes in it, such as minor historical inaccuracies, some shoddy editing, and leaving the viewer slightly unsatisfied in the second half.However, the acting of Ray Winstone in the role of Henry VIII makes up for the mistakes. He delights the viewer in a Henry that loves, roars, kills, and cries, and his dimensions are limitless. Mr. Winstone plays a young, virile Henry equally as well as his dying, grotesque older Henry. His transition from young to old is gradual and delicate, and yet he shocks the viewer at the king's sudden decay. Each wife, all well cast and all well acted, are real women unstilted by their time period. Helena Bonham Carter's Anne Boleyn and Assumpta Serna's Catherine of Aragon are particular stand-outs, with powerful, multi-dimensional performances. The other wives are not given much spotlight in the film, and in the second half of the mini-series the remaining four wives are cycled through quickly and without as much care as Anne Boleyn's section of the film. At the film's end, we are still rooting for Mr. Winstone's Henry, even after the destruction he has caused in England and to his loved ones. The film's arc and journey give us a Henry VIII who learns from his mistakes, and acknowledges his faults.

I REALLY liked this movie, regardless of the inaccuracies that may or may not have been filmed. I think Ray Winstone is believable as a young,(and older) sexy Henry the VIII, whom ladies of the court could have fallen for. He had it going' on, and was a player before his time--much to Anne Bolelyn and Katherine Howard's ill fortune. One must remember, that a movie must cram years of documented history/happenings into a 2-4 hour production, therefore a lot gets deleted. I enjoyed this movie very much, and having watched it, it made my trip to England and the Tower of London all the more history-worthy, and special. Tower green has left a lasting impression of sorrow and history upon me. Adores history and movies, Me