DecimusCaesar Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 I missed this. Is there any chance of a repeat? perhaps at night they could show it on sign zone. I wouldn't mind. That is if its worth watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Manicus Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 I missed this. Is there any chance of a repeat? perhaps at night they could show it on sign zone. I wouldn't mind. That is if its worth watching. Is it already 10/5/07 in England? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 I missed this. Is there any chance of a repeat? perhaps at night they could show it on sign zone. I wouldn't mind. That is if its worth watching. Is it already 10/5/07 in England? And there's me thinking it had laready been show... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 I'm sure the DVD will be out by Christmas for those that can't see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 As always i clicked 'View New posts' and not one contribution as been added since last nights first episode of the Tudors....and I cannot say I'm surprised! Simply awful! I might not even bother with the remaining nine episodes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 (edited) Phew - well, although I am as ready to dismiss this as Spittle is, I will attempt some objective appraisal of the situation. My daughter loved it. She is 18 and in love with the lead. Will that do as an objective appraisal? There's a lot more I could say, but I will give kudos to Sam Neil as Wolsey, Jeremy Northam (?sp) as More and 'that lass from The Commitments who played Catherine of Aragon'. They were outstanding. Much too much is being made of the Buckingham affair, and we haven't even got to The Field of the Cloth of Gold yet. Is this first series just going to be Henry VIII? Good points: Beautifully shot, nicely acted by the majority. Bad points: We were told that we were going to 'Paris, France'!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in one scene. Please - for we English, whose dynasty this is, there is only one bloody Paris! Bad script: Thomas Boleyn hands his daughters a drink and calls Mary merely 'Mary', but Anne he calls 'Anne Boleyn'. Like the audience do not know who Anne Boleyn was or will become. Oh, for god's sake. And I thought Rome was bad. The thing is - I'm much more laid back about accepting liberties being taken with English history. I made up my mind about Henry years ago (I think I was 12) so I can quite happily sit back and enjoy this as Catherine Cookson in Tudor costume. Hate to do this again to you folks, but compare it to 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' by the BBC (c.1972) Edited October 6, 2007 by The Augusta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 (edited) "Is this first series just going to be Henry VIII?" According to the TV magazine its just going to be about the early years of Henry VIII. They could have at least given him ginger hair! The best known TUDORS (Henry VIII and Elizabeth) were copper heads. I know Bloody Mary had her Spanish mothers dark hair. What about Henry VII and Edward ? Sam Neil is a great actor but are people really so stupid that they cannot see a person as evil for political intrigues and conniving? Did the film makers really have to overstate the issue by showing the cardinal man handle a fellow Arch-Bishop and threaten him like a school yard bully? Did Sean Pertwee do such a brilliant job of being knifed to death when he played G J Caesar (in the god awful Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire) that he was necessary to the plot? An extra with a non speaking role would have worked just as well. Maybe even a prop for the amount of time involved! I like Sean Pertwee and could have done with him being given a little more dialogue. Did it end up on the cutting room floor to make room for the bare breasted ladies that monopolised the first half of the programme? And the whole thing with Buckingham lacked subtlety. He contorted his face like a belligerent child whenever he was in the same room as his king and told anyone who would listen than he planned a coup! But this was not enough so they had him pour water on Wolsey's shoes ??? I have been looking forward to this. I expected something like the excellent Charles II (Rufus Sewll) or the good, but less accomplished The Virgin Queen. I had hoped it would make up for the mediocre Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone and Helena Bonham Carter which should have been subtitled 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Blunderbuss's'. Edited October 6, 2007 by spittle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Regarding Henry's lack of ginger hair - it is a damned liberty. However, it is not without precedent. Anyone remember 'Anne of a Thousand Days'? Burton declined the use of red wig for that one. Then again - we had a ginger Octavian in Rome...... and they even managed to shove a blonde wig on Brian Blessed, for heavens' sake! With Henry VIII, of course, as Spittle rightly points out, his red locks were not only famous through England but we have enough damned portraits of him for the producers to have got it right. Maybe red hair isn't aesthetically pleasing to the folks at Showtime! Yep - this is a mess. I'll give it one more episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Really, if you guys switch off the higher thinking sections of your brain, and just enjoy the visual feast, I think it will work for you on that level. As I said, it was designed to be costumed drama light *or* - such is the nature of American cable productions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Really, if you guys switch off the higher thinking sections of your brain, and just enjoy the visual feast, I think it will work for you on that level. As I said, it was designed to be costumed drama light *or* - such is the nature of American cable productions. Yep - I certainly had to switch off my brain, Ursus. Even so, this was a really mediocre first episode. But I do intend to see if it improves this coming Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 OK, I've had to give up and withdraw, wounded beyond all feeling, from the battlefield that is this debacle. Entertainment is one thing, but we are all history lovers on here, and when history is warped beyond any recognition of what even the thickest bloody school kid would know, some of us just have to throw in the towel. Good points: Beautifully shot (I say that again) with a very tasty lead, who nevertheless looks and acts nothing like the real Henry VIII (even when he was young and attractive) - and should really have a blonde rinse on his hair and be given the role of Caligula. The Anne Boleyn looks perfect except for her blue eyes (which should be black as this was one of her most attractive features, and she even passed them on to Elizabeth I). However, her face is so arresting that one can actually believe it is Anne Boleyn - and let's face it, there have been some ropey representations in recent years. The good performances are still there among the also-rans - although I am finding that Sam Neil is descending into caricature as Wolsey (not his fault - this is poorly directed). But when we get a merging of Henry's sisters into one character I draw the line. And the script gets worse by the episode. What on earth is to be gained by twisting history when its not even necessary to do so? I wanted to give this a good go - alas, it is a mess. I have given up now and leave the rest of the series to my daughter who is watching because she says it is a costumed version of Desperate Housewives and The OC. How right she is! Please, Showtime - no more English history! Anyone else in England still watching this tripe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Anyone else in England still watching this tripe? Here in the States I've just watched Anne of the Thousand Days again, and found it a refreshing (and much welcome) contrast to The Tudors. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Maybe red hair isn't aesthetically pleasing to the folks at Showtime! Bastards! That's why I subscribe to HBO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Maybe red hair isn't aesthetically pleasing to the folks at Showtime! Bastards! That's why I subscribe to HBO. Don't tell us that you are one of the favoured 2%, MPC! I knew there was a reason I liked you. There's quite a bit of red and auburn in both my parents' families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Not EVERYONE with ginger hair is ugly!!! julianne Moore (Boogey Nights, Children of Men) is gorgeous! And the actor who played one of the young officers on Band of Brothers was handsome enough. My main argument would be that Henry VIII was HUGE and the guy on The Tudors is roughly the same size as Danny DeVito. When he wrestled the Frech King he was about 6 inch shorter. Which would have made the Gallic Royal about 7ft 3in tall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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