Historical Bubble Gum

Rating: 4/10 (29 February 2008)

One reviewer on this site commented: "we don't go to the movies for history; we go to be entertained." If that is so, movies like this should not pretend to be history. And the reign of Elizabeth was fascinating enough not to have to resort to falsities. Fact: Raleigh was never a part of a naval expedition against the Spanish Armada. Fact: the hero of the Spanish Armada has Drake, a brilliant tactician, who gets hardly a mention here. Fact: while fire ships were one tactic he used, the Armada was destroyed by the superior tactics and armament of a Navy that was about 80 years more advanced technologically: they had much faster, more maneuverable ships and much longer range artillery; they lay out of range of the Spanish guns, pounded them to pulp, and then closed in for the kill with their much more nimble vessels. It was Cassius Clay against Sonny Liston. Fact: Elizabeth was a penurious leader whose navy was never paid and was chronically under fed.
Blanchett is magnificent, as is Rush. But this is like muzak: chewing gum for the mind.