Gross historical inaccuracy ruined it all

Rating: 1/10 (27 December 2007)

I gave this movie one solitary star, and I suppose I will attribute that one to the actress who played Mary, the rival queen as hers was the only acting that stood out to me. Beyond her it seemed that the director had no ability to utilize the skill set of otherwise such great actors such as Geoffrey Rush.
Worst of all, the movie bordered propaganda in its political incorrectness and it is becoming more and more of a frustration - as a non Anglo-Saxon - to watch movies such as these. Opening and ending titles which pitch England as the soul country to have fought Spain in those times and the immediate superpower afterwards, leave a wry taste in my mouth. If one makes historical costume dramas then at least tread the genre with some responsibility and don't grossly twist and distort history. As, during this particular episode in history, the French were fighting Spain and the Dutch were waging their war of independence from Spanish rule.
Then, to end the movie with the words that England entered an era of peace and prosperity could have used the word 'relative'. As within half a century the country would plunge into civil war and declare one war after another over petty commercial rivalry.
Make a fiction film if one cannot tell a story honestly. Otherwise you're a colleague of Leni Rievenstahl.