Catherine The Great
Through Treachery, Passion and Courage, She Built an Empire.
Catherine Zeta Jones (Entrapment, The Mask of Zorro) portrays the provincial princess whose cunning, courage and seductive treachery transformed her into one of history's most extraordinary monarchs. Co-starring Oscar nominee Omar Sharif (Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia), Mel Ferrer and Jeanne Moreau, Catherine The Great is a sweeping, larger-than-life epic of courtly intrigues, murderous ambition and one woman's remarkable rise to absolute power in 18th century Tsarist Russia.
Trapped in a loveless political marriage to the dissolute nephew of the ailing Russian Empress Elizabeth, young German princess Sophia Fredericka bides her time, chooses her lovers carefully...and plots her path to the throne. Skillfully manipulating the Russian triumvirate of church, army and aristocracy, she adroitly rides the shifting currents of social change and unrest to become one of Russia's most unforgettable and beloved rulers: Catherine The Great.
Member Reviews
amateurish directing - billie
Poor acting by many of the principal performers, including Zeta Jones, who overplayed every scene. The direction was abominable, the scenes ended abruptly with no transition to the next to tell you what was happening. The characters were one dimensional, too many events covered in too short a time. ultimately one didn't become engaged at all. In fact I found myself laughing out loud at how bad it was from time to time. A great disappointment, I had hoped to learn about Russian history, but it was just all a blur. The costumes and settings were nice, although they seem to have somehow avoided winter in Russia, quite a trick. All in all, I thought this was really awful. It just never comes together in spite of some of the fine actors who, I'm sure, regret the day they joined this project.A Marvellous Historical Epic - revsdd
Catherine Zeta-Jones does an outstanding job in this movie about Catherine the Great of Russia (Zeta-Jones earns the title for herself.) The political intrigue of the 18th century Imperial Russian court comes alive as Catherine - to ensure her own survival - seizes the throne from her husband, the dim-witted and obnoxious Czar Peter, and establishes herself as Empress of Russia. Demonstrating her own political skills, she becomes absolute ruler.
There are some very good battle scenes and few weaknesses in this movie. The plight of the Russian serfs might have been made a little more clear. Their revolt against Catherine's authority dominates the latter part of the movie, but somehow we never really get any strong sense of what they were up against. I also would have been quite willing to watch this movie for another hour or so to have been able to follow Catherine's later career. As it stands, the ending left me a bit empty. All in all, though, this movie is still well deserving of credit for being a job well done.Caterine the Great - flicker1
This movie was disapointing. Zeta Jones does not do the part justice.Caracters were not fleshed out and remained one dimentinal. This is a great part of russian history and it fails to involve the watcher or really care about the caracters. I recomend Young Caterine, with Franco Nero and Julia Ormond it is much better.
Member Reviews
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amateurish directing - billie
Poor acting by many of the principal performers, including Zeta Jones, who overplayed every scene. The direction was abominable, the scenes ended abruptly with no transition to the next to tell you what was happening. The characters were one dimensional, too ...A Marvellous Historical Epic - revsdd
Catherine Zeta-Jones does an outstanding job in this movie about Catherine the Great of Russia (Zeta-Jones earns the title for herself.) The political intrigue of the 18th century Imperial Russian court comes alive as Catherine - to ensure her own survival ...Caterine the Great - flicker1
This movie was disapointing. Zeta Jones does not do the part justice.Caracters were not fleshed out and remained one dimentinal. This is a great part of russian history and it fails to involve the watcher or really care about the caracters. I recomend Young ...