Catherine the Great

Was so looking forward to this, as Russian historical dramas are hard to come by. Helen Mirren is of course stellar (as is Rory Kinnear) but its let down by the need to have unrelated/ unnecessary vulgarity that doesn't progress the plot and comes across as unintentionally funny.

The Russo-Turkish War is merely a generic background war, Catherine's enlightenment and progression barely touched on. I echo others in these reviews that are underwhelmed and disappointed.

My advice is to avoid and watch the 2015 Russiabn series "Ekaterina: The Rise of Catherine the Great" currently on Amazon Prime

I have only seen the first episode but so far this is what I think ...

Firstly, Helen Mirren was the absolutely wrong choice. She is 72 years old playing a character who is supposed to be in her mid 30's. Catherine the Great didn't even live to 72 .. she died in her 60's. Helen Mirren is an incredibly talented actress but why not give someone younger the opportunity to play such a great character?

Secondly, Mirren's portrayal isn't how I pictured Catherine the Great to be. Catherine the Great was a Tom boy as a child and was not feminine. She was strong and willful. Her husband had been a weakling who played with dolls in the bedroom. She cane to power out of necessity for Russia more than personal desire. She loved Russia from the beginning and was doing what was best for the country ... not herself. This portrayal of Catherine the Great shows her as a greedy, selfish woman who is acting out of her own personal desires and not those of the country. This couldn't be more wrong!

Further, I am so tired of hearing british accents in every movie that takes place in other countries. It is historically inaccurate. But heaven forbid someone play a Brit and not have a proper accent! It is such a double standard! Make those actors learn and use a Russian accent.

Lastly ... this show was so far just plain boring. Such a missed opportunity. Really sad ...

It did not feel like an Epic History series. they did not portrayed Catherine the great in a suitable way.

Helen Mirren is a great actress. but why the hell would she agree to play a chcaracter at her 30's while she is 74 years old in real life. it is a total disrespect to viewers. it was rediculous to watch all the love and sex scenes that felt forced.

script was also bad. They could use dialoges more suited to time period and not write lousy dialogs with lots of cursing and too much emotional expression.

waste of time.

Catherine's life is divided into two parts approximately the same length. Between 1729 and 1762 , she went from being a German princess to a Russian grand duchess ; from 1762 until she died in 1796, she was Empress of Russia . The main source of information about her life is her Memoirs . She was the reigning Empress of Russia for 34 years, from June 28, 1762 until her death at age 67. Catherine collected the legacy of Peter I of Russia, "a window to the West on the Baltic coast", and enlarged it, opening it on the Black Sea. Pedro imported technology, government institutions and military organization and Catalina brought legal, political and moral philosophy from Europe, as well as medicine, art, culture and education. The aging Catherine-Helen Mirren is magnificent in the title role of this television drama . She's constantly besieged by court intrigue , political machinations and wars : Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) and Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792) and taking part of Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. And Russo-Persian War in which Russia agreed to protect Georgia against any new invasion and further political aspirations of their Persian suzerains. Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they, under the new king Agha Mohammad Khan, had again invaded Georgia and had expelled the newly established Russian garrisons in the Caucasus . Elizabeth had learnt her political lessons in the years of intrigue before she became Queen , she was a brilliant stateswoman, managing a to rule a great empire. It begins after the death her husband king Peter III , then she's crowned the only Queen. The marriage between Catherine and Peter III was a disaster and with the help of Gregory Orlov , Catherine eventually gets rid of Peter and is crowned Empress and Czarina of all the Russias as she struggles to drag her medieval empire into the modern world and she eventually leads the Cossacks army against rebel tartars .

Slow but lavish and engrossing British dramatization of the empress Catherine the Great . This notable historic drama recreates the wars , turmoil , struggle for power and loves , though adding some crude love scenes . Typically lavish and simplist historical retelling relies heavily on the love story between Catherine and Grigory Potemkin . Helen Mirren is awesome as Catherine the Great ; furthermore , Jason Clarke is good cast as Potemkin . Spectacular palaces , the ball-room scenes, the costumes and the uniforms are good . Philip Martin , the filmmaker, and the script-writer Nigel Williams deliver us a fine historical movie with passion and intelligence . Special mention for support actors , such as the notable Richard Roxburgh as Grigory Orlov , Kevin McNally as Alexi Orlov, Joseph Quinn as Prince Paul who'll succeed as Czar though he had an unfortunate final , Clive Russell as Court Fool , Rory Kinnear as Minister Panin , Thomas Doherty as Peter Zavadovsky and Gina Mckee is equally outstanding as the arrogant Countess Praskovya . Wonderful colorful cinematography adds to the atmosphere shot on locations in Pilsrundale, Latvia in Vilnius, Lithuania, but it does help to know some history in order to keep the interesting plot . Director Philip Martin takes a brilliant look at the turbulent life of famous Empress of all the Russias from her troublesome years and machinations surrounding her reign .

Other renditions about this known Queen are the following ones : ¨Catherine the Great¨ 1943 by Paul Czinner with Elizabeth Bergner , Douglas Farirbanks Jr. , Flora Robson. ¨A Royal Scandal¨ 1945 by Otto Preminger, Ernst Lubitsch with Tallulah Bankhead , Charles Coburn , Anne Baxter , William Eythe . ¨Caterina di Russia¨ 1963 by Umberto Lenzi with Hildegard Knef , Sergio Fantoni , Giacomo Rossi Stewart . ¨Great Catherine¨ 1968 by Gordon Flemyng with Jeanne Moreau, Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel, Jack Hawkins . ¨Catherine the Great¨ 1995 by Marvin J. Chomsky with Catherine Zeta Jones , Paul McGann, Ian Richardson.

Catherine was in her late 30s when the drama starts, and Helen is in her 70s... so it is a little bit, strange. The history is poorly reconstructed and it lacks enthusiasm and the Russian carisma. I was expecting more...