- Actors: Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Davenport
- Directors: Charles Jarrott
- Writers: John Hale
- Producers: Hal B. Wallis
- Format: NTSC, Import
- Number of tapes: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Universal Studios
- VHS Release Date: April 18 2000
- Run Time: 128 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004REFE
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As costume dramas go, this is a passionate and feisty one, keyed by the ever-luminous Vanessa Redgrave in the title role and the sharp-edged Glenda Jackson as her jealous cousin, Queen Elizabeth I (who knew a thing or two about palace intrigue). Mary, who was raised in France as a Catholic, claims the Scottish crown from her mother upon her death. But she runs up against religious prejudice, both from the Protestant Elizabeth (who had encountered anti-Protestant bias before she took the throne) and from Mary's Protestant half-brother James Stuart (Patrick McGoohan). Elizabeth, whose own reign is shaky (given a strong Catholic presence in her country), is nervous about her Catholic cousin--and made more so by Mary's seeming inability to appreciate the political niceties of the period. Redgrave received an Oscar nomination for her performance. --Marshall Fine
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Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vanessa take the throne as Mary,
By Frances L. Arsenault "lover of literature" (Nanaimo, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots (VHS Tape)
I love a historical film...hmm...because after watching the movie, you can research online or in a book, and compare differences between the film and what really happen. This film about one of my favorite royal women - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, who was raised in France as a Catholic, claims the Scottish crown from her mother upon her death,after her husband, the King of France died of an ear infection that spread to his brain (there wasn't a cure back then; or much of anything). But she runs up against religious prejudice, both from the Protestant Elizabeth (who had encountered anti-Protestant bias before she took the throne) and from Mary's Protestant half-brother James Stuart (Patrick McGoohan). Elizabeth, whose own reign is shaky (given a strong Catholic presence in her country), is nervous about her Catholic cousin--and made more so by Mary's seeming inability to appreciate the political niceties of the period.
In the film, the ever-luminous Vanessa Redgrave (Camelot) takes on the role as Mary, and the sharp-edged Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth (who knew a thing or two about palace intrigue). And Vanessa received an Oscar nomination for her performance. So overall, I would say about this film is that I love it from beginning to end, and I love the original soundtrack in the film, and as I say many times I love a film with a good soundtrack.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
THE QUEEN WHO RULED WITH HER HEART AND LOST HER HEAD...,
By
This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots (VHS Tape)
This is a stunning period epic, though not historically accurate. Then again, these historical dramas seldom are. Nonetheless, Vanessa Redgrave, in the title role of Mary Stuart, the first Queen Regnant of Scotland, is luminous. She plays the beleagured Scottish Queen to perfection, at times skittish and capricious and, alternately, commanding and royal. Patrick McGooghan is marvelous as her bastard half brother, the dour Earl of Moray, who is coldly implacable in his ambition and desire to sit upon the Scottish throne. Nigel Davenport is excellent in the role of the virile and sexy Earl of Bothwell, whom he plays as a man of some integrity, who, while ambitious, is loyal to Mary, whom he loves. Glenda Jackson is magnificent in the role of Elizabeth I of England, imperious, wily, and intelligent, a master of political intrigue and statesmanship. Timothy Dalton strikes the only discordant note, as his portrayal of the dissolute Lord Darnley is one dimensional and falls flat, leaving the viewer to wonder what Mary saw in him in the first place.The film begins with an idyllic scene in France, which shows Mary with her then husband, Francois, the King of France. He dies a premature death, and there being no love lost between Mary and her sharp tongued mother-in-law, she returns to her native Scotland, where she is Queen in her own right. When Mary, a staunch Catholic, arrives with her retinue in Scotland, she is given a most unroyal and barely civil welcome by her half brother, the Protestant Earl of Moray, and the Lords of the Congregation. She is also repudiated by the Calvinist reformer, John Knox, who denounces her in no uncertain terms. Mary is surprised by his vitriolic attack, as she is quite progressive for her time and believes in religious tolerance. She is all for worshipping according to one's own conscience. The terms of her reign, however, are finally made clear to her by her half brother, whom she, understandably, hates by now. She, an anointed Queen, is to be a puppet, and he, the power behind the throne. Meanwhile, Protestant half brother dearest intrigues with the Protestant Elizabeth I of England. She is concerned about Mary, a Catholic Queen with a legitimate claim to the English throne, as her own kingdom has some unrest between Catholics and Protestants. As a direct result of the intrigue, Mary makes a most unfortunate marriage to the dissolute Lord Darnley, a handsome but morally weak noble with a proclivity for insalubrious activities. She soon provides Scotland with an heir, but her marriage to Darnley is doomed and sets off a chain of events from which would follow murder, regicide, and a second marriage to an ambitious Scottish border lord, the Earl of Bothwell. This event is ultimately the catalyst for an enforced abdication by Mary and exile to England, where she is under house arrest for nineteen years. Her son and husband denied her, this most unhappy of women is finally caught in an intrigue with Catholic English lords. Elizabeth I reluctantly orders her execution upon a finding of treason. In the end, however, it is Mary, who has the last laugh, as Elizabeth I is childless, and Mary's son, James, would one day ascend to the English throne, being next in the line of succession.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
IN OLD SCOTLAND.,
This review is from: Mary Queen of Scots (VHS Tape)
Redgrave does a spirited job in the title role as the headstrong and romantic queen who came to an unfortunate end. Mary is raised and educated in France by her mother's Catholic family, from whom she inherits the Scottish title after her mother's death. Mary claims the throne much to the dismay of her Protestant half-brother James Stuart (McGoohan) and England's equally Protestant Queen Elizabeth - who eventually decides to "eliminate" her dangerous cousin...Vanessa Redgrave brings a tremulous, romantic-goddess quality to Mary; Glenda Jackson is likeable but contemporary in this version: she gives Elizabeth a sort of campy humour. Her red wigs seem almost prankishly terrible: she looks like a ragpicker hag dressed by Orry-Kelly! Director Charles Jarrott struggles to give it all a little lift, but without a better script, Hercules couldn't raise this story off the ground...Periods of history "fraught with intrigue" - as they used to say - don't film well. Mary's "tragical destiny" has always been a movie flop - box-office-wise, anyway. The film falters for a number of reasons: First of all, the leaden script by John Hale lacks romantic spirit and a zestful dramatic sense. Secondly, there's no real motovating idea visible in this version, which was produced abroad by the legendary Hal B. Wallis.
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