A History of Royals discussion

Since "Forever Amber" isn't on DVD I came across http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364800/. Has anyone seen this? I added it to my netflix queue.

I saw it. It's not bad, apparently the U.S. version, though, was edited. But Rufus Sewell is always cool to watch.

I have not, but I will have to look into it.

I saw it, it's very good.

Courtesy netflix:

(2003) The life and scandalous exploits of King Charles II are explored in this BBC miniseries that aired on A&E in America -- from troubled times as a youth in the Netherlands to his frequent sexual encounters during a turbulent 25-year reign of power. Rufus Sewell stars as the monarch, who overcame the murder of his father, and secretly converted to Catholicism just before he died. Rupert Graves and Diana Rigg co-star.

Sounds interesting, C. Thanks for posting :)

I just watched it. It was OK. What made it not great was the bad casting of Barbara Villiers. One of the most famous beautiful and seductive mistresses in history and she was played by an old ugly woman. It was so unbelievable. On the other hand Nell and Louise were right on. Rufus was a good Charles.

I have to watch it. Did it cover his campaign in Scotland and betrayal of the Great Montrose?

J.R. wrote: "I have to watch it. Did it cover his campaign in Scotland and betrayal of the Great Montrose?"

It covered Charles II's reign. Starting with him in exile til his death. It covered alot in 3 hours. I can understand how someone not knowing the history would be confused watching it.

I know the history very well including when he betrayed Montrose to his death. :-(

A lot of people who cover Charles II prefer to ignore or excuse his behavior during the period of the Scottish campaign.

They didn't really cover that. It showed how he pardoned some of the people who had his father killed to keep peace, but that was about it. It was mostly about how he was manipulated by his mistresses and how he ended parliament and supported his brother being his successor. It covered how Monmouth was played and eventually executed. I personally am not a fan of Charles II.

Yeah, I'm not a fan although there is a lot of interesting events associated with his reign.

are.. there are interesting events. *rolls eyes*

Interesting? Hmmm. I like that he did bring theatre back for the people that old tryant Cromwell took away. I have "Crowmell" as my next Netflix movie. I'm not sure how it is, but hopefully it will be interesting.

Well, yes, I'd say the English Civil War, the reign of Cromwell, his death and the return of the monarchy probably rate as "interesting". I'm basically a Scot and the extent to which my feelings on the whole matter are mixed would be hard to describe.

Not getting off the subject, but have you read The Winter Sea? It's about the Jacobite years. Made me want to jump a plane to Scotland right away!I'll let you know about Cromwell. The reviews are mixed.

No, I don't read romances I'm afraid, not even historical ones. :)

Yes, do let us know about Cromwell. It could be a good movie, but TV and movies have an almost infinite capacity to mess up history.

I just watched Cromwell. I put my opinion on that link under movies. I enjoyed it. It wasn't accurate, but it was better written and acted than The Last King. Great performances and J.R. will not be happy, they left out most of the Scottish history.

Well of course they did. We know that history is all about England. LOL

Believe me, I'm used to it. (Doesn't mean I like it. ;-) )

I'm a bit late making this reply,(I haven't been checking my emails as I should...)so I apologize for the lateness, but I agree with you, Rio, that the casting of Diana Rigg as Barbara Villiers was way off base-she did not seem to fit the part.Not attractive enough,and although she was older than Nell & Louise,she should have been very beautiful or at least very attractive & charasmatic, because she was able to hold her place in the king's affections for many years despite her younger competition and also despite having had quite a few children during her years as a royal mistress.But regardless of that bit of poor casting, I still enjoyed the movie. You mentioned that you were planning to watch "Cromwell" next. I don't know if you have watched it yet or not,but I have. It was ok,but not anything I'd rave about.But I recently saw one called "To Kill A King" which starred Tim Roth (from "Rob Roy") & Dougray Scott (from "Ever After") & that was a really good movie. I actually watched "Cromwell" again after "To Kill A King" to refresh my memory of that one, & also for comparison purposes. I would recommmend "To Kill A King" to anyone interested in English history. It's particularly interesting because it depicts events that led up to the trial & execution of Charles I,& then how Cromwell takes control,basically naming himself Lord Protector.I hope this was helpful...

Thank you Laura. I just added it to my Netflix. I haven't heard of that one.

Laura - Thanks for the above. I have added To Kill A King to my Netflix queue as well.