Search - Catherine the Great on DVD

Peter Q. (Petequig)
Reviewed on 5/2/2011...

Very entertaining, if not historically correct... but who cares when you can watch CZJ.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Gary J. from LITTLE ROCK, AR
Reviewed on 3/11/2010...

"Made-for-television" says it all. Serviceable production.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Yet Another Plea Against Editing!

03/11/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"My main problem with this A&E production was the fact that they cut about half of the original mini-series that this "presentation" was taken from. As a result the film as A&E showed it is EXTREMELY choppy (particularly the ending, where you can tell they skipped about an hour of the action). The only redeeming thing about this is that at least they kept a lot of Paul McGann (Potemkin), who is one of the best English actors of his generation. Look for the scene were the Orlov brothers beat Potemkin; the Orlovs are played by Paul's real-life brothers, Mark & Stephen McGann. Great if you are a McGann fan; stay away if you have any real interest in Russian history."

It...doesn't make her seem that great...

TrezKu13 | Norfolk, VA | 01/26/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Catherine the Great was known as Catherine the Great for a reason. She helped raise the standards of living in Russia, attempted to modernize it, and it was during her reign that the long dream of Russia was realized: they ruled all sides of the Caspian Sea.They tell you this in the movie...but only in the last five seconds of the film. Most of the movie is spent concerning Catherine the Great's supposedly promiscuous sex life (although many historians think that is just anti-Catherine - and antique - propoganda). Oh sure they give you five seconds of a peasant rebellion, five seconds of some guys that strangle jailors, and five seconds of a Turkish battle...but the rest is pretty much Catherine Zeta-Jones stripping down in corsets.I mean don't get me wrong, she's cute and all...but I saw the film to see her attempt acting, not cleavage. I would have liked to have known what made Catherine so "the Great."This accompanied with "The Scarlet Pimpernel" really made me lower my standards for A&E's productions. I really expected better."

A&E Has Cut this offering on DVD by at LEAST HALF

Geoffrey Moore | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 12/18/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with another writer who was the only one who noticed that the A&E Production on DVD IS INDEED MISSING around HALF of the Mini Series that was shown on Sydney's Channel Nine a few years ago.

I am glad we still have the old version on Video and if anyone has that version (ie THE COMPLETE Mini Series) with NO great missing Chunks, I would be keen to buy it.

I liked Catherine Zeta Jones and most of the acting although I did notice some that was very obviously "pretend" fighting.

If I can get a refund from "overman" from whom I bought this DVD or from Amazon.com INCLUDING the horrible postage we have to pay to get things from USA to Australia OR EVEN A REPLACEMENT BEING THE FULL VERSION I would be happy to return the shortfalling A&E DVD."