Gunpowder, Treason and Plot - BBC [DVD]

easy and interesting read

This film goes some way to give to give us some back ground to the plotters, without trying to gloss over the enormity of what they nearly did. I agree that these terrorists all should have been punished. But the sheer brutality of there eventual execution is still shocking. Weather or not we should still be celebrating this four hundred years later is another subject. However, Gunpowder is a good film with a fine cast. I have to admit I don't know most of the actors but they all put in stunning performances. Well worth another watch.

This was ok and reasonably historically acurate, alot of things like personal realationships, personally opinion etc are open 2 interpretaion anyway, and perhaps only the people directly involved will know the real truth . . . I enjoyed the second half better than the first as it's more houmorous, it would hav been good to see more of James VI & I in his younger years though as the film skips from Mary Queen of Scots arrest when James was about one years old to James as a 21 year old, but he'd actually been king since he was one year old, & i'm sure as he got older lived quite an interesting live, rumors he was gay, relationships with men etc . . . However I like it, James was funny and portrayed as a bit of an idiot, perhaps a bit over the top, but I suppose you could call that satire, i'm sure although he may not have seemed an idiot at the time, people these days would find many of his ideas ridiculous e.g beliving he was god srepresentative one earth and need only answer to god & not appreciating the need to co-operate with parliament. I liked the relationship between him and his wife, quite re-alistic, but in a funny way - it was a marrage of con-vieniece afterall & he was gay, they never went in2 his homosexuality much tho . . . It focuses on the gunpowder plot, which I suppose is quite interesting subject matter, and how the culprits were foiled, I always thought guyfawkes was burnt on a bonfire, al maybe check, lol . . . I think this dvd propably tries 2 span to large a time period so can't go in 2 much detail with either Mary Queen of Scots or James and apart from the whole protestent and cathotlic thing I don't really see the reliavence Mary Queen of Scots had to the gun powder plot. Perhaps it would have been better if they were delt with as separate films or there was a third episode between the two telling us how James grew up and showingus a bit more about the king and the catholic situation, him inheriting the english throne and then the gun powder plot, I think it would flow a bit better that way, but it's still a good film . . .

A good quality DVD and a really good version of the 1605 gunpowder plot.

This two part film for television gives an overview of the dramatic lives of two Monarch's Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland. The first part follows Mary's troubled life in trying to govern a very divided Scotland. Acting is impressive and mostly convincing. This fades a bit in the second part where the characterisation of the people involved in the gunpowder plot are hard to believe. I knew quite a bit more about the lives of the plotters before seeing this than I did about the characters surrounding Mary Queen of Scots so perhaps this is why I found the story much less enjoyable. Some of the historic facts are just so wrong as to overshadow the storyline, for example the outcome of Francis Tresham's life was quite different to that given in the film. There is also an inconsistency in the portrayal of just about all the main figures, who are correctly portrayed as willing to die for their faith but they then take their faith so lightly in relation to murder and marital fidelity. The scope of the film is massively ambitious and therefore it is difficult to give any depth to this remarkable period in time. But the series is worth watching and might encourage viewers to follow it up with a read of Antonia Fraser's excellent biographies of the same period.

Despite the rampant insincerity to historical accuracy this is enjoyable, well acted and well written. Clemence Poesy as Mary Queen of Scots is particularly good, and it is her story, making up the first half of dvd, that is the best. She makes a very arresting leading lady. Robert Carlyle as James I is convincingly nauseous. He really is believeable as the creepy, unpleasant king. Kevin McKidd is the other notable standout as the Earl of Bothwell; rough lust at its most believeable.If you can overlook the annoying historical inaccuracy and appreciate this as well acted, well written drama then much fun will be had from this dvd.

This is not a series, it is two slightly connected films, so each should be considered separately.While I think the costumes in the first film were nice, the actual story shows a complete lack of research by directors, falling back on pure prejudice instead. To give just three examples: 1) Most descriptions of Queen Mary are of a tall red headed woman, she is played here as a petite blond, 2) There is a painting made not long after Queen Mary arrived in Leith, it shows the streets lined by citizens and the sun shinning, they depicts this scene as her holed up in a cow shed, in the pouring rain, waiting for someone to arrive. 3) Queen Mary was brought up in the Court of Catherine D'Medici, who introduced the side saddle to her court, Queen Mary rode side-saddle, something the producers appeared to discover half way through shooting. The full production is littered with similar errors. The only thing I think they got right was the costumes and for that I would give them one star.In the second film, Robert Carlyle, gives his usual excellent performance, but even he cannot save the film. Almost all the men in the film smoke, although tobacco, was only recently discovered, and the main tobacco plantation, in the colonies were establish during the reign of James VI. I also found Anne of Denmark waxing lyrical about the potato farms in Denmark, a bit unbelievable, as potatoes were also a new find. However the plot was easy to follow as all the Catholics worn tall black hats.Both films in their own right are ok bedroom romps, just please do not describe them historical.

ok

This is one of the best dramatizations of history I have ever seen -- and I am an historian by training. Dramatizing 40 complicated years means omitting much and adding some things that never happened, like James VI and I viewing his mother Mary Queen of Scots in prison before her execution. James' wife, Anne of Denmark, is given a much larger role than most historians do - a sign of our times? The Earl of Bothwell is portrayed with a sympathy he probably did not deserve. And there is no sign in this King James of the man educated enough to write three books. But the agonizing choices faced by the characters are made utterly convincing. There is much violence, but it was a violent time. Best of all is Robert Carlyle's portrayal of James. All in all a gripping 3.5 hours, and a good introduction to a unique event still commemorated today.

Movie was good but would of been nice if I was informed that this movie was for a different region, other than that there's no complaints

It would not play on any of my DVD players ( i have 4 Players ) there was no message that this DVD would not play in the US or Canada when i order this DVD . Very poor on your partMerv Cooper

Although it oversimplifies the complex social and religious turmoil of 16th and 17th Century England and Scotland, the film is very good in its presentation of the more-French-than-Scottish, Mary Stuart and in the first-of-its-kind portrayal of King James as a gay man. Presented in two parts, the film is riddled with historical inaccuracies, (e.g. James visiting his mother Mary Queen of Scots on the eve of her execution, no mention of the overt Catholic sympathies of James's Queen, Anne of Denmark, to name two,) but it does provide some good historical background on clan rivalry in Scotland, the impact of the Reformation in Scottish and English politics and how this led to the desperation of some Catholic peers to attempt the improbable Gunpowder Plot. For this reason, part two, which presents the conspirators as reacting to their perceived betrayal by King James, is the "better" of the two episodes.For lovers of this period of British history, the Stuarts (Mary and James) and the other "usual suspects" are all present and accounted for here in a very entertaining, well-acted, if not historically accurate, series that includes portrayals of Lord Bothwell, Lord Darnley, Lord James Stuart, John Knox, Elizabeth I, Robert Cecil, Robert Catesby and the ever popular Guy Fawkes.

I have always been into the Tudor and Stuart Era so this film was quite entertaining. However, History King James I Of England went to Denmark to marry his Queen, not her coming to Scotland in order to marry him as the film portrays. Secondly the film portrays him as hating her at first and she hating him. In truth historically they grew to be quite fond of each other.