IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

gelman@attglobal.net Six or seven hours of film (or was it tape) make "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" a series, not a movie. But here's a clear case of more is more. Each of Henry's wives gets her own story and collapsing those stories into a couple of hours is a disservice. Keith Michell as Henry and Anthony Quayle as the narrator are fine actors and they provide continuity. But the actresses playing the six wives are also excellent and each of the episodes stands up on its own. Ignore the nay sayers on this. This is another of the drama series that BBC does so well and that have benefited those of us who watch them on PBS. There have been a lot of good ones but this may be the best of the lot.

dirkgambit I have seen this series many times and enjoy it immensely every time I see it. I have read a number of biographies of Henry VII and this series is the most accurate portrayal of Henry VIII I have seen, making him a sympathetic character in spite of the way he treated some of his wives (in contrast, "The Private Life of Henry VIII," with Charles Laughton as Henry, is absolutely ludicrous in its portrayal of Henry and his wives). Watching this series gives one a good understanding of how a king could go through six wives, having two of them executed and one driven to an early death through mistreatment. Yet he is never exactly hero or villain, he is portrayed as a human being, who only once went into a marriage that was not for love, and quickly got out of it (through annulment). Anyone who is interested in the history of England's monarchy should enjoy this series. And a good follow up series is "Elizabeth R", with Glenda Jackson playing the title role (quite excellently).

Ivan-99 A television classic. Among the very best TV has offered. The writing, performances, costumes, music -- all marvelous!

Big Neil-2 Impeccable in casting, sets, dialogue, and period feel. All of the principals are magnificent; but the actors who play Stephen Gardiner and Robert Barnes are simply extraordinary. The much-maligned Keith Michell is still the best Henry this century, easily brushing aside Robert Shaw, Richard Burton, and Charles Laughton. Michell's combination of vanity, insecurity, overweening machismo, and determination to stay top dog at all costs is painful but fascinating to watch. This TV series does full justice to all facets of the Tudor period; best of all, it reveals extra magical touches with each re-viewing. Which means, in short, that this is a video which you should buy, rather than rent.