Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1973)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1973
Running Time	119:53 (Case: 121)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (80:45)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Waris Hussein
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Keith Michell Donald Pleasence Charlotte Rampling Jane Asher Frances Cuka Lynne Frederick Jenny Bos Barbara Leigh-Hunt Michael Gough Brian Blessed Michael Goodliffe Bernard Hepton Garfield Morgan
Case	?
RPI	$9.95	Music	David Munrow

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In the 1970s, BBC television produced a magnificent series starring Australia's Keith Michel as Henry the Eighth. Following on the heels of that success, he revised his role in this somewhat truncated film version which focuses on the chequered lives of his six spouses.

     It is a visual feast, with magnificent costuming and a return largely to the sets used in the series. This was a taste of Tudor England with less gloss than audiences were accustomed to seeing - with straw on the floors and grot and grime aplenty to be seen. Assuredly, royal houses of that day would become so fetid that it prompted their frequent moving from house to house in order to fumigate their previous abode!

     Each cast member is perfectly up to the challenge of bringing those troubled and dangerous times to life, although it will help to have at least a workable knowledge of that period of history as the story rarely pauses too long to provide historical detail.

     We see Michel develop in front of our eyes from a robust and jovial young king to a bitter, gout plagued old man, agonising about who to trust and which course to take in treacherous times.

     This film has held up well over the course of time. It is an enjoyable and absorbing film well worth a look by anyone interested in this period of history.

Video

     The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced.

     Given the age of its original stock, this is a pretty good transfer. There is good depth and detail in both highlights and shadow areas and there is no low level noise.

     The colours are absolutely glorious. Skin tones are impressive although a little on the pallid side.

     There was minor evidence of dust speckling, but no aliasing and no major distractions.

     This is an RSDL disc with the layer change between Chapters 10 & 11 at 80:45. The change was fluid and not distracting.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The soundtrack is delivered in English Dolby Digital 2.0 and is not too bad.

      The dialogue is very clear, but rather flat and presented very evenly over the front speakers. There are no subtitles available.

     The music is superb, capturing the atmosphere of the piece perfectly.

      The surround sound is very limited, with a rather flat presentation. However, this is a largely dialogue driven film so it was not overly disappointing.

      There was no subwoofer activity present.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

     The menu is static and silent.

      There does not appear to be an R1 version of this film.

     This is a thoughtful and entertaining look at a treacherous time in history. Each performer brought their characters utterly to life, providing a couple of hours of very high quality entertainment.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall