The Great | The Boneyard

The Great

HuskyHawk

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An unusual blend of modern language and concepts, along with utter disregard for historical accuracy when it comes to race, color etc. yet this otherwise does a wonderful job of telling the tale of Catherine the Great’s rise in Russia. It’s funny and intriguing. The leads, Nicholas Holt and Elle Fanning are both terrific.

I had my doubts and I had to get past the style, but it’s a lot of fun. Think about the medieval knight movie with Heath Ledger and Paul Bettany but if it was serious about the story.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I will give it a shot. It had potential to be terrible, so I was hesitant to invest any time in it.
 

HuskyHawk

The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
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I will give it a shot. It had potential to be terrible, so I was hesitant to invest any time in it.

If you want a 100% accurate historical drama, this is not that. There is a veneer of accuracy of the larger story overall, and a lot of entertaining and funny moments.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Halfway through, and it is pretty good. I am disappointed it is a miniseries, because there is a lot to tell about this character and period in time.

Hoult is incredible as Peter and deserves an Emmy nomination. I am guessing he took this part because it would be so much fun, because he is a big star for a role like this. I think he is a great actor, and could win a statue someday between cashing 8 digit checks for popcorn flicks.

I think Elle Fanning is mediocre. Some of it is physical. Her face has a similar reaction to everything, and scrunches up when she makes any expression with it at all. She is also a little stilted in her movements. Her voice is too mousy. I can tell she is acting. This is a great role, and there are better actresses than her for it.

Edit: One thing I really like about this one vs. the HBO miniseries (which felt like re-enactments out of a documentary), is that The Great, while not really attempting to be historically accurate, does capture the primitive nature of Russia at the time. The great cities of 18th century Europe, like London, Paris and Vienna, were much more elegant and refined than Russia, where even the ruling class lived primitively and were savages at times. Russia was a brutal society even at the top, much more prone to violence and cruelty than the rest of Europe. I have read a lot about all parts of Europe during that time period, and Russia was almost a frontier society compared to the other great powers of the time. That is why Peter the Great built St. Petersburg on a swamp. He thought Moscow was too primitive.
 
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