Customer Reviews

Young Catherine/TNT Version [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Frederick the Great sums it up beautifully at the end of this magnificent movie when he comments that this "frail, young slip of a girl has won herself an empire, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Against all the odds, that is what she has done." I have always been fascinated by the bold outlines of the Catherine saga -- how she was shipped across a continent as a teenager to audition for marriage into a family renowned for its violence, how she was wed as a pawn of international politics to a strange youth who would emerge a mad sadist with autocratic power, how she survived and, although a woman and not of Russian stock, wrested a throne from the blood descendants of Peter the Great to become the dominant monarch of her age.

But how? And why? Until time travel is conquered, we'll probably never know all the answers. Meanwhile, though, this movie stands as the best "it could have happened this way" presentation of what might have lain behind the momentous historical facts. Even when there is a descent into bald speculation, such as with the non-Romanov paternity of Catherine's son, the speculation is based on a credible interpretation of known events and tracks what many court gossips suspected at the time and some historians have surmised since.

The icing on the cake of an intelligent script in the hands of talented actors is that these guessed-at events are filmed in the actual settings against which the real events played out. Sure, the palace was rebuilt after WWII more in its 19th-century garb than its 18th, and there are a few shots from Peterhof that are presented as being on the grounds of the Catherine Palace. But who cares? The sense of the grandeur of the age and the overwhelming luxury that still cannot squelch shabbiness of spirit remains intact. You'll find few, if any, historical dramas better done than this one.

Let me first of all clear up some confusion: this seems to be the double-cassette, 180-minute version of "Young Catherine", not the badly edited 150-minute version. If so, it's the best available. Unfortunately, even this, often sold as the "complete" movie, is not really complete. The laser disc version on the Internet Movie database lists a running time of 187 minutes; moreover, when I tried to watch my copy of this video, I noticed quickly that little scenes were missing. I took out my original tapes from the TV broadcasts. Sure enough, there ARE cuts -- maybe not huge cuts, but telling cuts just the same, that sacrifice details and context to no good purpose. Seven minutes may not seem like much (if that's ALL that is missing), but the scenes I noted (before I gave up comparing and just watched my old TV taping) added significant characterization to the script and established clearer motivations for several key players. Why bother to remove these scenes? Just to save seven minutes of videotape? bah!

Enough of that. I would still recommend this film to anyone who likes a rousing good historical drama with well-defined characters, a meaty plot involving intrigue and romance, witty and believable dialogue, and thoroughly engaging performances by all players. (Plummer's droll English ambassador is especially noteworthy.) If only half the period flicks were this intelligently scripted! I knew nothing at all about Catherine the Great before watching this (except for the scandalous gossip that later grew up around her), had never seen Julia Ormond before, yet both film and actress are now firm favorites. Also commendable are Redgrave's capricious Empress and Reece Dinsdale's thoroughly madcap Grand Duke Peter, Catherine's surprise bridegroom. Dinsdale must have graduated first in his class at the Roddy McDowall School of Acting -- his resemblance to the veteran English actor is startling in this picture, and he makes a wonderfully loony (but still dangerous) Grand Duke, with his delusions, perversions, and idiocies.

Catherine, by contrast, must survive by her wits, and adding to the dangers of palace intrigue -- Watch out for that oily Pole! Beware the cunning Prussian! Trust not the serving maid who poisons your morning chocolate! -- are the risks she takes in finding love with a handsome Captain of the Imperial Guard. Slowly, Catherine gathers a circle of loyalists and advisors she can trust. When the inevitable storm breaks, and she must take a stand against her mad husband who would bring ruin to Russia, Catherine is ready to face her ultimate challenge.

The dramatic face-off between Ormond (who wears her 18th century military uniform quite well, it must be admitted, even if this places me in league with the cretinous Grand Duke) and the regiments opposed to her coup is a little too freely "borrowed" from "Waterloo" (which is in turn based on Napoleon's actual conduct), but at least it's an honest swipe. "Young Catherine" takes few other missteps. Pity we never got to see a follow-up ("Not Quite So Young Anymore Catherine"?) or more worthwhile projects like this from Ormond, an underrated actress who deserves better movies. And whatever you do, don't waste time with Catherine Zeta-Jones' recent Welsh-accented disaster "Catherine the Great"! (for my true feelings about this mess, see my amazon.com review).

I originally saw this movie in 1991 or 1992 when it aired on TV. I recorded it and watched many, many times. I shared it with everyone I knew! Not a single person who has viewed this film disliked it! In college, I majored in Russian, so naturally I was drawn to it. It is breathtaking, rich, dramatic. I now teach Russian to high school students and show this movie each year. Every single one of my high school students is glued to every scene, every word, every character of this film. They comment on it, discuss it, and are enthralled by the characters, the costumes, the palaces, and of course the historical period. It has a timeless appeal and is enjoyed by anyone aged 10 to age 100. I highly recommend seeing it!

Young Catherine is a wonderful movie! It is the story of Catherine the Great before she rose to power as the Empress of Russia. The movie opens with 15 year-old Sophie (Catherine's real name when she was a young German princess) receiving an invitation to visit the Empress Elizabeth and her nephew, the Grand Duke Peter, sole heir to the Russian throne. The purpose of the visit is for marriage of the young people. As she travels from Prussia to St. Petersburg, Russia, she meets handsome Count Orlov, a soldier in Empress Elizabeth's Imperial Army who was chosen to escort princess Sophie to Russia. It was love at first sight for these two, but young Sophie has ambition to become an empress. While in the Russian palace, she is poisoned, has her name changed to Catherine, and endures years of suffering beside her mentally ill and cruel husband. When the Empress dies, Peter tries to gain sole power as Emperer and tries to cast Catherine out. She stages a coup d'etat and wins the throne. This movie is wonderfully acted, the sets, costumes and characters are brilliant and interesting. The movie is pretty much historically accurate, although changed a bit for dramatic effect.

TNT, having made this extraordinarily good series on Catherine the Great, with a stellar cast and scenes often filmed in the original (opulent) locations, incredibly has failed to make the full 187-minute version available on DVD. They do not appear to realize that what this forces the viewer to do is tape the full version off the air. (Many people do not want to buy VHS sets, and even the 180-minute version in this case has scenes missing.) What can they be thinking at TNT? Having spent all the money to film this classic, shouldn't they be the first to WANT the public to buy it? It just boggles the mind.....And of course, if they really want to do us a favor, they should add the Russian language sound track (there is a Russian-only available version), as well as any other languages (French, for example? -- German, which would also be appropriate, considering that Catherine was a German princess?) to the set. Now THAT would be a set worth having! And has it not occurred to them that Europeans would also be interested in having this set available on DVD?

This is one of my favorite historical dramas, but it needs to be in DVD format with no cuts.

THE BEST HISTORICAL FILM to date, and it needs to come out on DVD!!

Product was presented by you as being the long version of 186 minutes but after viewing and timing the movie it came out just over 150 minutes with many sections missing we were familiar with from our older movie we wanted to replace. That is why we sent it back for a refund. We are still looking for the 186 minute version of Young Catherine. Tim Voegtle

This film depicts the early, tumultuous years of Catherine the Great of Russia, before she ascended the throne. Julia Ormond gives a fine performance as the lovely, vulnerable but very savvy young German princess who has been summoned to Russia by Empress Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave hams it up here, and looks like she had great fun) to marry her cruel and warped nephew Peter. The script takes great liberties with the actual events--Catherine was a woman of 33 when she assumed the throne, not a teenager as the film shows, and her lover Gregory Orlov was a much more dangerous character than the film depicts. But it is a rousing and enjoyable film, especially for anyone who enjoys costume dramas. END

I have always loved historical dramas, and Young Catherine is one of the best I have ever seen! The lush sets, the incredible costumes, and the first-rate script with absolutely the perfect people to play the parts. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, and when it was re-run on cable (Bravo) I jumped at the chance to record it. I have had it a long time, and it is time for the powers that be to put it in DVD format!!! There are movies older than this one already on DVD. GIVE US YOUNG CATHERINE!!!! If we had quality stuff like this already on DVD, then there would be alot of very happy people! Let's have more historical dramas put in the DVD format, please. And start with Young Catherine.