DVD Review: The Tudors
From Paramount Home Entertainment
The Tudors: The Complete Second Season
Okay all you fans of steamy, historical dramas, hot Jonathan Rhys Meyers is back as a robust Henry the 8th in season two of Showtime's "The Tudors" and you can own it. This well-acted, well-written nighttime "soap" is packed with evil plots, romantic entanglements and political intrigue.
In Season Two, all hot for a permanent hook-up with sexy Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), Henry decides to break from the powerful Catholic church and start his own Church of England in order to divorce his Catholic queen and marry Anne. But, all is not rosy in the aftermath since Anne can't produce a living male heir (she only gave birth to the first Queen Elizabeth, one of the most notable and strongest female leaders in history...thank you very much) soooo, Henry's hot and roving eye rests elsewhere... on gorgeous young Jane Seymour. Now, if he can just get rid of Anne.....
Special Features: Although many scenes are quite dark, this DVD looks and sounds great overall but there aren't too many extras. You get two featurettes "Descendants of Henry" and "The Tower of London". "Henry" is kind of lame as it features some less-than-hot folks who claim to be related to Henry the 8th but the other, "Tower", is very interesting as we walk with star Natalie Dormer and a cute historian guy through Anne's apartments in the tower and re-live her gruesome last days. Natalie gets emotional on standing at the beheaded queen's last resting place, noting that, despite Anne's great contributions to the English Reformation, she is relegated to burial under a church altar with just a plain stone marker. A nice footnote to the life of this intriguing historical character.
Other than the print only cast biographies and some pretty gallery pictures from the production, you just get a lot of premiere episodes of other Showtime series like "Californication", "This American Life", "Dexter" and "United States of Tara". Nice but certainly not related to this DVD. We would have loved some behind-the-scenes or commentary by Jonathan...what's his take on his naughty character? And more from Natalie on playing Anne or the show's talented creator/writer on his favorite episodes, etc. would have been nice. Maybe for Season three?
Wrapping Up: If you are a fan of the series or just want to discover it, this second year is a doozy with great performances and one heck of a plot...all from history. And who says history is boring? Despite the lack of extras, this DVD is certainly worth a rent if not a buy. Hey, rent Season One to catch up first. Well worth it.
For another bit of fun go to www.whothetudorareyou.com and see exactly where you personally would fit into Anne and Henry's time. Interesting and fun.
