Catherine the Great Movie Review 1995

Teenaged German princess Sophia (Zeta-Jones) marries into Russian royalty in 1744 when she weds Peter (Jaenicke), nephew of the Empress Elizabeth (Moreau), and has a name change when she's crowned Catherine II. The marriage is a disaster and with the help of her lover Gregory Orlov (McGann), Catherine eventually gets rid of Peter and is crowned Empress and Czarina of all the Russias as she struggles to drag her medieval empire into the modern world. Typically lavish and simplistic historical retelling. Originally released as a two-part miniseries.

Distribution

A&E Home Video, PO Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407, Toll-free: 888-423-1212, Fax: (802)864-9846, Email: homevideo@aetv.com, URL: http://www.aetv.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 100 minutes.
Originally from German.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Royalty, Russian, Period Piece: 18th Century, Historical Drama, Biopics: Royalty, Historical Romance

Screenplay

John Goldsmith

Cast

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul McGann, Ian Richardson, Jeanne Moreau, Mark McGann, Hannes Jaenicke, Mel Ferrer, Omar Sharif, John Rhys-Davies, Brian Blessed

Cinematography

Elemer Ragalyi

Director

Marvin J. Chomsky

Music

Laurence Rosenthal