"Henry VIII" is a Cliff Notes version of the story of Henry VIII, King of England. They managed to squeeze a lot of history into a 4 hour miniseries that aired on "Masterpiece Theater," and casts Ray Winstone (Nil By Mouth, The Departed, Sexy Beast, etc)as the monarch. He is a passionate, violent, nasty person when you look on the surface: He dumps his wife Katherine of Aragon (Assumpta Serna)just so he could hook up with Anne Boleyn (Helena Bonham Carter) and have a son with her (He's INCREDIBLY obsessed with having a boy to rule England after he dies). Doing this caused a break with Rome, but this is only the beginning. As he marries over and over again, we watch Henry's moral decay and decadence, the destruction that he causes along the way (The dissolution of the monasteries, the burning of so-called heretics), and his advisers who use the king to claim more power and money (And often with fatal results). Things get incredibly bloody (Like Anne Boleyn's execution), and hearts are broken. This gives the first time viewer who are just getting into the story of Henry VIII, but don't expect to see accuracy in this adaptation. And although the casting is superb (Winstone and Carter spark up the screen beautifully), you get a bit disappointed when they skip over other people (Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr don't get much time compared to the other 4 wives). However, as I said, the performances are incredible. When Katherine of Aragon defies the king by refusing to give into his demands of divorce, it breaks you into goosebumps.You may do better watching "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" with the magnificent Keith Mitchell for a better look inside the Tudor court. Otherwise, as mind junk-food goes, this can satisfy the hunger.

Henry VIII is a fantastic film. Granted, there are several mistakes in it, such as minor historical inaccuracies, some shoddy editing, and leaving the viewer slightly unsatisfied in the second half.However, the acting of Ray Winstone in the role of Henry VIII makes up for the mistakes. He delights the viewer in a Henry that loves, roars, kills, and cries, and his dimensions are limitless. Mr. Winstone plays a young, virile Henry equally as well as his dying, grotesque older Henry. His transition from young to old is gradual and delicate, and yet he shocks the viewer at the king's sudden decay. Each wife, all well cast and all well acted, are real women unstilted by their time period. Helena Bonham Carter's Anne Boleyn and Assumpta Serna's Catherine of Aragon are particular stand-outs, with powerful, multi-dimensional performances. The other wives are not given much spotlight in the film, and in the second half of the mini-series the remaining four wives are cycled through quickly and without as much care as Anne Boleyn's section of the film. At the film's end, we are still rooting for Mr. Winstone's Henry, even after the destruction he has caused in England and to his loved ones. The film's arc and journey give us a Henry VIII who learns from his mistakes, and acknowledges his faults.

Ray Winstone leads an all-star cast in this tale of male dominance and religious importance. Henry VIII has been on the throne for fifteen years. He and his devoted Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon, (Assumpta Serna) rule a rich and powerful England. But behind the happy smiling faces lie a couple deemed by tragedy. Henry is becoming impatient with his wife of fifteen years; her inability to produce a male heir has him worried. So when he meets the flighty young Anne Boleyn, (played to perfection by Helena Bonham Carter) his determination for a male heir becomes an obsession, convinced Anne will give him the heir he craves, he risks the wrath of his people and his catholic faith, to divorce his catholic Queen, and marry his protestant lover, which once again results with only a daughter. This failure was to cost the young Queen Anne her life, as she was executed on a trumped up charge of treason. Just as it seems life cant get any better for Henry with the birth of a third child, a healthy son (later Edward VII) with third wife Jane Seymour, (Emilia Fox) tragedy strikes, which was to ultimately lead to the downfall and eventual death of the tyrannical monarch. With an exceptional supporting cast including Mark Strong, Sean Bean, David Suchet, Charles Dance, and the up and coming Emily Blunt as Henrys fifth Queen, Catherine Howard. This tale brings history to life with Henrys determination for a male heir, and the belief that only a male monarch could rule England, without bringing the country to destruction.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the producers of this work have taken extreme liberties in the telling of the story, and employed a few outright falsehoods. Nevertheless, if one is able to leave behind expectations for a true-to-the-books account, it is a fun show to watch.Bad Things: Some of the costumes were not great, but there were also some that were spot-on for the period; the armour was atrocious, and the jousting pretty hokey (coming from someone who's done it before). And I certainly don't think Henry was as pliable and weak-willed as he is made out to be. The dissolution of the monasteries wasn't nearly so bloody and violent (another reviewer correctly described it as looking like a scene out of a viking rape-and-pillage film).Good Things: I think the acting was superb, especially from the supporting cast: Cranmer, Cromwell, Wolsey, Gardiner, Robert Aske. And speaking of Aske, for all the inaccuracies in the movie it is the only one that has given the Pilgrimage of Grace the incredibly significant role it actually played during Henry's reign; the details of the Pilgrimage are far too complicated to go into here, but even though much of the details were abbreviated or changed, the very fact that the producers gave a nod to this important event went a long way with me. Suffice to say that Henry's rule could have been swamped and swept away by the Pilgrimage, something Henry and his contemporaries were well aware of and was a consideration which guided their domestic policies for many years afterwards. The movie was limited by the length it could be to go into details concerning the 36-year reign of the monarch, and understandably had to 'pick its battles'. As such, it did leave a lot out about the religious crisis and split with Rome, as well as the effects of religious turmoil on the political situation at home and abroad. If they'd had another 4 hours, they could have covered more things to a greater extent, but most folks have trouble sitting through a ninety-minute movie.Overall, a worth watching but don't expect a history lesson. Besides, we need to worry about anyone who DOES expect a history lesson from a movie...