In 1585, Catholic Spain, ruled by King Philip II, is the most powerful country in Europe. Seeing that the Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth's life that occurred from the 1570s onwards had all failed, See more

• Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I
• Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham
• Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh See more

Principal photography began 28 April 2006 and completed on 1 August 2006.
Historical background
In November 1558, King Philip II of Spain's second wife, Queen Mary I of England, died. They had married in July 1554, a year after Mary's … See more

The original score was composed by A. R. Rahman and Craig Armstrong. Kapur was thrilled to have both Rahman and Armstrong working together on the music, saying it was fascinating to watch "two people with totally different backgrounds and cultures" interact. See more

The film was released on DVD and HD DVD on 5 February 2008, and on Blu-ray in 2009. See more

Critical reception
Although Cate Blanchett's performance was highly praised, the film received generally mixed to negative reviews from US critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of critics gave the film a positive … See more

• Black legend
• Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I
• Cultural depictions of Philip II of Spain
• Spanish Armada See more