THE TUDORS is the first take on King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhy Meyers) that interests me. All of the other takes left me bored. Despite a few soft porn moments, I did enjoy the intrigue and politics along with the great acting (especially from Sam Neill who steals the show as Cardinal Woolsey) and production design and costumes (the CGI cityscape of London could look better though). THE TUDORS actually makes the subject matter of that time in history feel more alive to me. Now I want to see season 2.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Next time, CBS DVD needs more extras for this series like audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and more on the making of the series. The two short featurettes on the production and costume design are packed with info. They shot the series in Ireland and the costumes are modern interpetations (and the costume designer talks about the costumes for Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Queen Katherine). The longer featurette on Tudors historical sites is also interesting (as a tour guide gives a tour of the main sites also with giving a spoiler or two of what will happen in the series later if you're not too up on your history of King Henry VIII).

The extras are confied to disc 4. Other extras include a small photo gallery for THE TUDORS (series stills and publicty stills), a chance to win a trip to Ireland, the ability to stream more episodes of Showtime series via N Technology such as the first two episodes of DEXTER Season 2, and free episodes of THIS AMERICAN LIFE (I wish they picked another episode for new viewers of the show), CALIFORNICATION (consider me hooked- too bad season 1 isn't coming to DVD until July), and PENN & TELLER BS!.

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE TUDORS is the best and most interesting take I have seen on King Herny VIII. It is avery rich production with much to love whether it is the acting, production design, costumes, or the scripts. I hope CBS DVD provides more extras for the season 2 set. I can't wait to see season 2.

this DVD review is (c)1-7-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  


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