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Customer Reviews of Cromwell

Alec Guinness as King Charles I is simply superb. This gifted actor brings the insecure monarch to life before our very eyes, from his indecision to his eventual desperation to save his thrown--even his slight stuttering problem. Indeed it was Charles himself, by attempting in secret to form alliances with Catholic Ireland and France in order to defeat Cromwell's army, who was the catalyst to his own demise.

Richard Harris is good, but somewhat over the top, as the brooding Oliver Cromwell, the musical score is nothing short of annoying, and the movie succumbs to the gushy melodrama characteristic of the time in which it was made. But despite its flaws, CROMWELL delivers a satisfying story about a turbulent time in English history.

overall, very entertaining
I am a great student of the English Civil War and found this movie to be, overall, very entertaining despite just a few historical inaccuracies such as Oliver Cromwell being one of the five Parliament memebers that Charles I personally came to arrest ( Cromwell wasnt one of the five ). The costumes, stage sets and battle scenes, especially the cavalry charges, were without equal. A lot of the musical score was fitting and added to the atmosphere of the film. I dont believe that Harris's portrayal of Cromwell was uninspiring as previous reviewers have suggested. Cromwell, according to some historical sources, was a deep believer in freedom, both religious and private property, hence the films early reference about Cromwell leaving England for America. Cromwell was simply not known, historically, to have worn his emotions on his sleeve. Timothy Dalton's Prince Rupert was magnificent. Alec Guiness certainly looked like Charles I. Truthfully, most of the actors fairly resembled their characters.

I know this film was made for mass audiences and thus needed star name appeal to sell it. But it is too bad that this most interesting period of history could not have been portrayed in a miniseries (in the way Glenda Jackson's ELIZABETH R was) with all the same actors. That way, other central characters such as Charles I, Thomas Wentworh the Earl of Strafford, Parliamentary leader John Pym and others could have been developed more fully because they are just as interesting as Cromwell. Not to mention the decade or so long struggle between Parliament and Crown that led up to the Civil War and Thomas Wentworths treachery by going from Parliaments greatest champion to being Charles I right hand man thus earning Parliaments unending enmity. Lots of great storyline potential there.

Yes, it is too bad it was not made as a miniseries because so much dramatic history was left out. This film gem was unfortunately to brief. But I liked it alot!

More Yelling!
Great production values and a terrific performance by Sir Alec Guinness cannot entirely overcome the turgid pacing of this lavish historical epic. The biggest fault with "Cromwell" is well...Cromwell. Richard Harris, an actor who was either very, very good or very, very bad, seemed convinced that he was on the London stage rather than a film set. His postures and attitudes all seem very staged as if for a theatrical performance. Then there is the yelling. I swear 80% of Harris' dialogue is yelled and at one point in the movie his voice is hoarse from constant yelling. (It's like that SNL skit about Chris Matthews- "More yelling!) Overall, it's just too over-the-top and hurts the film.

Movies about historical subjects ALWAYS have to take liberties with their subjects. It's just the way it is. Thus, I tend to judge movies on history by a scale- some rate higher than others in capturing an era and the facts. I would rate "Cromwell" in the low mid range on that scale. It certainly captures the look of the era. The battle scenes are very impressive with literally thousands of extras courtesy of Hollywood's then favorite rent-an-army- dictator Franco's Spanish army. However, it puts Oliver Cromwell in the midst of every important decision of the English Civil War which is way off the mark. I guess the scriptwriters wanted to ensure that in almost every scene Richard Harris would be there scowling and yelling at the camera and forget about historical accuracy.