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| To Kill a King [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] | ![To Kill a King [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FS74W291L._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Mike Barker
Studio: FilmFour
Category: DVD
Buy New: $24.99
New (1) from $24.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 152524
Format: Import, Pal, Widescreen
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled)
Running Time: 98 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
UPC: 501413803979
EAN: 0501413803979
ASIN: B000AQFKKO
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Springtime for Cromwell! August 16, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Blair Worden once described Oliver Cromwell as 'the historian's Hamlet', and Hugh Trevor-Roper sagely observed that Cromwell appears different according to the background against which and from which he is viewed. Unfortunately, in Dougray Scott's film, Cromwell is reduced to a cartoon baddie; a ruthless, ambitious thug bent on self-aggrandisement. Scott is supposed to have researched carefully for his part in the film by reading books in the British Library. If so, he will have found nothing to support the scene in which Cromwell shoots a street-seller for selling medallions, or the scene in which Cromwell tortures and beheads a Presbyterian MP. The idea that Fairfax planned an assassination against his former deputy is also fictitious, but then this whole film is one ninety-eight minute character assassination of Oliver Cromwell. As Head of State, Cromwell used his residence at Hampton Court to entertain foreign dignitaries, but in this film Hampton Court is littered with scores of hanging corpses.
Missing from this film is any reference to the Presbyterian conformity which Parliament's MPs were trying to impose upon the country at that time. Holles (the leader of the Presbyterians played by James Bolam) is simply portrayed as a man who is willing to negotiate with the King and line his pockets in the process. There is, however, one very telling moment in the film, when Fairfax argues with Cromwell against an invasion of Scotland (an event which is actually grounded in historical fact). At this point in the film, Scott declares: "the Scots are no threat unless you make them so!". Actually the Scots had declared the Prince of Wales as their new King and Cromwell was keen to defend the people of northern England against another battering by Argyle's men. Moreover, it was Scotland's invasion of England which had helped spark the Civil War in the first place!
However, what stretches the believability of this film to braking point is the idea that - having attempted his assassination - Fairfax should then retain some form of brotherly affection for his former deputy. This is probably why director Mike Barker has added some qualifying comments at the end - having put Cromwell's reputation through a mangle for ninety minutes he feels the need to remind his audience what a great man Cromwell was, only by this time nobody cares, and this is a pity, as the film is otherwise well-directed, beautifully produced and costumed and contains some moving performances. It could have been a great film!
 Cromwell and Fairfax: a suprisingly good historical drama July 20, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
To Kill a King (aka Cromwell and Fairfax) came as quite a surprise - the film's troubled production is a local legend in the UK, the reviews were lukewarm and the film was further scuppered by a dreadful ad campaign and trailer. Then there was the fact that director Mike Barker's feature debut, the insultingly stupid The James Gang, was one of the very worst films I've ever had the misfortune to see. And that's ignoring Rupert Everett's efforts at promoting the movie in the States by describing it as boring rubbish and his performance being the only worthwhile thing in it.
The omens weren't good, to put it mildly, but it actually turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining and ambitious retelling of the troubled relationship between Lord Fairfax and his deputy Oliver Cromwell in the aftermath of the English Civil War. I can't vouch for its historical accuracy, but as drama it works very well, despite the fact that Roth's Cromwell isn't at the top of his game while Scott lacks the voice for the rabble-rousing speeches (although he's much better here than his usual lacklustre screen performances).
It's well-directed and hides the budget problems that saw the picture shut down for a few weeks while they scrambled for money to finish the picture quite admirably. It has a sense of scale both in story and treatment and, though it loses momentum slightly after the king's death, it deserved to find the audience it was denied in cinemas. Certainly a notch above the usual staid British historical picture, it's well worth a look.
The 2.35:1 transfer is good and the UK PAL disc has a reasonable package of extras - featurette, behind the scenes footage, interviews and the aforementioned terrible trailer, surely one of the worst of all time.
 To Kill A King; Worst Film Ever Made? August 26, 2005
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
"To Kill a King" is a shocking collection of lies painted as historical fact. It is clearly the brain child of some deranged Royalist alarmed at the rise of democracy. The dialogue is poorly constructed with far too many longeurs. The idea that Oliver Cromwell was Fairfax's second fiddle, sucking up to him in order to get close to his wife, is such utter drivel as to make this film unwatchable. The Royalists behind this film end up by saying that there were no republics until the death of Louis XVI in 1793. Err... the United States perhaps? A land freed from the tyranny of monarchy by the grandchildren of the Roundheads. Those same Roundheads who had fled the Restoration after Charles II was restored in Monck's military coup of January 1660. This film is just too bad to bother watching.
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