A Man for All Seasons (DVD, 2007, Special Edition)

After having watched Showtime's original special The Tudors, I was sparked with the idea to know more about Thomas More, the faithful servant of King Henry VIII who was beheaded for the Roman Catholic faith. The Tudors dealt with King Henry's obsession with Ann Boleyn, but A Man for All Seasons attempted to tell the story from Thomas More’s side. AMFAS was an Academy Award winner in 1966, of course judging by the crap they give Oscars to now, you can see how the mighty have fallen in forty years; but I digress.

AMFAS is superbly acted by the great Paul Scofield as Thomas More England’s Roman Catholic Chancellor, Wendy Hiller as his wife, Lady Alice, Susannah York, a very sort after English actress of the time, as his daughter, and in an all too brief, but glittering portrayal of Cardinal Woolsey by the incomparable Orson Welles in what was probably his final role. Oh, yes, my friends, you will never see the like of actors like these any time soon.

The story attempts to stay true to historical facts, but I felt the so called bad guys were one dimensional, re: Oliver Cromwell and King Henry VIII, Leo McKern and Robert Shaw respectively . Here I will compare it the Showtime’s The Tudors and found the characters there more multifaceted, of course The Tudors were not confined to120 minutes as A Man for All Seasons was.

All in all, AMFAS won a total of 6 Academy Awards and deservedly so. It is a historical drama based on real people who learn in the end good will always triumph even if it’s centuries later.

The story of Sir Thomas Moore ( Paul Schofield ) and his refusal to sign King Henry V111's (Robert Shaw ) edict to accept Anne Bolyn as Queen. Here we see the King as a younger man wanting a male heir and determind to cast of his first wife, the Spanish Queen Katherine. Despite over seventeen pregnancies only produced a girl Princess Mary, and woman were thought incapable of ruling. To Moores family he was stubborn and they saw only ruin ahead, the loss of their beautiful home in the country and the wealth which came with being Henry's friend and advisor. The story takes us to it's inevitable conclusion when a man defy's his King will, a magnificent film, superb acting by an all star cast. Note, Henry did have a son with Jane Seymour his third wife. But Edward did not reign long and died of syphilis inherited from his Father. Mary claimed the throne and was known as Bloody Mary as she tried to bring England back to the Catholic faith by burning protestants. Mary died within five years with stomach Cancer which she thought was a pregnancy, and finally Elizabeth the merely English Princess and daughter of Anne Bolyn became Queen Elizabeth 1st. The people rejoiced as Elizabeth brought years of peace and prosperity to England proving that indeed a woman can rule.

This special edition dvd of A Man For All Seasons is one of my favorite purchases this year! Now I can FINALLY have some subtitles to catch those lines I never quite heard/understood.

Because the movie is pretty old (although award winning and frigging awesome) there isn't much fun stuff like commentary or bloopers, but there's a well done mini-documentary about Saint Sir Thomas More that is very, very good, highlighting his life, death, and writings.

It's a beautiful film to behold, too, so it's nice to step up from VHS quality.

This is an outstanding movie that is timeless. It's the true story of St. Thomas More, and it's accurate to the written accounts of his life.
The acting is excellent, the costumes are grand and the story is inspiring.

Highly recommended!

Theatrical,incredible true story about conviction and honor. One of the great
assemblages of actors ever put together. Paul Scofield may be the best.