Miniseries – Catherine the Great

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Leonid M A disgusting spectacle! The great Empress, whom the Russian people called Catherine the Great, the Mother of the Russian people – despite her being German – is portrayed in this so-called 'artistic work' as a vile, lustful, dim-witted old woman. Consider these facts: Her foreign policy genius manifested in successful wars against the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, the expansion of the Russian Empire's borders, and the annexation of Crimea. Her reign saw significant advancements in art and science. The Academy of Arts and the Hermitage were founded, the Russian Academy of Sciences and Literature was opened, and many, many other achievements. These aspects make Catherine II one of the most pivotal figures in Russian history, whose influence is felt centuries after her death. Her portrayal in this series is utterly outrageous! Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/19/25 Full Review Tatiana L At the time of the attempted rescue of Ivan VI (Episode 1)… …Catherine was 35 y.o., Potemkin was 25y.o., and Paul was just 10 y.o. Why so geriatric, HBO? Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Catherine the Great (TV 2019): Hellen Mirren's turn as The Great. 4-part series covers only the last half of Catherine's life, which is the less interesting part. Mirren plays her as needy, which undercuts her greatness. Helen and Catherine both deserve more. B- Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member TERRIBLE!!! You got so utterly confused! .... You chose a character and actor, meant for the role of Queen Elizabeth! Jeezzz the woman was a Prussian...not British! What is next? Casting a role for Nelson Mandela with an American accent actor? Even a school kid would get this right.... Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member The high production value, detailed historical accuracy, and Helen Mirren make this miniseries hard to criticize, yet still weren't enough to make this a captivating watch for me. I had planned to watch Catherine when she first aired but it fell to the backburner after I saw some lackluster reviews. I recently started Robert Massie's series on the Romanovs and since reading volume three on Catherine the Great this week, I thought I'd go back and give this a go. Thankfully I now had this strong background knowledge as viewers of the miniseries are transplanted right into the action with little to no character exposition, which would have made this far more muddled and boringly confusing at times without it. On the positive side I did admire how committed the writers were to providing a well researched and pleasingly detailed portrayal of their subject and was something I would have never appreciated had I watched this before Massie's biography. History junkies and fans of historical biopics will find plenty of meat on this bone but I also wouldn't fault anyone if they told me this had trouble holding their attention. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member It's bad. Mirren is too old to play this Russian empress. Ekaterina is way better than this. The writing is lame, the script is awful, the pacing is inconsistent. At least the costumes and performances are nice. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Catherine the Great — Miniseries

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