Catherine the Great is a 1995 television movie based on the life of Catherine II of Russia. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine and Jeanne Moreau as Empress Elizabeth.
The film was released on Region 1 DVD on February 27, 2001 by A&E Home Video.
In this romanticized biography, a small German principality's unexperienced princess, Catherine, becomes the bride of czarevitch Peter, the mad and abusive son and heir of the Russian czarina Elisabeth, from whom she learns the cynical ropes of wielding absolute imperial power at any cost, including sacrificing her lover, young guards officer Saltykov, who must give her an heir which Peter can't and is then send abroad. After Elisabeth's death, she quickly moves to seize power with military and courtier support and works to enlarge and modernize the empire, again putting statesmanship ahead of her lover, a military genius who defeats the Ottomans and governs the conquered territories for her. Written by KGF Vissers
