Rating: 
Summary: Auuuuggggghhhh!
Review: For the first 95% of the miniseries based on _The Mists of Avalon_, I was thinking "Hmmm, this isn't bad; this is a pretty good movie considering how much they would have had to cut it for TV. I just wish there were more of it." Then I got to the ending. Refer to the title of my review. "Auuugggh." Because the miniseries had cut the Morgaine-Accolon affair and Morgaine's subsequent return to the pagan ways, the miniseries ended ALL wrong--Morgaine was unable to do something she was able to do in the book. There is a feeling of peace at the end of the book; at the end of the miniseries there is frustration and despair. On top of that, I have a smaller gripe; I wish they had used actors of different ages, or at least employed more skillful makeup, so that the characters looked the ages they were supposed to be. Morgaine is played by Juliana Margulies. When Morgaine is supposed to be 15, she looks 35, and looks kind of silly clambering about like a schoolgirl on the Tor. And then, when she is supposed to be sixty, she still looks thirty-five. It is impossible to get a sense of the historical sweep of the novel by watching the miniseries. Most of it isn't bad, but please, just go read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip the movie. Read the book.
Review: The only good thing about this movie--and I'm really grasping at straws here--is that it prompted me to reread the book, which I last read over 10 years ago. The book is a breathtaking masterpiece; the movie is a breathtaking travesty. A 10-hour television miniseries might, just might, have pulled it off. A movie, even a 3-hour one, was doomed from the start to do injustice to the book, but it's even worse than that: the plot has been altered enough that the book is nearly unrecognizable within it except in broadest outline. Poor Marion. She deserved much better.
Rating: 
Summary: A very, very good movie!
Review: I think this movie very good :) I've read the book and it was only in the second half of the movie did the plot change a bit. Lots of people, I think, are disappointed that the miniseries didn't follow the book but if the movie was exactly the same as the book there wouldn't be any point in watching it. Anyway, I think that Julianna Margulies did a very good job playing Morgaine in this movie and the rest of the actors were pretty good in this movie too! The costumes in his movie are very well designed and the plot is good too. The Mists of Avalon is one of my favorite movies.
Rating:
Summary: Eh.. it could've been better
Review: I didn't feel that this movie did proper justice to the book it was supposed to follow. Personally, I thought the actors/actresses were a bit over-theatric in thier performances, and the film didn't follow the book as closely as I would've liked. Then again.. I am very picky. If a movie doesn't follow a book nearly verbatum, I tend to not care for it very much. If you have read the book, don't bother with it, but if you haven't read the book, you may like the show just fine. I recommend the book, myself. It is much much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie
Review: this was excellently done, with good acting and a great plotline. i think my only problem is that when i first wwatched it, i kept noting all the changes they made to it from the book and which details weren't accurate. and personally, i didn't like the way viviane was depicted in the movie--she seemed way too harsh. but angelica huston played her very well that way so i guess it worked out. the book is still better than the movie, but the movie is certainly worth watching, unless you're one of those people who can't stand to se any changes made in a book-to-movie translation. if you are, good luck in your movie searches. the mists of avalon does a better job in sticking to the boo than most movies do. And if i hadn't been noting all the differences between book and movie, i probably would have given it five stars. Hooray for the wonderful actresses!! they ROCK!!!
Rating: 
Summary: If you liked the book, you WON'T like this
Review: The miniseries The Mists of Avalon is such a stark constrast to the novel it is based on, I seriously wonder why they bothered to title the two works the same thing. As those who have read it know, The Mists of Avalon is a fresh, startling interpretation of the classic Arthurian legend. It centers around the women that shaped the legend. It shows how truly powerful they were through a superior plotline. Nearly every single crucial element to the plot was left out of the miniseries. It dwelled for a horribly long time on the most trivial things, yet neglected to mention some of the most important aspects. For example, the affair between Lancelet and Morgaine, a driving force behind much of the novel version, was only casually mentioned in the miniseries. How Arthur obtained the sword from the stone, which comprises a mere paragrah of the novel, is a fifteen-minute long sequence in the series. Through this misinterpretation, The Mists of Avalon becomes yet another mediocre verion of a classic legend. Despite its inaccuracy to the book, the miniseries DOES have some redeeming qualities. The acting is very good; I cannot think of an instance of bad acting. The physical appearance of the characters is far from glamourous; their messy hair and tattered clothes are extremely realistic (no glossed-over Hollywood fluff in THIS series). However, this detailed, three-hour long film is NOT meant to be watched in a single sitting. The insanely slow plot is maddening. I found myself wanting to hit the fast-foward button more times than one. The horrible misinterpretation of the novel and yawn-worthy course of action cannot really compensate for the impressive acting and costumes that grace The Mists of Avalon. I highly recommend the 800-page novel over the 3-hour long miniseries.
Rating:
Summary: The Chicks of Avalon
Review: Movie Summary: This is the legend of King Arthur as told by author Marion Zimmer Bradley in her book of the same name. It focuses on the women of Camelot and their pagan religion. It shows the changes it goes through as the people of England embrace Christianity. My Opinion: I was hoping for steel on steel action with knight facing knight but instead I got religion versus religion and priest facing priestess. I knew that this version was based on Marion Zimmer Bradley's book, but I did not know that it focused primarily on the women of Camelot and their religion. Avalon it turns out is a hidden island that is the home of the religion that worships the goddess of the earth. They train priestesses here and then send them out into the world to meddle in the affairs of men. Some people may find this interesting, but I was set to see King Arthur and got this instead. The three main actresses do a very good job. Julianna Margulies especially is very good as Morgaine. It's no surprise that Morgaine is portrayed as a victim and not the evil priestess that she is in other versions of the King Arthur legend. Anjelica Huston and Joan Allen also give good performances. In the end it was a long 183 minutes and I was left wanting some action. DVD Quality: Video: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Sound: DD5.1 Extras: Deleted Scenes, Photo Gallery What You Should Do: If you are a King Arthur purist you should skip this one. This is the story of the women of Camelot. It is written from the woman's point of view, which is quite different in this story. It focuses mostly on the women and their religion, not on Arthur and the fighting. For some good Arthurian action check out Excalibur instead. Related Movies To Check Out: Excalibur, A Knight's Tale, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story!
Review: Mists of Avalon is a beautiful movie with events unfolding before your eyes that just wrenched at your heart. With more debate on this movie then any other in quite awhile. The viewer really has to see it for what is truly is, just a beautiful story. The timelines and historical events were not all accurate, but the true human emotion depicted shines through. Taken us back to days of long ago, when Goddess was worshipped without fear. Anjelica Houston gave a performance of a lifetime as Viviane, Lady of the Lake. With us questioning her choices and deceits, in the end, we seen she only thought of Goddess. This gave me thought as to our human flaws. How many times have we made a wrong decision for the right reason? Giving us a character to loath made this fairytale complete. Having the enemy so close as to be Viviane's own sister the jealous and scornful Morgause played by Joan Allen, who gave an award performance. With the main character Morgaine played by Julianna Margulies we sat enthralled as her life unfolded before our eyes. From a tiny child all through her life of heartaches, triumphs, betrayals and love for her brother King Authur. Whether on the battlefield or of her own heart, her character shined through in the end as a true Goddess. Whether you loved this movie or you didn't. The one message that truly was received is, no matter what you choose to call her Goddess is within us.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible! Total crap!
Review: If you've read & loved the book, please, for your own sake, DON'T watch this movie. It's terrible! Since they were condensing an almost 1000 pagel novel into about 3 hours of film, I expected that a lot of good stuff would be cut. However, I didn't expect that they would cut a lot more good stuff then necessary to make room for stupid stuff they made up! This movie is only loosely based on _The Mists of Avalon_ -- they borrow major plot points, and that's all. Individual scenes, characters, etc. are all horribly distorted or completely changed. I couldn't even finish watching it, it was so painful. I turned it off less about half way through and I had already noticed about a hundred (no exaggeration) changes, almost all for the worse. You know how sometimes you watch a movie made from a book, and you take notice of an occasional scene that doesn't match the book? With this movie I had the opposite problem -- it was so unlike the book, it was the rare scene that DID match the book that caught my attention. In summary, if you've read the book, don't watch this movie, you'll be horribly disappointed. If you haven't read the book, also don't watch this movie, go get a copy of the most excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: Better without reading the Book
Review: The film Mists of Avalon is absolutly WONDERFUL, if you've NEVER read the books. However, I have read all of them. Knowing how enchanting the books are, the film seemed to fall flat. Granted there was no way of fitting 900 pages into a few hours, but there were some obvious mistakes. Some of the main characters were left out, due to time restrictions? However, I loved the Beltaine scene! It was very well done in my opinion. But I didn't like how Arthur and Morgaine didn't find out till way later. On the other hand, if you can watch the film without thinking of the book (I know that is hard!) it is a glorious film! The visual aspect of the movie is fantastic, and the music is engrossing! I have come to love Loreena McKennett through this movie! Also, I loved Julianna M. as Morgaine! She looked and acted the part beautifully! Angelica Houston was believable as Viviaine, and Joan Allan was good as the evil Morgause. I wasn't sure about the actor who played Arthur, but he was good as well.
All in all, SEE THIS MOVIE!...
| 
