Rating: Summary: King Arthur as a king with a mission! Review: The setting and the mystical atmosphere of the film is why I rated it 4 stars. The character development was very one dimensional, playing good against evil. It touches on Lancelot's and Gwenivere's betrayal but does not give much info on how or why they fell for each other, except for chemical attraction. Seems a bit flimsy to risk everything, (the kingdom, arthur's love, etc.)just for this. But the scenes and the acting of Merlin and Morgana were great! Helen Mirren was wonderful as an evil half-sister. Her character was crazed with a desire to be powerful and did not get developed as it did in the book. The movie did not go into her love for Lancelot mainly just revolving around her cold-heartedness. She was for a short time paired up with Gawain, but mainly had a sick dysfunctional relationship with her son, which eventually brought on their destruction. She may have been attracted to Merlin as he to her, but it only danced on this. Arthur's struggle to be a King and a man was what the movie was trying to show and how he accepts his role of King, which places him in a realm above man, he realizes that he must be a man in another lifetime. Several actors I had no idea were in the movie when I first saw it stood out, Liam Neeson as Gawain and Gabriel Bryne as King Uther. The mood and the mystical apparations were unique and it sparked my imagination! Lisa Nary
Rating: Summary: You brought me back,your love brought me back! Review: This film is simply excellent.From the action packed beginning to the somber ending this is a film that will have you on the edge of your seat. Nicol Williamson is percect as Merlin as is Partick Stewart as Leon-de-grance.Nigel Terry is ok in the role of Arthur,although i found his accent very annoying,although this is a very minor point! The action sequences are very well done,with extra blood thrown in for all those action fans. The score by Terry Jones is both haunting and thrilling,and the music alone is worth watching the film for. In short,an excellent film,if you want the definitive aurtherian movie,this is the one for you!Forget braveheart!Oh please forget braveheart.
Rating: Summary: Forged by a God, Foretold by a Wizard, Found by a Man. Review: This is probably the best movie version of the Arthur story, most of the details from Sir Thomas Mallory's book "La Morte D'Arthur" are included and magically depicted here. Outstanding special effects make it as real as it can be done, I first watched this movie when it first came out, and now that I own a copy I can't stop watching it. It is a movie which shows an age of magic, courtly love, chilvalry, and novelty, together with tradegy and sword fighting makes this a must have. It is one of the greatest epics ever produced by the film industry, and with it's outstanding background music it is just extraordinary, a great purchase for any fan of Arthurian legneds and also for any fan of the film industry, that wishes to watch, what I believe as well as most if not everyone to be a masterpiece.
Rating: Summary: Look into the eyes of the dragon and learn--quickly! Review: I have read, and studied Malory's "Le Morte Darthur" by Rospo Pallenberg. I also read Tennyson's The Coming of Arthur, The Holy Grail and Lancelot and Elaine. Once I saw John Boorman's movie, it is an understatement to say I was a captive audience. I was swept away by his complete detail and dedication to the original sources which I just provided. He captured the legend. Dare I say better than any person could. Every word, every action and even the backdrop, was perfect (a word I do not find applied often in life) in this movie. If you want to know who Arthur was, who Merlin was (which no one can portray better than Nicol Williamson) The Holy Grail or a plain reasoning to the meaning of life: watch this DVD. Mankinds nature is captured in this movie. Then, if you really want to be frightened, look for those situations and people in your life, with family, work and friends. Wisdom will be discovered if you do that, so don't be too disipointed if no magic is found though. Perhaps, just perhaps in this world if wisdom is learned, that is magic enough for all. And that is the meaning of Excalibur; the many forms wisdom needs to take, in order to make life whole.
Rating: Summary: Amazing Review: A gorgeously filmed, beautifully scripted, wonderfully acted tour-de-force. Absolutely the best film adaptation of the Arthurian mythos bar none, with more memorable/quotable dialogue than almost any film since "Casablanca". Buy it!
Rating: Summary: Interesting, vigorous but dated Arthurian epic... Review: A pretty good Arthurian flick, but doesn't live up the 4.5 star rating average on Amazon. The acting is pretty good (especially Merlin), but Arthur is a bit lame, IMHO. There are several nude scenes, so it's probably not something you want to watch with the kiddies. And, at, times, it feels a little ponderous and goofy, with 20-year-old special effects. I paid very little for this, but even still, wished it was a renter. ....
Rating: Summary: Good movie, bad dvd Review: I dont know if many people ever notice this, but when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone for the very first time: the picture shakes slightly! I thought it was just the dvd disc itself, I exchanged it, and the same scene shakes again! It only lasts from Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone, to where he tells his father to rise, and then finds out that ahis father is not really his father! Check this out, and tell me if its not true! Two dvd discs I have seen this happen, so its gotta be Warner Bros. problem!
Rating: Summary: KING ARTHUR LIVES! Review: Film adaptations of Malory's "Le Morte Darthur" have never been scarce, and several of them are indeed classics of their kind. But ultimately, in the field of Arthurian movies, there is "Excalibur," and then there is everything else. From the opening night-and-blood veiled battlefield to the closing shot of the mythic Avalon-bound barge, "Excalibur" is a feast for eye and soul alike. Though no movie could ever hope to encapsulate the full scope or grandeur of Arthurian lore, "Excalibur" comes reasonably close, encompassing Arthur's conception, birth, rise to power, and climactic war with enchantress Morgana and illegitimate son Mordred, with many of the legend's highpoints well hit in between. Particularly powerful is director Boorman's portrayal of the Grail Quest, sobering yet inspiring. Some raised on Disney's "Sword in the Stone" and T.H. White's classic books may find Boorman's vision strong meat, but in fact it is a mostly faithful adaptation of Malory supplemented by an awareness of other Athrurian writers as well. One thing in Boorman's heavy favor is that he realizes Arthur himself is indeed the central figure of these myths--not Lancelot, not Merlin, not Guinevere or Perceval. Into this demanding role Boorman thrust little-known Nigel Terry, who meets and exceeds all expectations as the best Arthur ever on screen, a man bound by ideals he cannot fulfill but determined to see them through to the bitter end. Helen Mirren is a glorious and elfin Morgana, and above all Nicol Williamson nearly steals the show as Merlin personified. Half Solomon, half Loki, Williamson's Merlin is an almost unfathomable creature not of this earth, but even he consistently underestimates the inner strength of the young protege he sets on the throne. For Arthur's greatest strength is not his magical sword, but his commitment, his honor, and his faith--and while the walls of Camelot itself may crumble in the grip of Time, these worthy things are eternal. One quarter each romance, fairy tale, Christian allegory and Shakesperean tragedy, "Excalibur" is nothing short of a poem written on celluloid. And, so far at least, the "Le Mortre Darthur's" ultimate cinematic avatar.
Rating: Summary: Good story, dated special effects... Review: Decent performances, drags in spots.
Rating: Summary: The Legend becomes real Review: Excelent movie, a must see for all who love the myth and legend arround King Arthur and The Round Table. One would expect to see more chainmail, but with all the knights in full armour suits it brings the glamour of the Knight in Shiny Armour, in its outer and inner struggles to keep an ideal made true. The passions that drive the knights are made clearly visible in this excelent story much different from what we would read in Thomas Mallory, but nevertheless to have the knights show their soft points gives a new dimension to the invicible knights.
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