Rating: 
Summary: For the love of Goddess, don't buy this
Review: I was expecting that some things would get lost in the translation from book to film, but I wasn't expecting them to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The film characters lacked the moral ambiguities that made the book so interesting. There's three hours of my life lost...
Rating: 
Summary: Intoxicating
Review: This was a television movie adapted from Marion Zimmer Bradley's awesome book by the same title. It tells the doomed story of King Arthur from the point of view of the the women: his mother, aunts, sister and wife. The main character is Morgaine (Julianna Margulies) who is Arthur's sister and a priestess of Avalon. She does a wonderful job playing the part as do the other leading women.The book is breath-taking to begin with and Arthurian lore always makes for an exciting story of love, deciet, betrayal and honor. Though the characters are well-played the story does not flow very well and, I think, did not do the book much justice. A lot of things were not only left-out, but also changed which made it a bit disappointing. However, the grandeur of the sets and costumes all weave a magical kind of satisfaction while you are watching. I still found it to be a worth-while movie and I have one copy taped off of the TV and also one on DVD. It's that good. =)
Rating: 
Summary: The best! A FAVORITE! A MUST SEE!
Review: My 9 & 10 year old girls and I have watched this 4 times already. Beautifully, costumed, filmed, and acted! The movie quality is fabulous. I've read the book about 4 times and never tire of it. It was a great to watch the story with my girls and then watch other movies of the tale of King Arthur and point out the differences and illustrate how traditional telling of this story is so masculine. It was wonderful to show them how history was affected by Pagan and Christian ways. A fabulous movie...I can't say enough great things about it!
Rating:
Summary: Best told story of Pagans & King Arthur!
Review: Merry Meet Everyone. The Mists of Avalon. Is spectacular! I have seen many films on King Arthur & those of the Old ways, & I must say it blew me away. Its romantic & sweet, with its Magick's & "Evils". The colors & costumes were elegant & smooth. The directors camera work had me in awe for the three hour film. Wait till you hear all the great qoutes in this film. All in all this movie is a A+++ film. The score, oh the music. The Aeone / Munich Symphony Orches did wonderful, & they brought in one of Loreena McKennitt's beautiful songs, The Mummers Dance. I myself bought the DVD & The Soundtrack. I suggest you do the same. Blessed Be!
Rating:
Summary: Never have I seen such power in a made-for-tv movie.
Review: Incredible. Even with Sam Neal, "Merlin" has nothing on this film. Set in medieval mythical Britain, "The Mists of Avalon" tells the story of Morgaine, sister of king Arthur, and does it ever tell it well. Since it was made for TV, it couldn't have had a very large budget, but it doesn't show in the movie; nothing in the film was wasted. From king Arthur's court in Camelot to the mystic island of Avalon enclosed in deep fog, "The Mists of Avalon" is as believable as "The Lord of the Rings".
Of course, you do have to give it something of a bonus since it is, after all, made for TV, not made for a movie screen in a theatre. I will admit that there are a lot of theatrical movies out there that are definitely better than this film. But it is with the greatest sincerity that I tell you that "The Mists of Avalon" is the best made-for-tv movie I have ever seen, and is much more powerful than the majority of theatrical movies in its genre(drama). I think that last battle scene had more emotion in it than any other battle scene I have ever seen, and most of the other action scenes were convincing as well. The one draw-back is that it is a very, very sad movie, and in the end, not everything works out happily; the movie ends and you feel somewhat empty.
In short, I recommend this movie to anyone at all interested in fantasy and/or mythology of any kind.
Rating:
Summary: Marion Zimmer Bradley must be rolling in her grave!
Review: I watched this on TNT and was fully prepared to love it--I happen to be a big fan of the book series--but talk about disappointing! When the combined talents of Angelica Huston, Joan Allen and Julianna Margulies can't save the film, you've got a real stinker on your hands. Granted that filming the book in anything close to its entirity would've made for a far longer series, there are just some things that if you can't bother to do right, you're better off not beginning--read the book if you want the magic!
Rating: 
Summary: HIDDEN IN THE MISTS
Review: Now i admite I did not much care for the book. It was to ocultic for my tasts (and no book about king Arthur ,no matter the writter, is as great as Malory's LE MORTE D' ARTHUR). Also id like to add that EXCALIBURE is thus far the best arthur movie ive seen. However I rather liked this movie. For a tv movie it was rather well acted. I have allways found tv movies dully made. The actors usley don't put themselves into their chartures. Not so here. There are fine perfomences in this pic. Basicly the book dealt with the women in the arthurian world. First Igarin and her unwillingness to be given to uther, Vivian who wants to keep avilon alive, Guinever who wants to put aside arthurs "pagan" ways and have him embrace christianty, Morgorse who craves power, and Morgain who wants to preserve avilon. The movie (which plot lines had to be shortened to make time) coverd some of this. We see igrain being taken by uther and the birth of arthur. Anjelica Huston was good as Vivian. She had the most convincing role of the movie. she does what she wills to preserve avilon and the goddess. Joan Allen is good as Morgorse whos lusts after power and will stop at nothing to get it. Juliannna Margulies does well as morgain. she must deal with the pain and saddness of all that takes place. Guinever does not have as much part as in the book but she plays her own part though it seems small in this movie. The actress who playes her does well. All the femail acters do well here even the small part of guinevere. After all this is a book written by a woman about women. As such the femail actors shine here. The male actors play there part though small. The only men who make any real impression are arthur, lancelot, uther, and mordread. The reast seem to be in the back ground. Even the allustrious Merlin. A good movie. not great but worh seeing for those who like me love the legened of camelot.
Rating:
Summary: Plot points lost
Review: I agree with most of the other reviewers here: not enough emotion in the characters, and oversimplification of important plot points. I just wanted to highlight two points: first, the fact that they cut the entire part in the book in which Morgaine rediscovers the Goddess's ways through Accolon is completely unforgivable. Because Morgaine isn't shown coming back to her full strength as a priestess, her entire character suffers. And second (and I'm sure others have pointed this out), what was the deal with the ending?? It changes the entire tone of the story; the entire point of the narrative is lost in the film version.
In essence, while this film was not *bad*, it does not qualify for the title of "adaptation".
Sorry.
Rating:
Summary: time constraints stifled the possibilities
Review: Three hours is not enough for a film adaptation to do justice to a book that is the size and length of a textbook. The book is massively rich with characters that are diverse and colorful. I'm sure fans of the book will agree with that. The problem with the movie is that if the goal of the movie is to please fans of the book, the series must run for more than 183 minutes. I was very happy with the adaptation's attention to detail of physical appearances when it came to casting. Morgaine and Viviane are alike in appearance with their faery-like features and dark hair, Igranne and Morgause are the redhead beauties, and Gwenhywfar is the dulcet blonde. The actresses, to say the least, were stunning and dominated the performances, as it should have been, since Mists of Avalon is a retelling through the female perspective. The movie goes into great length to remain faithful to Morgaine's childhood, up till her reunion with Arthur in Camelot after he is crowned High King. That is where the chopping begins. Bits from the story are cut, then large portions. By the end, it seems altogether rushed. Morgaine goes straight from Wales after Urien's death to the demise of Camelot. There is no Nimue, no Kevin, and she doesn't even assume the position of Lady of the Lake. Sadly, the movie overlooks pretty much the entire last half of the book, which is vital to Morgaine's growth. In the book, we see Morgaine as a precocious youth filled with much knowledge but lacking in wisdom, as is appropriate for her age. We see she brings about much of her own suffering. She despises Viviane for her wrongdoings, but after ascending to the throne of Avalon, Morgaine does very much the same as her predecessor. Morgaine and Viviane's downfall is their pride and their tragedy is that they did the best they could at the time. The beauty of the story is the overall message, that what we do as individuals affect everybody, and repercussions are felt throughout ones lifetime, and growing and maturing involves sorrow and regret. This beauty is not achieved nor attempted to be portrayed, not even remotely close, in the movie. What I liked about the book's ending is that Marion Zimmer Bradley didn't leave a feeling of emptiness. Although everybody around her had moved on or died, Morgaine was still of Avalon. After time, Morgaine became synonymous with Avalon. In the movie, however, Avalon has fully retreated into the mist and was cut off, even from Morgaine. The conclusion of the film left a feeling of emptiness and hallowness. In short, the movie does little to cover the actual growth of the protagonist. You see her grow from child to maiden, but little is shown to help us shift our view of her from maiden to woman. Nothing is portrayed to propel her growth further to the elder wise woman she ultimately became in the novel. Relationships are carried all throughout the novel, and when the story is cropped, much is missing that helps not only Morgaine, but all the characters grow. Like I said, 183 minutes was just not enough to faithfully portray Morgaine's life and the relationships between characters. There is little negative emotion in the movie aside from Gwenhwyfar's disdain for the old religion and for Morgaine. Morgaine's indignant pride and her jealousy for Gwenhwyfar (and vice versa) aren't shown much at all. Morgaine's only real negative reaction in this film is her fury towards Viviane. Morgaine is stubborn because of her pride and sometimes, jealousy, but without those emotions portrayed to explain her behavior, she comes off sometimes as a comatose pawn, as she often did in the movie (although it was no fault of the actress- Julianna Margulies was superb- but the script). I was touched by some scenes in the movie- the parting of young Arthur and Morgaine, Morgaine's reunion with her mother in the river, and Viviane's death. The first half of the movie was nicely done, and the rest was so-so. I think in this case, time constraints did the movie in. Without the additional plot, Morgaine comes off as meek because she observed more than she spoke, and without the story intact you don't get to see what she's done with what she's observed. Morgaine is portrayed as a complete and utter victim of circumstance, when in fact she played people around, as well. There was plenty of court schemes and manipulation rampant in the novel, yet the movie only fully captures the mysticism of the old faith and the religious conflict. Whereas the story consists of characters who fight for a higher cause and for selfish causes, the movie fails to depict the latter. However, if you're like me and you love period films in part because of costumes and scenery, I'd recommend picking this up. Costumes are beautiful, the music is lovely and very befitting, and if you enjoy Celtic mysticism, you'll like this. If you've also never read the novel but are interested in seeing the King Arthur legend retold through a female perspective, give this movie a go. It might interest you in picking up the novel after you've finished watching it. All in all, The Mists of Avalon film adaptation gets 3 stars. 2 for content and 1 for imagery. I was left dissatisfied after viewing it, but not wholly disappointed. It would have been lovely if another 2 hours were given to it to more fully explore the richness and cover the growth of the characters. Despite the flaws, I bought the DVD even after seeing it on TNT. Imagery was this movie's strong point, and I still pop the DVD into the player from time to time to look at costumes and scenery. It's quite fun to watch one of your favorite books come to life in such a fantastic way (as far as imagery goes). Regardless of plot, it's still a feast for the eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Book is better than the movie... Of course
Review: I bought this movie after just finishing the book, hoping that for once, Hollywood, or TNT in this case, hadn't screwed it up. I was deeply moved and touched to a whole new way of seeing things after reading the book. However, after viewing the movie, I was moved more to astonishment. The first half of the movie is relativley accurate, but the last half just butchers Marrion Zimmer Bradley's masterpiece. Her entire message is lost in this movie. Morgaine's reentry into Avalon in the end of the book is ESSENTIAL to the understanding, whereas in the movie, she is rejected by Avalon. Also Kevin is left out entirely and his betrayal of Avalon. I know it's a long book and it's very hard to translate the entire thing to screen, which is why I gave it three stars. But there are just essential parts of the story that are left out. Gwenhwyfar is a truly contemptiable character in the book, however in the movie, she is meant to evoke great pity. I could go on with the critic, but I won't. Overall, if you haven't read the book, it's a good film, but I do recommend reading the book. However, if you have read the book and loved it as much as I, and are now watching the movie, prepare yourself.
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