Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely brilliant
Review: This film captures the heart of the Merlin legend with detail and authenticity . An all-star cast make this a must for anyone interested ( or not! It doesn't matter!) in Arthurian history.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute pleasure to watch
Review: For starters I want to denounce all those critical people who rated it really bad. Lean your mythology people. There are many tales and many stories. you can't critize this aspect because it cuts out a good deal of mythology. Though the quest and stories of Excalibur and Arthur are fun and enlightening what was it before Arthur? This is a great depection of what was before Though the characters did lack in some performance standards they gave you a feeling about them never the less. And the conflict between Maab and Merlin provided for some very enlightening humor. So before anyone else tries to kill this film please watch it for yourself and rate it then.
Rating: 
Summary: Good only if you can't tell bad movies from good ones.
Review: This movie truly disappointed me. The cinematography was bad, screenplay was marginally better, and the plot could have used a boost. Special effects were acceptable, but the acting was mediocre at best. This movie definitely wasn't worth 4 hrs. of my time. I found it particularly lacking in action, and anything else that might make a good movie that I haven't mentioned. IT WAS DULL, BLAND, and ORDINARY. If you didn't see it, you didn't miss anything.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best fantasy movies ever
Review: S*u*i*e mothers that writes this move is bad Its the greates fantasy movie yet made This move got everything + its a long move If you like moveis like dragonheart and robin hood-pot thene don't hezitate to buy this one Its the BEST
Rating:
Summary: I'm rather impressed
Review: Hmm. Interesting that so many of the reviews here are negative, and the rest are positive in the extreme. Could that possibly be because some may have expected too much from the film? Gentle reminder one and all -this is primarily a childrens story, and a long one at that. However.The special effects are superlative -some of the best I've seen outside The Matrix. Most of the cast is first rate: Neill and Richardson are at their usual brilliant best, the one downer being Mordred, who; unfortunatly considering it's actually a wonderful and well scripted part, is more wooden than a 16th century galleon. The portrayal of the famous legend of king Arthur from a different perspective is refreshing -and it has to be said: sorry all you Arthur fanatics out there, but as the whole legend is 99.99% fictional in the first place, the fact that it diverts slightly from what is allegedly factual (ha ha) matters not a jot. Overall, a hugely entertaining fantasy, that both adults and children can enjoy. Worthy of your money without question.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it's hyped up to be.
Review: Oh my god, Can it get any more boring then this?! Don't misunderstand, I love adventure movies, but this one was a huge, huge disappointment. The one good thing about it was that it had all those great stories we've all heard about. So you are sitting there waiting for him, Merlin to do something GREAT, but he never does. The effects are very, very good but I can only give this movie 1 of 5. Sorry!!
Rating:
Summary: Lots of SFX, but very little script
Review: As an American, I would not consider the less-than-stellar "Merlin" as a marvel of good American filmmaking. It's not even good filmmaking of any kind. Not when it achieves nothing but blasphemes the true mythology of King Arthur, and not when the producer thinks that everything there is to know about Arthur can be obtained by watching cartoons and bad movies. Anyone who reads the very books on which the legend is based upon will tell you the same thing. If you're too lazy to read, then go and see `Excalibur' instead. It's an excellent film by John Boreman(sp?), and is about as close as you'll get to the books without ever having to read them.
Rating:
Summary: What a wasted cast
Review: Ridiculous special effects that remind one of a Saturday morning kids' show riddle the entire film. If you're looking for a great "Arthurian" movie... this isn't it. Try Boorman's "Excalibur", instead. How in the world such a group of talented actors could be so wasted is a shame. Worth watching . . . if only to see how fine actors don't necessarily equal a fine film. Martin Short holds his own but Sam Neil, Helena Bonham Carter, Miranda Richardson and Rutger Hauer all drown in poor production and dialogue. Isabella Rosellini should have called in sick for this one.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful portrayal of myth
Review: None truly knows "Arthurian Legen" so many different and conflicting tales among the many "Legends" that do exist. I think this picture gave new insight to the stories. A new portrayl, I was happy not to be bored by something I could have just read. Sorry the english can't appreciate good american film-making. I give this film 5 stars and 3 thumbs up! Great fantasy
Rating:
Summary: A potentially good film that unfortunately went Hollywood...
Review: Q: What do you get when you take a film with a promising script of the Arthurian legends, shred it into little pieces and ruin it even more by Disneyfying the special effects? A: Steve Barron's "Merlin", a Hallmark Production. Along with "First Knight", this has got to be one of the worst films ever made about King Arthur. Plaqued by poor directing, and the inaccurate portrayal of characters with cardboard ones, Barron fails with "Merlin" where John Boorman succeeded with "Excalibur". There are even rumors that the sets were recycled from a previous Hallmark production "Odyssey". I don't know if this is true or not, but if you look closely you will notice the striking similarities between the two... right down to the faded water color paintjob on the cardboard-like sets.... even the Round Table, which looks as though it were a giant piece of wood recently cut from a California Redwood Tree- rough edges and all. Not a very good balance for a film, I should say.
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