Rating: 
Summary: Unique idea, well executed film
Review: "A Knight's Tale" is a pleasant way to spend an evening watching a movie. Writer, producer and director Brian Helgeland has taken his vision of medevial times and melded it perfectly with the music of today. The first time I viewed this mixture it was a little jarring, but on second viewing it seemed to go together perfectly.Heath Ledger takes the starring role of William Thatcher a peasant who is determined to change his future and makes it his own, although I still think he's a little over the top, but he has some blockbusters lined up in his future. My biggest surprise after watching it for the second time recently was a couple of faces in this largely unknown (to me) cast who have become very familiar to me in the last couple of years. They are Heath Ledger's squires Alan Tudyk (from Joss Whedon's great "Firefly") and Mark Addy (from "The Full Monty" and CBS's "Still Standing"). The special features are numerous, the transfer is excellent and the 5.1 Dolby is superbly mixed.
Rating: 
Summary: Heath Ledger's jousting flick will rock you
Review: William Thatcher and his friends, Roland and Wat, are three young peasant squires that can't afford anything. When they find the armor of a dead knight, William decides to wear it into a jousting tournament to earn some cash, despite the rules prohibiting non-royalty from entering. Roland, Wat, a blacksmith named Kate, and yes, Geoffrey Chaucer, help him through the numerous championships. He eventually finds love with a woman named Jocalyn, but the nasty Count Adhemar has his eye on the girl too. Count Adhemar is in the tournament, and he is a brutal opponent against Thatcher. There is a father/son reunion partway through, and William, against all odds, beats Adhemar. A few of the character's problems are a little predictable, however.
Any hope of a normal jousting movie is dashed. The audience sings at one point, "We Will Rock You," a formal dance at a castle turns into a hyper-charged hiphop, and the audience catches a flying helmet like a foul ball. It works out the right way, surprisingly.
This isn't a movie that I'm gonna own, but I'd rent it during a long weekend or Christmas holidays. On the PG-13 factor, there is implied sex and kissing and sexual comments but nothing else (there are worse PG-13 films), and the violence is a bunch of men whacking each other's armor with sticks that splinter instantly. There are a few stabbings. This is suitable for 10 and up and is a short, efficient way to kill 132 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: An over all good movie
Review: The only thing I really did not care for in the movie, was the addition of the "modern" songs such as "We will rock you," by Queen. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the song when it is on the radio, but call me a fool for thinking that it has little place in a movie set in Renaissance Europe. Other than that, I find little, if any fault in the movie. As one who is a fan, and attendee of many Renaissance festivals and who has seen Jousting combat first hand, I can say that this is superbly well done. Well acted, and a plot that is not too over the top, or mind numbingly dull. While I don't think this is a "must get", I do think that you could do a lot worse.
Rating:
Summary: Jousting to "Takin' Care of Business?"
Review: Yes, our young hero trains to be a great jousting knight to the sounds of "Takin' Care of Business" in "A Knight's Tale." That scene, along with the "We Will Rock You" opening, among others, definitely sets this period piece apart from the pack. "A Knight's Tale" is fun. It has that "poor kid does good" theme running throughout and can be very heroic and sentimental at times. But don't expect this flick to blow you away. It is very good, and quite unique, but the overall story is rather standard as far as knight stories go. Heath Ledger is perfect as the young hero of this tale. He has a group of bumbling sidekicks, including Geoffrey Chaucer, that support him throughout the movie. There's a love interest, who I really never felt fit the rest of the cast. Then, of course, there's a great villain, who I felt was only there to fill the need of having a villain. The real story is about Ledger's character becoming something he isn't allowed to be by the standards of the day. It shows how a hero is measured not by his nobility or rank, but by his heart. Along the way, Ledger's sidekicks provide comic relief and the action in the jousting competitions is great. Overall, a solid movie that only has a couple of holes in it. The villain isn't really that necessary, and the love interest, Joycelyn, is out of whack with the overall feel of this movie. Rent it before you decide to buy it. I bought it and I don't feel robbed. However, I do think that the story could have been a little better had the villain's role been meated out better.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all.
Review: When I first saw previews of this movie, I thought it looked pretty lame, and that using comtemporary songs was just insulting to my intelligence. Well, one day when there was nothing on tv, I came across this movie (we had a satellite dish, you could spend forever determining that there was nothing on). I liked it, a lot more than I ever would have expected. It's pretty fluffy, but what is wrong with that? Heath Ledger does a very good job, and his love interest is a very cool chick indeed. Also, the David Bowie tune "Golden Years" will really get stuck in your head (again, not a bad thing).
Rating: 
Summary: Changing their stars
Review: I can't tell you how surprised I was when I absolutely loved this movie! I didn't expect to like it at all. I figured it would be a two-dimensional MTV take on Medieval sport. Instead the producers did something dangerous -- they found a script! Sure it's predictable and there are plenty of cliched lines, but the film absolutely succeeds in what it set out to do. It plays very well by its own rules. And it is surprisingly moving at times. When the film could have sunk to schmaltz, it holds its own with good acting and sturdy writing. What could have been another stupid teen movie actually has legs and a soul. I'm amazed the number of people who fault it for its inventive style in incorporating contemporary music with the medieval milieu, when these same people loved Shrek for doing exactly the same thing. I applaud the risks the film takes and how well it succeeds when it takes them. In the end, isn't Pro Wrestling or boxing the modern day equivalent of the joust? In spirit and appeal, at least, if not in grace or sophistication. Call it a guilty pleasure, but the film is a fun and successful and worth watching again. Don't skip the deleted scenes -- wonderful stuff there, especially the extended stockade scene.
Rating:
Summary: What a ridiculous film!
Review: As another user commented, this film is incredibly ridiculous. As the film starts, you hear "We Will Rock You" playing in the background. Okay, I thought, they took modern music and set it to the movie. Pretty absurd, but it might be cool. Then as they showed the audience and I thought it couldn't get any crazier, I noticed they were actually singing it! This film doesn't simply try to modernize itself by throwing in twentieth century pop-culture, it actually incorporates it. At one point, someone says "Can I get a shout-out for London!" About the only thing they didn't do in this film was have anyone "raise the roof!" Yet surprisingly enough, all of this campiness works and provides for a fun and entertaining movie. After about 20 minutes, you begin to accept the campiness of the film and enjoy it. You realize how absurd it is, but just don't care. The director took a huge gamble with these ideas, but I think it pays off well. You just need to get over the historical inacuracies and corniness of a Knight's Tale and enjoy. Most people in the theater were laughing with the film, not at it. While not the greatest film ever made, it certainly is a successful one, and provides for an entertaining picture that many should enjoy. If you're considering paying an extra $8 for the "Superbit" eidtion, I would advise just to get the regular edition. I own several Superbit DVDs, and although I can't comment on this one, I have never noticed a difference in quality with Superbit editions over the regular.
Rating: 
Summary: A Stupid Tale
Review: An idiotic film about the Middle Ages set at the pace of modern music, fashion, and values: at least Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure never pretended to be anything else than absurd. The fashion and mannerisms are as far off from reflecting the period as the music; why bother making a movie about that time then? Perhaps a movie suitable for teen-age girls who need a hero to throb over but not much else.
Rating:
Summary: Great family entertainment!
Review: Okay, like some others here let me stress...THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A HISTORICALLY ACCURATE MOVIE. After reading the first 80 reviews I feel compelled to add my own 2 cents. We rented this and I have to agree that in the first few minutes I was revolted by the rock music, being a big fan of historical pieces set in the middle ages. Despite my initial feelings, I stuck it out. Too soon I found myself again annoyed by the styles worn by the Lady Jocelyn. Yuck! "What is going on", I wondered. But already I was finding myself involved in the story line and enjoying the humor, especially the interactions among the main characters. By the end I was willing to admit I'd been entertained and I was in love with all the characters with the possible exception of Jocelyn. Then we watched all the extra bonus material and I was amazed at the thought and work that went into this movie. I just had to watch it again, having gained a new perspective on WHY things were done the way they were. What I discovered was an extremely entertaining romp. For those of you who only saw the theatre version or are concerned about the rock and roll references in these reviews, try to see the director's point of view. Throughout history parents have strived to understand their youngsters. Or do we assume that the generations have always perfectly understood one another until it came to the 20th century? Language, music, clothes...isn't it likely that different generations differed as much in opinions then as now? If not then how did the culture ever evolve into something completely different? Notice that I have avoided the term "teens". Well, face it, back then the teens WERE adults. But there must still have been generational gaps. Did they say "wow" in historical times? No. But it's probable that there was a word that conveyed a similar meaning from a "slang" perspective. Language is not static, it is ever-changing. What we speak today would not even be understood by those who lived in England almost 700 years ago, so how can anyone complain about accents and language? Do they really think that anybody from England today would have been understood back then? Please. Music....hello? Orchestral is better for periodic pieces why? As another reviewer mentioned...it's no more periodic than rock. The director was wanting to portray a fresh perspective and succeeded hugely. I'm sorry but when you're trying to convey a sense of excitement such as one feels at a football game (yes, that's the analogy used to try bringing jousting to a more modern perspective), chamber music isn't likely to get anyone in today's world fired-up. And folks, that's a big part of what this whole movie is all about. Jousting was a major sporting event that was very exciting to the people of the time. How does one convey that excitement to a modern audience? The drama is easily done...but the intense emotion, the exhilaration we associate with a favorite sport? I feel that the director found an exciting new way to bring the medieval world alive for modern viewers. As to Jocelyn. She's a bit shallow and the costumes are starting to bother me less. But her character (or lack thereof), allows for some very comedic lines that I think add to the overall fun of the movie. I could go on but other reviewers have hit most of the other key points. The bottom line is: if you've seen it once...try it again...and watch the extra stuff. If you haven't, then get it...rent it first if you must but watch this movie. It is now one of our favorite movies and just the other night we watched it again with tremendous enjoyment and I wanted to see each and every single extra feature again. It's family-friendly and a romantic comedy that you won't mind at all having the teens and youngsters watch. As one reviewer said, "suspend your belief from the start"...and then settle down to enjoy this story. It's fun, it still portrays a medieval "flavour", and the music ROCKS!
Rating:
Summary: a good jousting movie
Review: there's a lot of great jousting scenes in this one, a great cast and a very funny part by Alan Tudyk(28 Days, TV's Firefly) who is just great. though it lacks with its music choices and the signing and dancing really hurt my corneas. otherwise its enjoyable for its time.
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