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First Knight

First Knight

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $11.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Useless and redundant
Review: Gere is just putrid as Lancelot, Ormond a bit squirrelish, and Connery's fine effort wasted. Boorman's "Excalibur" is far and away the superior Arthurian legend movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This moive is perfect it has everthing a good moive needed.
Review: It is absolutly perfect. It has war romance and a very well thought out plot. I would reccomend this moive to any one you has a VCR.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie if you like romance and swordfights!!!
Review: Wonderful!! I was on pins and needles wondering when she was going to ask him to kiss her. When it came I was screaming, No!! ( Bu0t I'm not telling why!)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good love story...
Review: First Knight isn't faithful at all to the story of Arthur and the costumes, lighting, and settings were all terribly modern, but the story itself was well done enough that the movie makes up for the rest of it.

It follows the story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot and thier journey from the time Quinevere and Lancelot meet by chance as her carraige is ambushed on her way to marry Arthur, through some more kidnappings, a wedding, and a knighthood, to the death of Arthur. Lancelot, who begins as a mercenary, grows a great deal as a character, while Guinevere's struggle to control her feelings for him is painfully clear. Sean Connery's Arthur is the kind of king one would expect of Arthur, kind, understanding, with a rigid set of morals that he cannot break even for his queen. Julia Ormond makes it clear that Guinevere loves both men and Richard Gere's sensitive performance and longing looks tug the heartstrings.

In essense, it is the acting and the love story that make this movie enjoyable. It is a remarkably un-historically accurate movie and there is not much in common, aside from the names, with the traditional Arthur legends, but these old stories are made to be interpreted. The romance of the movie is what makes it worth watching...that a Richard Gere looks really, really good.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Blue Cheese
Review: Yes, it's King Arthur color-coordinated, and it's cheesy pretty much beyond belief. Nonetheless, these cardboard characters are still fun to watch. And, from a literary perspective, it's kind of neat to see the film-makers take the trouble to include a cart a la Chretien de Troyes and the conflict between Logres (Arthur's England) and Gorre (the traditional land of the evil Meleagant -- here titled Malagant and made a former Knight of the blue formica Round Table). Yes, it's hard not to make fun of this movie -- well, maybe that's part of the pleasure. My guess: it's going to get even campier and more hilarious as time passes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun adventure.
Review: First Knight is a entertaining version of the Arthurian legends, but there are a few detractors. Sean Connery is hardly in the film at all, giving Richard Gere as Lancelot WAY too much time on screen. And Sean Connery's name is listed first. Go figure. And Richard Gere as Lancelot is a pretty bad choice. I would have picked Viggo Mortensen or Kevin Costner. However, this is still a fun swashbuckling movie which can hold it's own against other of this genre. It's a great movie to watch with lots of popcorn.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Forget the Arthurian legends and this is a very good film.
Review: As I watched First Knight, I couldn't help but think that if this film had been freed of the constraints of the original Arthurian tales, it would have been a complete success.

But for the original Arthurian tales, the casting of Richard Gere probably wouldn't be as problematic. But for the original tales, the final siege of Camelot would be more believable.

Instead, we do feel a tinge of oddness at Gere's attempt to play Lancelot du Lac, who in Arthurian legend is very much a French aristocrat trained in all the chivalric ways, not the ranger-like, orphaned free spirit he is here. It's too bad we do get distracted by the mismatch between character and actor, because he has some truly great moments with Julia Ormond (strong and pleasingly complex as Guinevere), hot looks, internal torment and emotional cat-and-mouse in that classic Hollywood tradition. No need for Keira Knightley-style bared stomachs and bow and arrows here. The conspicuous absence of important Arthurian characters like Gawain, Gareth and Mordred, of course, also distances this film from Arthurian legend so much that the Camelot setting becomes pretty much cosmetic, with only the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle being the intact element. And even then, the film treats this relationship far differently from the original tales (the complete opposite of what happens in the legends, in fact).

If you're a purist for Arthurian legends, you will definitely be distracted by these elements. However, distance yourself from the original tales and you'll find a classic Hollywood love story with unusually effective emotional layers, good performances, and absolutely stunning cinematography coupled with impeccable editing, the work of two masters -- director of photography Adam Greenberg (cinematographer for Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Ghost, among others) and editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now). The group shots in this film are eye-popping, recalling Akira Kurosawa's style, and director Jerry Zucker keeps the narrative flowing with nary a wasted moment.

I duck one star because of the King Arthur baggage. To a certain extent, I feel that if you're going to change the story so much, you may as well call it something new, rename your characters and so on. That is a small criticism, however. First Knight, viewed on its own merit, is a highly well constructed, old-fashioned romance adventure with balanced strengths and, again, a beautifully light touch in the emotional and acting departments. It's really something to watch the familiar story of the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot triangle come into life this satisfyingly, and just for that, First Knight would already deserve high marks.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Most Romantic Adaptation of Arthurian Legend
Review: OK, so I'll admit it- if you're a King Arthur nut, you may not like this movie. It takes many liberties with the old legend. If, on the other hand, you just want a good romantic story- this movie is most definitely for you. Two things really stand out in this movie: the acting and the orchestral score. Many movies ask us to buy into love only minutes after the lovers have met, and most of the time, it is quite difficult to buy into. Here, the acting is so credible, especially from Connery and Ormond, that their emotions are easy to feel. The movie also sports perhaps the most beautiful love theme ever written as well as some very good choral work for the action sequences. It goes without saying that a movie with such big names comes with big production values as well. The movie is also very well written...most all of the movie comes off as natural and un-forced, no easy task in an Arthurian movie. If you haven't seen this and aren't too picky about the details of the legend, then you owe it to yourself to rent this one- or buy it, it can be found for some very scandalous prices now, indeed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Family Flick Great Action and Romance
Review: This is one of Sean Connery's great films. Jula Ormond never was better and Richard Gere was in top form. All my children love this movie and this is one film my daughter wants to see with me over and over. It is just a perfect blend of romance and action with the emphasis on romance. It also is about justice and natural rights. Good versus evil. It is also a very Christian film though this is not emphasized and the figures of Christ and Mary are very remote in the dark church scenes. But in the final battle sequence the chorus is in LATIN and clearly they sing GOD IS THE LORD (DOMINUS DEUS). This is not a dumb movie. The twist of Lancelot finally getting the girl is nice. Why not? All the stories are ficitonal anyway. Arthur may have been historical but Lancelot was a fictional additional to the old legend.

But the point is this is a film which promotes good values, democratic values, and even moral values...it is clear that adultery is wrong....
My children boys and girls all loved this film and want to see it again and again. In doing so I have fallen in love with the flim too. This film has many virtues and the chief among them is that it is rattling good entertainment!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spend A Night With "First Knight"
Review: This review refers to the DVD edition(Columbia/TriStar) of "First Knight"....

I was one of those who also thought that Connery and Gere were TOO OLD to play their respective parts of Arthur and Lancelot in this film. Then I viewed the film. All thoughts of miscasting went out of my head, as I just kicked backed and enjoyed this highly entertaining and captivating story. The three major stars in this film, including Julia Ormond("Sabrina"), as Guinevere, had a wonderful on screen chemistry with each other, the scenery was beautiful, the costumes delightful, the romance enchanting, the battle scenes heartpumping, and the music(Jerry Goldsmith) haunting and thrilling.

Young Lady Guinevere is about to be married to the wonderful King Arthur and she will take her new place as Queen in the beautiful land of Camelot. It's a time of happiness for all. But there's trouble amiss, just as the Knights of the Round Table are pledging their undying loyalty to the new Queen, Malagant, an ex Knight who wants to rule the land, is spreading terror and destruction, and is about to envoke his wrath on the people and the home of Guinevere, her beloved Leonesse. Enter Lancelot, newest member of the Round table(having already saved Lady G twice) to the rescue, who will now lead the Knights in battle against the evil Malagant.And then there's the battle for the lovely lady herself....

The performances were touching, as Guinevere and Lancelot form a deep love for each other, but love their King as well. Ben Cross("Chariots of Fire"), is simply evil as Malagant and the illustrious Sir John Gielgud adds his wonderful talents as well.

The DVD presents a beautifully clear picture, with rich colors. It may be viewed in widescreen or full screen.The sounds of the era and the music are excellent. You have the choice of DD5.1 or stereo. Languages include English, Spanish and French with subtitles in Spanish and Korean, but there are no subtitles or captions in English for those who may need them(what's up with that?)

If you're looking for something that stays truer to the classic story, go with "Excalibur", It's a breathtaking and artfully directed film. However, "Excalibur" may not be suited for everyone. The violence is quite a bit more graphic then "First Knight" and there are sexual scenes as well. This one may be better suited for teens, but may be enjoyed for the pure entertainment value as well.

Get the popcorn ready and enjoy....Laurie








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