Merlin

Rating:
Summary: Grand Television...
Review: This made-for-television film tells the tales of Arthurian legend - complete with many new additional elements - from the perspective of Merlin (played by Sam Neill). It begins with Merlin's birth and ends with Merlin as an old man, though much of the story takes place in between with a tormented, middle-aged Merlin who is trying to do the right thing by, sometimes, doing the wrong thing.

Unlike the film Excalibur, this take on Arthurian legend seems much more akin to a fairy tale. In fact, the film lightly incorporates elves and fairies, even griffins and a dragon. The visuals, not unlike Jason and the Argonauts and The Odyssey, are decent at their worst, and at their best quite impressive. In this instance, the griffins are somewhat strained, but the dragon is excellent - probably one of the best CGI-rendered dragons to date, actually. It has the rare feel of being there with the actors for the few moments of time that it has onscreen. Indeed, Merlin's production values are quite high, and it provides a fair share of eyecandy. The battle sequences are also quite nicely done for a television film.

In fact, Attila and Dune aside, Merlin is one of the best television features to come out in the last few years. It offers fine performances by fine actors (including a hilarious and sometimes even dramatic Martin Short), and succeeds on almost every level that the more recent Mists of Avalon failed.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and epic retelling of the Arthur legend
Review: I remember liking this when it first aired as a mini-series on NBC in 1998. My recent reading of The Mists of Avalon (and the inevitable compare/contrast-a-thon with the TNT mini-series version of that book) as well as a recent viewing of the 1981 Excalibur movie, prompted me to buy the DVD.

The Arthur legend in itself is a rich story filled with plot twists, intrigue, manipulation, deceit, religion and magic. And, in my limited experience with the legend, no two stories are exactly alike. The Merlin mini-series, told from the Wizard's point of view, is a very enjoyable version of the legend that keeps you interested.

The acting is mostly first-rate. I was particularly surprised and pleased by the performance of...Martin Short(!) as Queen Mab's sidekick, Frik. Frik appears in several guises throughout the film, each played with gusto. The only detractions were Morgan Le Fey's (Helena Bonham Carter's) forced lisp and Queen Mab's (Miranda Richardson's) scratchy voice. Was that part of the legend?

The writing was well done...way better than Excalibur (Excalibur's corny Arthur: "We shall all sit in a circle as equals...why, I shall build...a round table!" Merlin's less-corny Arthur: "Let this circle be a symbol that we are all equal."). Some parts were a bit slow, but the splash of humor here and there adds to the overall fun of the film.

The special effects are great because they are mostly subtle and don't upstage the actors or the story. I particularly liked the bits with Frik's turn-around-costume-changes.

Overall, this epic overview of the King Arthur legend is lots of fun...and family fun at that!

Rating:
Summary: Stop comparing!
Review: I totally agree with one of the reviewers about comparing "Merlin" to "Excalibur". For me it's like arguing what tastes better, orange or apple. "Merlin" and "Excalibur" are two entirely different productions and all the big word speculations and comparisons are pointless. "Merlin" has everything that a good show should have. Good special effects, excellent casting (Mab and Frik rock!), it has magic and most of all - it has humor! If you're looking for a serious Arthur go for "Excalibur" if you're looking for a beautiful romantic story, I'd definitely watch "Merlin".

Rating:
Summary: Too much editing!
Review: This was a great miniseries on television with good special effects and great actors.The rating that I gave this movie is not for the movie itself but for the rip-off release of it on video.LARGE sections/scenes were left out on the released version that I have.It leaves some of the story disjointed and detracts from the plot.The movie itself is awesome and very well-made.It is nice to see Merlin depicted as a wizard who derives his magic powers from nature.I recommend the UNEDITED version to anyone who can find it.Overall though either version is fun to watch and the soundtrack is great as well.

Rating:
Summary: Bad film but Merlin is a politically correct wizard!!
Review: I made the mistake of buying this film... On the overall it's among the worst fantasy films I have seen (and I have seen a lot). First, the costumes, settings, scenery, and special effects are really bad. Cannot believe it!, just get a look at Excalibur to see the difference. But the worst, is how Merlin has become the first "politically correct" wizard. I mean, from a church point of view: fairies are evil, paganism is evil, and magic is evil. That's all guys! So Merlin has become the mage who dœsn't like magic. And so, if your are a church integrist you can safely let your children see this film. But if you appreciate fairy tales, flee this bad movie!! You may instead buy (for instance): Princess Bride, which is much better, somehow still politically correct, but won't try to indoctrinate you!!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best made-for-TV fantasy mini-series...
Review: ...the only other contender for the title is "The 10th Kingdom."

"Merlin" is a tour-de-force in every area. An excellent script, superb acting by all involved (especially Neill and Short), and nice visual effects combine to create something that is truly magical.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Review: This is a wonderful movie and the effects are great! How can one not enjoy it? I love it, my husband loves it, my children love it and my grandchildren love it! My daughter was introduced to Miranda Richardson's wonderful acting with this film and she even named her daughter "Miranda" after her! I usually don't like many movies but this is something to definately pass down from generation to generation.

Rating:
Summary: Fantasy Film That Should Not Be Missed!
Review: Merlin is one of the most well crafted piece of fantasy tale ever filmed. Never has a film captures the spirit of King Arthur as much as this one although it's base more on the life of Merlin. For a film made for TV, it had an actual cinematic feel to it! Special FX are amazing for a Hallmark miniseries and the film actually executes better than most of the other miniseries such as Arabian Nights and the 10th Kingdom. As for the DVD, it doesn't dissapoints. We are given a HBO making-of(with unseen footages)and detail filmographies of the actors and film makers. The 3D menus themselves are very impresive with a D&D feel to it. The picture quality is as good as you can get; the print is clean and does not show much signs of artifacts or blocking. Sound is in Dolby Surround and displays well at key action scenes of the film. Overall, it deserves to be in every respected DVD collector's shelves. Highly Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A Story Untold....
Review: Finally, materials that covers Merlin. In many, many stories about King Arthur, Merlin has never been in the picture much. Finally we've got some ideas or pictures about Merlin. Instead of thinking that he's just a Great Wizard, we now have some ideas that he was also an average normal human who walked the Earth with the rest of us. Also he did have a mother but no father. He knew right from wrong and enjoyed life as much as possible. He caree for others and not just for himself. This film was very well made and crafted. And the writters have stuck to the original legend as well. Putting in details that was not brought out in the original story. There were some goof ups however not much but just some. Merlin did not throw the sword back into the water, it was actually one of Arthurs trusted knights that did. But above all, the Film was Very Good.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Fantasy Tale
Review: STOP...COMPARING....TO....EXCALIBUR people! This mini-series was well written, nicely acted, with terrific visuals. Wonderfully well done. THe Arthurian purists are angry, but they're just legends anyway, and no harm done as long as L'mmorte de Arthur stays in print somewhere on earth. This show was a fresh spin on a famous legend from another persective entirely. I love Excalibur too, but it was nice to see something different. Merlin is a fine fantasy film filled with imagination, and good fantasy films are VERY hard to come by. SOme reviewers are whining about the political correctness and the christianity being shoved down our throats. I'd say you completely missed the point. First of all, it was a bold move to include any religion in this picture, cuz the PC route would have been to leave out any mentiion of Christianity at all. Secondly, one of the underlining themes in this film as well as in Excalibur was the changing world from the old ways to the "new" ways of Christianity. I didn't feel the message was heavy handed at all, in fact, if anything I thought hard-line christians would be down-right offended by this movie.