Merlin

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Summary: Queen mab4eva
Review: I liked queen Mab best of all.Merlin was a bit grumpy.In reality merlin would have never been able to defeat queen mab. I thought it should have had more of queen mab and frik should have stayed with her.I liked the way she was defeated coz it was original in the end she just disappeard

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Summary: Just doesn't do Arthurian mythology any justice.
Review: When I look up the word *travesty* in the dictionary, I see a picture of Sam Neill in Merlin. I well remember the pinheads interviewed by The Movie Show shortly after its release, waxing lyrical about the charms of Mr. Neill while ignoring the fact that this film is aimed squarely at the kind of space-wasters whose judgement of a person's acting ability hinges on the level of pelvic reaction they manage to elicit. And yeah, I know I'm sore because I consider Excalibur to be one of the greatest films ever made, and as such any other movie which dares to trifle with Arthurian legend is doomed. Putting aside the act that Merlin has almost nothing in common with that mightiest of myth other than the names of the characters it is still a big disappointment by virtue of thin acting and an even more anorexic storyline. I really don't know where those Hollywooders get off thinking they can foist American and non-British actors playing British heroes upon us, but, as we know, in Hollyweird the dreamboat drawcard is god, and forget the pesky notion which goes by the name of realism. And, it's not just about Martin Short poking fun at people of Asian descent. If you look closely, you can see that this film is also insulting to people of other ethnicities, as well as being sexist. Along with First Knight, this was the worst sword and sorcery torture that I've had to subject myself to in the past 5 years.

Rating:
Summary: Dis-jointed and Lacking.
Review: After reading the Arthurian legends in my English class, we were treated to a viewing of the movie "Merlin". It wasn't much of a treat. The major problem is that there's way too little to fit in to 2 1/2 or even 3 hours in such a shallow screenplay. The only way to make movies like these is to NOT make a TV miniseries out of them. This forces Merlin to become too slow paced and disjointed to effectively tell the story. It lumbers going through all the motions of the important stories while missing out on other parts with fillers. Events come flying out of nowhere. One moment the weak Arthur is chatting with Merlin, and then he looks about to gain strength and is on his *ss again in a matter of seconds. Then he pisses someone off and starts fighting him. Then in another 45 seconds, surprise(!), it's Mordred!. When it takes moments of ACTUAL character development, the acting and dialogue is so bland, it's hard keeping awake and I did fall asleep for a total of about 2 hours on and off. Didn't miss much though. The whole movie, especially most of the ending ends up like a series of clips they show on TV shows like Jerry Springer. My advice, get smart and rent a movie actually worth viewing....i.e. "Excalibur", "Dragonslayer", and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which I found to be much more satisfying. They're great stories that were nowhere to be seen in the movie (although, there'd be no reason to put them in, but, you know). I was also very perplexed by how some people here could even place "Merlin" in the same class as Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon", which in my mind is one of THE true classics of modern day literature. Like comparing a tricycle to a Rolls Royce. And, how can anyone take serious a film that finds itself in an anachonism of 1,500 years with Helena Bonham-Carter dressed as Emma Peel, and Martin Short racially mocking Asians by wearing false rotten teeth, slanting his eyes and speaking with a bad accent. I've always thought that such racial insensitivity in cinema was left behind in the 1930's, but apparently "Merlin" has proved me wrong.

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Summary: All Hail Queen Mab
Review: Queen Mab will not be forgotten and soon somebody out there will compile info. on her and create a website..Forgotten..I dont think so...A Brilliant movie with Miranda being the most influential as Queen Mab and also as the Lady of the Lake. "Cristianity vs Pagan" this will always be with us so I think it was a mistake in the movie to have her be forgotten...She wasn't evil like other tyrants, she was fighting for the survival of her people..She should be a heroe..And even though she knew parts of the future she still fought as hard as she could until the very end..The end which I dont think has ended. Do you agree. The only weakness to the movie was making King Arthur look like he was no important figure at all..they should have included a bit more on the Castle Camelot and King Arthur. Even so, this movie is unique and stands ahead of any remake.. Id love to hear more info on the real Queen Mab please send it to me I will be most grateful.

Rating:
Summary: Seems People Love to Beat Up On this One!
Review: I have been studying the Arthurian legends for well over 15 years, and guess what, folks? They're just that... legends. So all of the ranting about "historical" accuracy is a contradiction of terms. It seems people judged this movie more on their expectations and preconceived notions of Arthurian legends than having an open mind to Barron's interpretation. And will everyone please get over Helena Bonham Carter's leather outfit? I, for one, enjoyed it, and if most were honest, they did too. Everyone talks about how WONDERFUL Excalibur was, Boorman being a visionary, blah blah blah. Excalibur WAS a great film, but it annoyed the hell out of me as well. EXCALIBUR was designed for us who knew something about Camelot, because if you don't, you are lost and bored 10 minutes into it. And the most severe detriment to EXCALIBUR is Boorman's dumb decision to redub every damned line of dialogue. At times it comes off as cartoonish as the voice inflection sometimes is mismatched with what's going on on the screen. After reading all 140+ mostly negative reviews of MERLIN, it's time for me to add my own. This was an AWESOME version of the Arthurian legend, and showed some great elements of MANY works on Camelot, including the beautiful imagery of Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON, just to name one. Reading some reviews, I wonder if we saw the same movie? I know this will blow some narrow minds up out there, but Malory's MORTE D' ARTHUR is not the end all and be all of the legend. Expand your minds! Read as many versions as you can get your hands on! And stop blathering about historical accuracy, and enjoy Merlin for what it is: A great retelling, from the wizard's perspective, of the FAIRYTALE of Camelot. If you want historical accuracy, hit the encyclopedias and historical texts like THE MILITARY HISTORY OF KING ARTHUR, and you won't be so mystically enchanted with the character of Arthur, if he existed at all. And yes, there is still question to his and Camelot's existence, no matter how hard any researcher tries to tell you they've discovered EVERYTHING. There simply isn't enough evidence to give credence to even the consistencies OR generalities of the Camelot legend. It was creative people filling in the blanks that have given us the wonderful legends we have today, and I cherish them all.

It was refreshing that this MERLIN was a great version for the whole family, too, without being to childish and cookie cutter like in execution of its story. The VHS version is great for kids who have a short attention span (it leaves all the JUICY parts in), and the DVD version is great for us who love this story and the rich tapestry it weaves. The DVD has some great MAKING OF extra goodies, as well. We finally see Vortigern (Rutger Hauer) and Europe's early kings for the bastards they were, in this version, if you're still hung up on "history". The special effects were outstanding, but what captivated me was the telling of the story, and, contrary to those who profoundly proclaimed this version had no point and was aimless, MERLIN had an excellent moral that needs to be told again and again, no matter what age you are: even when you act in the best interest of something, whether it be a friend, a king or a an entire kingdom, you are still fallible and can make a tragic, costly mistake.

Enough said. Now go watch it with an open mind, and critics, get over yourselves... just have FUN, for God's sake, and put your movie checklist clipboard away for this one. Nicol Williamson was great as the mysterious supernatural Merlin in Excalibur, and Sam Neill is simply outstanding as the all-too-human MERLIN...

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Summary: WOW! MAB IS AWESOME
Review: I must say that Miranda Richardson is an absolutely brilliant actress. All of you people out there who don't like Merlin, why bother reviewing it. It was a powerful, absolutely awesome movie. Queen Mab was the best character, followed by Merlin. The special FX were awesome, I loved the way Mab disappeared, so much better than the traditional puff of smoke. Frik was played wonderfully by Martin Short, and NZ's own Sam Neill is a legend in his own right. One of my fave movies, i could watch it again and again, ten stars isn't a high enought rating for this well made, well casted, well played, breathtaking movie, if anyone has more info (positive info thanx) on Queen Mab, send it to me via e-mail. I'll end by saying. QUEEN MAB WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN BY ME!

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting and compelling 'mystical' adventure
Review: I have studied this movie in great detail and was not at first impressed with all the media hype that came with it. However, after watching it I found myself glued to the screen with nothing detaching me. Miranda 'Queen Mab' is truly a standout in this cast of distinguished actors. She played the part very convincibly and with her gasping voice, long black hair and eye-makeup, and her fantastic powers you couldn't help but not BELIEVE in her. Merlin is a great family movie with hundreds of special effects, mystical creatures and a dual theme which is the demise of the old(pagan) ways and the rise of Christianity. It is also mainly a love story which I strongly recommend you watch.

Rating:
Summary: Special effects alone don't make a movie
Review: Prior to its initial airing on NBC, I was anticipating in "Merlin" of what was supposed be a momentous occasion in the history of television. The weeks and weeks of hype leading up to that very moment left me with very little choice, but to have the TV turned on to channel 4 at 8pm that Sunday night. The producer (Steve Baron), even went as far as issuing a press statement proclaiming that "Merlin" would offer an insight into the mysterious sorcerer of what had never been revealed before in books and movies, thanks in part to vigorous researching of "lost sources". About 25 minutes after it had started, I found myself pressing the channel button on the remote. About 1 hour into the program, I had erased channel 4 completely from memory for quicker and more efficient channel surfing. Eventually I decided to give it another go and saw it in its entirety many months later on DVD, and boy do I regret wasting my valuable time. Not only did I come away seeing less than what was already chronicled in such classics as "Excalibur", but found that the so-called "lost sources" were not "lost sources" at all, actually had their origins in a dream that Steve Baron once had while falling asleep in class. That could explain his 2.5 grade point average before dropping out of college. Baron had also promised "Merlin would be my unique interpretation of Arthurian mytholgy in the same way that Excalibur was John Boorman's unique interpretation of the same thing". Unfortunately, Baron falls short of Boorman's impressive feat. What we end up seeing instead is actually Steve Baron's interpretation of a movie about Steve Baron, not about Arthurian mythology. Please note that no credits of any kind were given for the sources, not even the words "lost sources". When no sources are given for movies based on well-worn ideas, that's usually not a good indication for things to come and Merlin is no exception. On the up side.... the special effects were spectacular, but like Wild Wild West it was not enough to redeem the film of its poor acting and disappointing screenplay.

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Summary: Intersesting version
Review: I saw it on TV and I taped it and I really liked it. Since then I have read much about the Arthurian legends. I've learned there are quite a few different versions of the stories. This video is a very interesting version of the Arthurian legends. Although, I thought the first half had a better story line than the second half. Still, it was a very great version of the stories. People who like to read about Arthurian legends and Celtic mythology well especially like this.

Rating:
Summary: Special effects can't save it!
Review: Merlin contains some really interesting special effects. In fact, there are even times when I started to want to like this movie because of them. Even though Helena Bonham-Carter has bucked teeth(laughs! ) you would never know it from this movie. Moreover, her incredible beauty in leather would make any guy want to pay a visit to the local dominatrix. I still came out of this movie extremely disappointed. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was in the plot itself. Martin Short, while an interesting and funny actor in his own right, was not able to revive a story that really has no point. I spent half the movie saying to myself, "What is Merlin trying to do again?" The screenplay was weak and immature. The character played by the special effects computer is the real star of the show. The rest of the acting was poorly directed by Steve Barron who oughtta be ashamed of himself for turning out this turkey. I do not recommend even renting this movie. Better yet, wait until it goes on Blockbuster's favorites list, watch it, and return it for a store credit!