Excalibur (1981)
A surreal adaptation of Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur", chronicling Arthur Pendragon's conception, his rise to the throne, the search by his Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail, and ultimately his death.
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Just perfect...
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Absolutely the worst movie.
A Disappointing Continuation
This is the best overall movie about the Arthurian legends(that isn't a musical or comedy), it covers almost every aspect and does it in style. It looks and sounds glorious and doesn't hold back on violence or sexual themes. Epic fantasy in it's truest form!
Excalibur (1981) Starring: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, Nicol Williamson, Corin Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Keith Buckley, Clive Swift, Liam Nesson, Gabriel Byrne, Robert Addie, Katrine Boorman, Ciarán Hinds, and Niall O'Brien Directed By: John Boorman Review FORGED BY A GOD. FORETOLD BY A WIZARD. FOUND BY A KING. The tale of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, they need no more films for this is perfection. A great representation of one of the greatest legends ever told. The myth of King Arthur brought to the screen. Uthur Pendragon is given the mystical sword Excalibur by Merlyn. At his death Uthur buries the sword into a stone, and the next man that can pull it out will be King of England. Years later Arthur, Uthur's bastard son draws Excalibur and becomes king. Arthur's evil half-sister Morgana sires a son with him, who may prove his downfall. This film is brought is brought to us by great British thespians and I say that because it shows. It's great work, I loved it. The main lead Nigel Terry who plays Arthur when we first see him in Camelot I immediately thought to myself yep that's a perfect choice for King Arthur. Same when I saw Nicholas Clay as Sir Lancelot and just about everyone cast int this picture. The pacing of this movie was great as well. The story movies along in a brisk pace and tells its story in a great amount of time, it's not too long or two short it feels just right. The director John Boorman I feel wanted to tell the whole tale of those wielded Excalibur and make a faithful interpretation of the myth of King Arthur. This one adventurous fantasy that should be experienced especially for those who are fans of the tale of king Arthur. I'm giving Excalibur a five out of five.
Owning this movie for years and years, I've finally gotten around to gushing about it here. There's a Shakespearean quality to Early 80's gem "Excalibur" thanks to high quality stage actors recruited and selected by director John Boorman. The script is wonderfully introspective and philosophical. While these are noteworthy, perhaps best of all is the magnanimous score mixed with Oscar-winning Cinematography - unforgettably powerful, strange, and enchanting - all that you could want in a fantasy movie experience. The movie is full of lust and energy. Nicol Williamson, as Merlin, turns in one of the best performances in any fantasy movie with marvelous curiosity and wit. Nigel Terry as Arthur is also excellent, melancholy and earnest, as is Gabriel Byrnes, angry and battle-hardened earlier. A younger Helen Mirren is brooding and enchanting as well. Boorman deserves much credit and praise. He's captured medieval and magic better than movies decades after it. His cast is unparalleled in performance. 9/10 - highly recommended
Whether it is "Camelot", "The Sword and the Stone" or Monty Python's "Holy Grail" or "Spamelot", the stories of King Arthur and his knights, the round table, Guinevere and Lancelot or the search for the holy grail remain all encompassing epics. The same year that a revival of" Camelot" appeared on Broadway, an epic non-musical appeared on movie screens. It remains a cult favorite, and now 35 years old, I can see why.Told from the times before King Arthur's conception, this shows Merlin's (Nicol Williamson) influence on the one and future king. It's as sinister as anything in mid-evil history, involving black magic as a fight against good and evil, showing how dark these dark ages really were. Going from young peasant unaware of his destiny to aged king fighting against his own son, Nigel Terry is totally commanding. Helen Mirren is bewitching as the evil Morgan La Fey, given understandable motives for her evils. Cherie Lunghi is tender and sultry as Guenivere. Violent but not excessively bloody, thus fortunately has the spectacle if not the loud noises of modern epics. This Camelot becomes a character itself, gorgeous and flowery when Arthur is in full charge of that spot that for one brief moment was righteous, and drab and lifeless when going through the sinister plotting of Morgan Le Fey and her Caligula like son, Mordred. This is difficult to perfect upon and makes me shake my head at Hollywood for even suggesting that it needs an updating.