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.

After all these years and multiple viewings this movie still has scenes powerful enough to bring me to tears. This is by far the best movie about the Arthurian legends ever made, all the others are crap compared to this. The late Nigel Terry is great as King Arthur, I also loved him in Caravaggio, a shame that he was so little known as an actor. Nicol Williamson's Merlin is also unforgettable, in fact the entire cast is excellent. The music (Wagner) fits right in and enhances the power of the images. This is a movie made by a director working at the Heights of his powers and it just doesn't get much better folks.

This film is one of the best examples of visual mythic storytelling I've ever had the pleasure of watching, and the film has been with me since I was in school. It was required viewing in English Literature for me and, other than maybe Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings saga, represents the best sword and sorcery epic on the big screen. The colors, the armor, the characters, the setting, the over-the-top dialogue and the music, OH the MUSIC, all combine to form an absolute cinematic and artistic treat that perhaps will never quite find a peer.This film, of course, was made after attempts to make The Lord of the Rings failed, and therefore seems to pave the way, quite elegantly for future epic films, decades ahead of it's time. It helped launch several actors into "household name" status. If you want a real treat, watch the film without seeing the cast list and be surprised every time a superstar appears! Treat yourself. Watch this film. Let it grow on you. Let it become part of who you are.You'll be a better person for it, and, I promise, you'll be humming "O Fortuna" for the rest of your life, every time you wish to feel like the Once and Future King, clad in shining armor, ready to save the day!

A worthy but slightly dull adaptation of the Arthurian tales, this is both overblown and overlong but not without its high points. Unfortunately the film drags on endlessly and is packed with interchangeable characters you don't really know or love. As with the director's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, there are some moments of undeniable beauty, and the film has fine camera-work throughout. I always get the impression that director John Boorman would be much better as an art director than a film director as all of his movies tend to be on the artistic side visually and Excalibur is no exception.Here the lush greens of the generally forested locations in which the movie is set are brought to the fore. Boorman decided to make his movie as realistic as possible, which is why the magic involved is understated and there are no monsters. Some may favour his authentic approach but personally I think a few monsters could liven things up no end here. Who cares if you stray from the text? The Arthurian legends had already been filmed so many times already that any deviation could only have been a good thing.With Boorman at the helm, you know you're in for one dark and occasionally disturbing ride and Excalibur is no exception when it comes to the inherent horror of the tale. In the action sequences, which are splendidly done, gore flows freely from cracks in armour and you never forget the mortality of the characters involved. Everything in the tales is present and correct, from the Sword in the Stone, to Merlin and Morgana, the wizard and witch, the Lady of the Lake and the search for the Holy Grail. The latter search occupies the second half of the film and includes my favourite scene, in which intrepid knight Perceval discovers a grotto in the woods from which hang the rotting corpses of knights who have previously come to claim the Grail. Boorman even has a crow pecking an eyeball from one of the corpses in a moment of extreme disgust which is welcomed by this horror fan.Cast-wise, Nigel Terry is just as strong-hearted and powerful as he should be in the role. He makes a fine transition from fresh-faced youth to wise old King and his acting is bolstered by fine make-up work which convincingly turns him from a teenage boy to a man of middle-age and beyond. Nicholas Clay is a mysterious and unusual Lancelot, not the knight in shining armour so usually portrayed in these adaptations (well he does have the shining armour but he's not exactly the heroic type throughout). Helen Mirren is perfectly cast as the creepy and evil Morgana, although I'm not too convinced about the accuracy of the cheesy fishnet costume she wears - it looks too '80s, that's all. One misstep I feel is Nicol Williamson, who plays Merlin with over-the-top relish. His is a character I just can't take seriously, and I don't think Williamson did either. He just comes off as silly.A cast of soon-to-be-famous (and very young-looking) British actors fill out the rest of the knights, including the likes of Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, and Clive Swift. The costumes are impeccably done, aside from the Morgana gear, and the action sequences have stirring music, including extracts from Carl Orff, to go with them. It's just a shame that the film is so relentlessly downbeat in its tone and goes on for so long, because there is stuff here that's definitely worth your while, making this a very mixed bag indeed.