Excalibur | Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren | The Full Story of King Arthur!

Excalibur | Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren | Near perfection

DVDs:

Excalibur

	Excalibur Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren Warner Home Video, 1999 average customer review:based on 308 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Retelling of the myths of King Arthur, the legendary 5th-6th century monarch, as well as Merlin, Uther Pendragon, the Holy Grail and the Lady of the Lake.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 8-FEB-2005
Media Type: DVD

The Full Story of King Arthur!

From the lust of Uther Pendragon and the sorcery of Merlin is born the legendary King Arthur, the Once and Future King. Claimed at birth by the wizard Merlin and raised as the son of good Sir Ector, Arthur grows up to be a wiser man than his father, though still greatly swayed by emotion over logic. His royal lineage is made known when he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone as a boy, and from then on, Arthur rules Britain in glory until the schemes of his half-sister, the evil witch Morgana, bring his world down upon him, first by exposing the betrayal of his wife Guenevere and his best friend Lancelot, and again by laying with Arthur and creating the bloodthirsty Mordred. The round table, the quest for the grail, the whole story of Arthur, from conception to death, is told in stunning and beautiful detail in the fantasy epic "Excalibur".

Appropriately made in 1981, a time when fantasy films were en vogue, director John Boorman's "Excalibur" is still the best film to turn to for the story of King Arthur. Cleverly balancing fantasy elements with a very believably grounded reality, Boorman's gracefully executed theme throughout the film is of the passing away of the old ways and the coming of the new. Though at times the film seems like it may have suffered a bit from covering so much information in 2 hours and 20 minutes (it is true what some have said, that the quest for the Holy Grail does seem to come out of nowhere), it is a majestic experience from start to finish and comes off as extremely lavish, despite the "shoestring" budget the director claims it was made on. The Irish locations used are glorious, the classical music is rousing, and the cast features the likes of Helen Mirren, Nicol Williamson, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, Nigel Terry as Arthur, and many more fine actors. The DVD is unfortunately said to be incorrectly matted, and hopefully this will be corrected in a future release. Despite that, it's a movie that everyone should have in their collection and includes the theatrical trailer (I love those early '80's theatrical trailers!), a bit of text info, and a fine commentary from the director. He's not the most thrilling commentator, takes him a bit to get started and there's a big pause after he initially does, but once he gets going he gives tons of great info on the production. It's well worth listening to! If you have any interest in Arthurian legend at all, don't let your collection be without this one!

for more information click here

Near perfection

All in all, and after watching several recent versions and variations on the topic of Arthurian legends, Boorman's 1981 movie remains an almost perfect combination of script, acting, photography, and music. He takes the legend simply to an epic tale. I highly recommend this over any other of its kind. About the DVD itself, the NTSC version that I own provides a standard picture format only. I recently got a PAL version that is widescreen and the difference is meaningful, particularly when it comes to scenes such as the magnificent ending of the movie.

Not a showcase for HD

This movie is a very entertaining rendering of the classic Arthurian tale with spirited acting and lots of familar faces. I own this movie on DVD and bought it on HD DVD hoping to get a brighter and more pristine looking copy. Sadly, the visual clarity of the HD version is not much better than the standard DVD version. There are scenes in the movie that look like they were cleaned up for HD but not enough so that I can recommend the HD version of Excalibur to fans hoping to get an exceptionally beautiful copy of one of their favorite movies.

for more information click here