Excalibur Details

Creaky but fun.

This is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur, based on the version written by Sir Thomas Malory in 1475.

Although it forms arguably England's major myth cycle, the Round Table legend is a confused mass of celtic, Romano-British, Norman-French, and other accretions. Its re-interpretation is entirely appropriate, and this version presented is well-told, if you can forgive the obvious budgetary limitations.

The plot is stripped to the bare essentials, leaving about a dozen named characters, and losing all the quests except the quest for the Holy Grail. This austere treatment concentrates attention on the key elements of the story.

The film was clearly shot on a small budget. All the locations are in rural Ireland, the castles are represented by sections of walls, or in long shots only, while the cast and crowd scenes have limited numbers of actors and extras.

The battles are surprisingly effective, with the knights crashing around in grey, silver or black plate armor. If you are used to modern spectaculars like Lord Of The Rings, it will seem sadly small scale. However, bear in mind that the entire Round Table only had 101 knights.

The special effects are of their time and look distinctly creaky. But the power of the story should sustain interest nonetheless.

Nicol Williamson gives an eccentric but enjoyable interpretation of the wizard Merlin, and you will spot Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart among the knights, who later achieved fame in Star Wars and Star Trek.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Hide the coconuts..

I thought this film was great - until Nicol Williamson as Merlin opened his mouth...and spoke in a high squeaky voice. He didn't say 'My name is..Tim!', but he might as well have done as the reminder of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was so inescapable that it was impossible to take anything seriously after that. 3 stars for the bits that didn't feature Nicol.