Excalibur (1981)

Best Camelot movie ever - bar none!
On a degree of difficulty scale this is one of the toughest movies to attempt to make. Robin Hood is another. Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn pulled it off nicely in their adaptation back in the 70's. Excalibur is about a 9 and Robin Hood about an 8, with a 10 being the toughest. Green tights and shiny armor isn't always easy. The late Heath Ledger did a remarkable job in A Knight's Tale of capturing this ideal.

Anyway, enough background and context. Excalibur is a spectacle, yet personal and intimate. If you like a good sword fight there are many staggered neatly throughout for your enjoyment. From the Lady in the Lake to King Arthur it's all good. Lancelot is perfect. Merlin - perhaps one of the toughest roles within one of the toughest films - is integral to the movie's success. Merlin in many ways is the glue of this film. As a sidenote: Nicol Williamson who plays Merlin also played Little John in "Robin and Marion" the Robin Hood movie I spoke of earlier. Nigel Terry as Arthur is sublime. When he pulls the sword from the rock and the music bridge hits if the hair on your neck doesn't stand up ... hit eject. This movie isn't for you. Helen Mirren is downright HOT and CREEPY as Morgana. It's one of those roles where in one part of the movie you're rooting for her and by the end your cheering her demise. My favorite performance is actually one that doesn't last very long. There are many fine performances and considering Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson are minor supporting actors emphasizes that this movie provides a rare and powerful cast not seen in today's movies. My personal favorite performance is that of Uther, Arthur's father. Played by a young and rough Gabe Byrne this is a raw and syrupy interpretation. I give Boorman credit for keeping this in the film. This sets the table for how lust, sex, and power will be woven throughout the story. Byrne singlehandedly gets the audience primed for an incredible ride.

And hey - a happy ending? Who knew. The end almost has a Godfather Part III feel to it. This is one of the most underrated movies of all time. I highly recommend it.

A Tempest in Teapot Armor
Hamy, melodramatic, gratuitously violent, plotless, self-indulgent, historically ridiculous, and over long. I've tried to watch this teapot boiler once every decade and it still remains a crushing bore. If there had been advanced video games in the early 80's it should have been one. Cannot fathom what fans see in this thing other than middle earth fever for anything, and I mean anything, that smacks of sword and sorcery. A real clunker.

A Tempest in Teapot Armor
Hamy, melodramatic, gratuitously violent, plotless, self-indulgent, historically ridiculous, and over long. I've tried to watch this teapot boiler once every decade and it still remains a crushing bore. If there had been advanced video games in the early 80's it should have been one. Cannot fathom what fans see in this thing other than middle earth fever for anything, and I mean anything, that smacks of sword and sorcery. A real clunker.