Excalibur (2 Viewers)

[Harrytheheid]

Hi Guys and Ladies,

We've just sat through Boorman's "Excalibur". First time Missus Heids ever seen it, me for the umpteenth time. Brilliant movie. Beginning is brilliant, sags a bit in the middle, last 30 minutes or so - brilliant (bit like SPR actually). Sure its innacurate as far as armour, weapons, etc. is concerned. Who cares? It does a fantastic job of portraying the old "Morte De Arthur" legends and the substance of a Britain that never existed except in the imagination, as far as I'm concerned.
Any other Froggers seen it? What do you think?

 

[debrito]

Dear Harry,

In my opinion the best move related to this legend is KING ARTHUR,

Best regards.

Cheers

 

[Harrytheheid]

Dear Harry,

In my opinion the best move related to this legend is KING ARTHUR,

Best regards.

Cheers

Yeah, its pretty good. Love the leather bikinis in this movie.

 

[Currahee Chris]

HA!!! Harry- you and I may have been seperated at birth- though I think I got all the good looks

Own the movie, can recite lines at the drop of a dime with that movie- FANTASTIC soundtrack!! What can beat guys running around and doing everything- I MEAN EVERYTHING in full plate armor!!!!

Nicol Williamson is is MERLIN- there will never be another!!! That movie will stand the test of time- the lush countryside was just beautiful. The relationships everyone had- just phenomenal stuff. Look at all the famous actors in it as well- Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart.

Love all the cool special effects- like some of the melee scenes when guys arms get lopped off and they have the little blood squirter spewing out gushing blood!!!

Yeah man, I love it- nothing will beat it. Then at the end with Mordred stabbing Arthur and he skewers him and you can see his intestines hanging off of it!!!

Did you know that Arthur's mother was played by Boorman's daughter?? Not sure if I could have let my daugter take part in a lot of those scenes.

CC

 

[Bob]

I enjoyed Excalibur, although its not accurate - look at another thread and see that Merlin was a Scot. Since it deals with a mythical figure could it ever be accurate
as for King Arthur below - ludicrous

 

[Harrytheheid]

I enjoyed Excalibur, although its not accurate - look at another thread and see that Merlin was a Scot. Since it deals with a mythical figure could it ever be accurate
as for King Arthur below - ludicrous

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your viewpoint.
I wasn't suggesting that a movie concerning a mythical figure could ever be accurate. I meant that the historical Arthur if he ever existed was supposed to have been based on some British Warlord who resisted the Saxon invaders around the 6th/7th century AD - depends on what popular fiction you read I suppose. Or maybe the Arthur figure developed as a composite of several different people - who knows. So if such a person(s) existed, then the "Knights in Shining Armour" as depicted in Excalibur (as most people tend to picture the Arthur myth) would be equivalent to Napoleonic troops turning up at the Battle of Hastings. The King Arthur movie depicted the situation just as the Romans were withdrawing from Britain and, forgetting the storyline for a moment, the characters seemed to wear clothing and used weapons that were in keeping with the time period in which the movie was set.
I'm not suggesting that either movie (or any others depicting Arthur for that matter) be taken as historical fact. That would indeed be ludicrous. But both movies are enjoyable at their own level. Along with another one I saw recently called The Last Legion.
The "Merlin Was Scottish" was a thread I started because some of my friends on the forum were on edge waiting for the Arnhem range to be released. I thought it was a rather amusing newspaper article, so I posted it as a bit of fun just to lighten things up a bit. It was never meant to be taken seriously.

Best Regards

 

[maddadicus]

Excaliber is a classic. I first saw it at a drive in, a long time ago......As for King Arther, I own it and is one of my favorites. Also, a reasonable and plausible take on a " real " Arther....Michael

 

[evilchuck]

first movie i ever watched on cable,when even cable was relatively new,was on every day,and i think it was the only thing on,i too can recite lines.love it and as many times as i've seen it,still can't shut it off.a true classic

 

[Harrytheheid]

Did you know that Arthur's mother was played by Boorman's daughter?? Not sure if I could have let my daugter take part in a lot of those scenes.

CC

Yeah, I knew that Chris. I thought she was extremely well cast as Igraine. I guess Boorman took the view that it was acting, not real life.....but I know what you mean.

Best Wishes
The Ugly Sibling

 

[Eazy]

Good film Excalibur.
It starts off quite realistically and then drifts off into realms of fantasy and magic. Still good though and looks very stylish.
I really like Helen Mirren as Morgan Le Fay and Nicol Williamson as Merlin.
Guinevere is Cherie Lunghi who went on to star in coffee adverts and The Manageress (hehe who remembers that one?)
Mordred was played Robert Addie who went on to play Guy of Gisburne in Robin of Sherwood.
In fact Robin of Sherwood had a lot in common with Excalibur in that it made a lot of use of magic and mysticism.

I think Excalibur is thebest Arthurian film but I also quite like Merlin which was a TV mini series starring Sam Neill. It was very fantasy based but had soem good ideas. It was really more of a children's version of the Arthurian legends.

King Arthur on the other hand is a Hollywood version of the Arthurian times. I quite like it though mainly for Keira Knightley in her bondage gear and bow and arrows. The scene where the Knights face the Saxons on the frozen lake is a pretty awesome action scene.
It also stars Ray Winstone yet another star of Robin of Sherwood!

My least favourite Arthurian film is First Knight with Sean Connery and Richard Gere. It's just too shiny and Hollywood.

 

[Bob]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your viewpoint.
I wasn't suggesting that a movie concerning a mythical figure could ever be accurate. I meant that the historical Arthur if he ever existed was supposed to have been based on some British Warlord who resisted the Saxon invaders around the 6th/7th century AD - depends on what popular fiction you read I suppose. Or maybe the Arthur figure developed as a composite of several different people - who knows. So if such a person(s) existed, then the "Knights in Shining Armour" as depicted in Excalibur (as most people tend to picture the Arthur myth) would be equivalent to Napoleonic troops turning up at the Battle of Hastings. The King Arthur movie depicted the situation just as the Romans were withdrawing from Britain and, forgetting the storyline for a moment, the characters seemed to wear clothing and used weapons that were in keeping with the time period in which the movie was set.
I'm not suggesting that either movie (or any others depicting Arthur for that matter) be taken as historical fact. That would indeed be ludicrous. But both movies are enjoyable at their own level. Along with another one I saw recently called The Last Legion.
The "Merlin Was Scottish" was a thread I started because some of my friends on the forum were on edge waiting for the Arnhem range to be released. I thought it was a rather amusing newspaper article, so I posted it as a bit of fun just to lighten things up a bit. It was never meant to be taken seriously.

Best Regards

I was not criticising your viewpoint or comments.
I was in Baker Street and visited the Sherlock Holmes museum and friend casually asked if there could be a museum for a fictional character. So comments about the accuracy of films on Arthur made think the same – could a film be classed a “accurate” when we don’t know if the character was real, and if he was he almost certainly did not exist in the form that the films depict.

I love Aneirin’s Eulogies (collectivly called Y Gododinn) which details the host of Mynyddawg Mwynfawr. It is supposedly the first mention of Arthur, although it is one of the most wonderful pieces of poetry ever written.

If you look at the earlier references to Arthur such as Culhwch Ac Olwen the film is not accurate, if we take this Arthur as the true one. For example this Arthur leads his knights to rescue mabon ap modron – son of mother. However it is not son of mother but THE Son of THE Mother. This is not a Christain knight who worships the Virgin.

The Matter of Britain is an interesting subject. There were those who waited for him to return after Dunkirk - didnt the legend say that he would return in his country's hour of need, and this was certainly England's hour of need. He didnt come (but then there were no Angels at Mons either)

What I did like about Boorman’s film is that it is dark and carries that message that Arthur, as all men do, carries the seed of his own destruction.

As for Merlin being a Scot – didn’t the Russian claim Burns as their own poet?

No offence meant - difficult to get nuance into the text - I may have to use those strange faces in future

And as a film I did enjoy Robert Taylor as Lancelot – pure Hollywood but then we are dealing with the medieval version of a Hollywood story.