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.

I was recently watching a Sherlock Holmes movie from the 70s on one of those TV channels devoted to old movies, and my wife walked in, watched about a minute of it and said "I'm pretty sure the guy playing Sherlock is the same actor who played Merlin in Excalibur". And of course, she was right. She loved Excalibur so much back in the 80s that she bought a framed copy of the movie poster which hangs proudly in our living room.So that observation led us to dig out our DVD of Excalibur and watch it for the first time in decades. And you know what? It still holds up. You can tell by some of the hairstyles, effects and other details that it was made in the 1980s, but overall this movie has aged remarkably well. And a lot of the actors who were unknowns (at least to us) back then have become household names in the years since (Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart).Now, one could certainly make the argument that this film is way over the top in nearly every aspect. The actors chew so much scenery that you can almost hear the director off screen yelling "More! Bigger! Sell it!" Everyone wears shiny armor all the time, the good guys are incredibly good and the bad guys are incredibly evil. And then there's the soundtrack that uses a ton of Wagner and the O Fortuna section of Carmina Burana no less than three times. But it's all fitting for a serious film about the Arthurian legends. If the scene towards the end where Arthur, recently healed by the holy grail, rides out with his knights and brings the land back to life while O Fortuna blares in the background doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you might be dead.Balancing out all this seriousness to some degree is the character of Merlin (played wonderfully by Nicol Williamson), who has a few wicked one-liners and adds a much-needed dose of subtle humor to nearly every scene he's in.Many of the actors do a remarkable job of portraying their characters all the way from youth to old age. It's almost hard to believe that it's Nigel Terry playing both the young Arthur who acts as a squire for his brother at a joust early in the film and the elderly, gray-haired Arthur in the climactic battle.Another reviewer mentioned that this film came out just a few years after Monty Python's Holy Grail movie (which I also love) making Excalibur play almost like an anti-parody, with many nearly identical scenes done with deadly earnestness. Well...of course the movies are going to have similar scenes - they're both based on the same legends. The Pythons just took it in a comedic direction while Boorman played it mostly straight.All in all, this will probably always be my favorite King Arthur movie. Before the Lord of the Rings movies came along, this was the best epic fantasy film I'd ever seen. And it's still one of the best.

With a magical green light among the meadows of old Roman-Keltic Britannia, John Boorman tells us the epic tale of a young squire who takes more upon his shoulders than any mortal man can be asked to do. Arthur, superbly played by Nigel Terry, is acted through the whole range from young, reluctant squire-thrust-into-kingship to tired and exhausted emperor of Camelot.And all characters here is portrayed most believable from the first rate acting of Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi and others. The one though, that makes an effort that stands a head higher than the rest, is Nicol Williamson's Merlin.All I can say is, do not entangle yourself in historical fact hunting and correcting nit-picking of all the over-the-top weapons and armor belonging to other eras. It's the saga of eternal values and the clashing of murky evil and brightly good in such as Paul Geoffrey's portrayal of Percival and his search for The Grail that stands out, not forgetting Charley Boorman's Mordred which is surprisingly good.

Set in the wilds of Ireland and with a pretty full cast of Irish actors, which set in motion the careers of both Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne, whilst also utilising some classic/cult British names for spice.Like Robin Hood there are many stories of the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the round table but this film is probably the most accurate in terms of an adaptation from original period text. This film is based around the tales from 'Le Morte d'Arthur' and seems to follow each 'segment' quite closely (haven't read it so I'm not sure).The overall essence of this film is like a fairy tale of sorts, a kind of slightly cheesy shiny armoured fantasy with glittery sets, soft colours, strong religious/iconic imagery and a Clannad vibe running through it. The film reminded me of the classic British TV series 'Robin of Sherwood' (which also starred the dastardly Robert Addie) and the classic British fantasy film 'Krull'. I think the latter took inspiration from the visual aspect of 'Excalibur', possibly.The design and look of this film is really very good, its clearly rather dated but it still has a high polish to it and looks quite epic. The locations really give an authentic feel, an solid impression of old medieval England complete with excellent costumes. Of course this being the 80's the armour does look a bit fake, a bit plastic, flimsy and too shiny in places. There is also a kind of music video feel to the proceedings in places. Some sets look a bit too sparkly, some characters have some dubious haircuts and to be utterly honest the acting and dialog is pretty hilarious in places, but you can't deny the effort and scope of this historical fantasy.This being in the days before CGI when historical epics were all the rage, the battle sequences are small with some blood and minimal gore. You can easily tell they didn't have a big crew to make such grand battles so clever editing is used with lots of darkness and fog. Luckily old England was a foggy place...or so I've been led to believe. The other slightly amusing thing was the soundtrack, there is original work here but the use of classical pieces slapped on top of key sequences didn't really work (for me at least). The combination of certain scenes and certain pieces of music felt very rickety and really did seem crowbarred in badly. You can see what the director was going for but it comes off more like a parody of sorts, something not too dissimilar from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.The plot is straight forward and it doesn't become dull despite the heavy romance involved. The film is layered and rich, vivid imagery and beautiful design giving the whole production much flare and class. It all works pretty flawlessly because you know these were the days when everything was hand crafted. The film is a cult classic with a bitchin' powerful poster that demands your attention (it draws you in). On a final note, the acting in general may be acceptable but Nicol Williamson's Merlin is also another good reason to see this film. A truly unique quirky take on the character spouting some glorious lines, 'oh that's grand'.7/10