Anthony Hickox's comic adaptation is surprisingly great. Based on Hal Foster's long running series, this sumptuous tale is sure to tickle the fancy of fantasy-adventure cinephiles.The cinematography by Roger Lanser is stunning. Lots of wide angles to showoff the gorgeous landscape, to great effect. The colors burst off the screen, and are very comic-esquire. The long takes establish the geography well, and it makes for an interesting juxtaposition to the more claustrophobic, indoor scenes.Stephen Moyer stars as the titular character with an unknown past. He makes for a dashing lead, and is easily likable. In the action scenes, he is believable and looks just tough enough to be able to hold his own. Katherine Heigl is Princess Ilene, the female lead/ love interest. Even at 19, her charm is on display. Moyer and her chemistry is strong, making their romance, which starts as a strong, obvious longing to something more substantial as they grow closer during their quest.As Erik The Old, Walter Gotell, in his final role is very good. Anthony Hickox himself has nice role as Sir Gwain, whom Valiant is a squire. I didn't know it was him, and he was noble and daring, just as he should have been. Edward Fox makes a strong, decisive Arthur, even more refined and imposing. Ron Perlman shows up as a giant that knows more than he lets on, and man, I love me some Perlman. He's having lots of fun, and is used well. Warwick Davis shows up near the end, and livens up everything. He's such a joy to watch, and makes an already pulp-comic even more fun.Udo Kier is the main villain, Sligon, whom steals Excalibur to take over the world. Kier is (almost) always fun to watch, and he's uber-creepy here, making for a delicious, slightly over-the-top (in a good way) bad guy. Joanna Lumley, so brilliant on "Absolutely Fabulous", is the witch Morgan Le Fey, Arthur's half-sister. She's a lot of fun, relishing the chance to play such a different character.The action is well done, and exciting. The swordplay is very real, and it doesn't feel choreographed. The larger scale battles are easy to follow and have a nice flow to them. The detail in the armor and costumes are incredible, and it helps to enrich the world and make it much more believable.Hickox's style is in abundance here, and damn, it's some style. Aside from the already mentioned things, like good action and all, he uses comic transitions, using artwork directly out of the comic strip. A year before what many consider the film to usher in this comic saturated movie culture we are now in (Blade), this was doing similar things, and is unjustly overlooked. But aside from the cool transitional sequences, Hickox employs a lot of camera tricks, forced perspective, and playing with what we can't see just off-screen. All that adds a nice layer of fun, and it reinforces the more supernatural elements.This was an amazing surprise, that moves quickly, is rousing, had solid special effects, and good acting. An overlooked gem that helped usher in the current comic craze and deserves better than it's getting.

I liked the panoramic artwork which is very like the painstakingly done quarter of a quarter broadsheet spread frames of the syndicated Sunday comics supplements of the '50s. The special effect used to make those artworks seem to melt into reality is awesome. This is rarely, if ever, done now because of economies of print production and advertising. That, by the way is one of the reasons, the cartoonist responsible for the hugely popular Calvin and Hobbes, quit making the offbeat funny series. The Valiant here is a very competent knight unlike the one portrayed by Robert Wagner in the 1954 film who was nothing short of a bumbling fool who managed to have accidents just when he seemed to be getting the upper hand (e.g. losing his hold on a cliff as he was espying the traitorous transactions of the Black Knight with Norse marauders). Only the superb acting of James Mason as the villainous Black Knight made that older version interesting. The fight scenes in this Prince Valiant were well executed. Kudos to the arms master for the handsome suits of armor and weapons. The actress who portrayed Princess Ilene is stunning.

This is one of those movies getting trashed by people without any good reason (just like Showgirls and Last Action Hero, which I both consider to be very entertaining movies). I've watched it a second time last night and was pleasantly surprised at how good it (still) is.The acting is pretty good. There are no major plot holes. The number one "bad guy" wasn't just some 1 dimensional asshole, but actually a well fleshed-out character, who was actually smarter (strategically) than the good guys.Also, he effects weren't bad at all for a movie with this kind of budget. And, another good reason for watching this, I got a good look at Katherine Heigl's bare ass. :)I wasn't bored for a single moment while watching Prince Valliant, and really what more could I ask for?All in all, a very enjoyable movie, and I highly recommend watching it.

Hal Foster told us his own version of the King Arthur Saga with the 'Prince Valiant' Comic Strips. 'Prince Valiant' was Foster's invention and he created more than 1700 pages of adventure, romance, treachery, sinister villains, cunning heros ... you name it. One could make a great movie by putting any 50 pages of it to celluloid. Alas, in this movie they did not even try to do this. They just ripped off some characters name, gave them complete new personalities, messed up a simple story and build it around some special effects (which are indeed quite nice, but not enough to justify the entrance fee). If you like fast food movies, you might enjoy it, if you like the comic strips, you'll hate it. I recommend Prince Valiant (1954) which is not a perfect movie, but far more authentic compared to the original source. Which is what one should expect when viewing a movie named 'Prince Valiant'.