EXCALIBUR (DVD/DUAL L/WS/5.1/ENG&FR-SUB/TRAILER/INTERACTIVE)

Flawed, glorious and fraught with iconic scenes, Boorman’s largely faithful adaption of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur stands up as well now as it did when I saw the film almost 37 years ago in a virtually empty theater in upstate New York with my visiting mother.So many moments stick with me now as then. The desperate, ambushed Uther burying sword in stone. The seeping incantatory evil of Merlin’s Charm of Making. Morgana birthing Mordred amid black-helmeted attendants at night in a lightning-bathed castle. A dying Perceval reaching for the elusive Grail. The peasant woman who watches weeping as he is swept into deep water. All these and more have lost nothing in their ferocious emotional pull.The cast is superb — full of luminaries and new faces from this period (among them a virtually invisible Cairan Hinds), with the choicest parts going to Nicol Williamson (a talky, witty Merlin) and Helen Mirren (a baleful, delicious Morgana).This is not to say the late Nigel Terry does badly as Arthur. He grows into the role from the goggle-eyed boy at the outset and we embrace him better as he does — if never quite fully. He’s increasingly thrust into the role as hub of the wheel and it’s the spokes that drive much of the film’s middle section — with mixed results.Here and there, the film feels a little chintzy. (Also here and there, that chintziness is part of the charm.) Nicholas Clay smirks and simpers through much of his role as Lancelot and the foundation for his relationship with Guenevere — who is little more than a pretty face — is just assumed. (This is likely a victim of the editing required to bring the three-hour film down to 140 minutes.)Similarly, the justification for the self-destructive Grail hunt is nonexistent. (It seems to emerge from Arthur’s delirium.) And the later stages, while still effective, nevertheless seem rather rushed.I recommend it all the same. Boorman didn’t get it all right. But he made it richly memorable. That’s surely worth a couple of hours of your time.

I'm not sure where to start with my review as so many on here have already said what's needed to be said about this masterpiece. I saw this as a kid and loved it. But I wondered if I still felt the same as an adult because typically your perspective changes a great deal regarding movies as you get older. But not this movie. As an adult, it still holds up and that speaks volumes about the film's quality and the director, Boorman's delivery of the material. I've seen quite a few Arthurian films and none come close to Excalibur. This one feels very authentic and like many have stated, the attention to detail is outstanding. The makeup used to age the actors was outstanding, especially considering the movie debuted in 1981.I loved how Boorman captured the visual metaphor of Adam and Eve with Lancelot and Guinevere lying in the forest naked and unashamed while transposing Morgan le Fay's trickery of Merlin. Absolutely marvelous!The film's visual softness captures exactly how we see this period of time in our minds as evident by various paintings of Arthurian characters.......romanticized and full of fantasy.I also think what sealed the deal for me is it's a British movie with real United Kingdom actors/actresses and not some film using American actors/actresses with fake British accents like First Knight with Richard Gere.There's only one other medieval period film that holds up exactly as Excalibur and that's Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. For a minute, I actually thought it was indeed Olivia Hussey portraying the role of Guinevere. I had to check the credits where I saw it was Cherie Lunghi.All of this new stuff about King Arthur and Romeo and Juliet just doesn't do it for me. I think the lack of special effects like CGI etc, forced Director's of yesterday to tap more into their creative energy, thus giving us better delivered material as well as amazing scores to really set the perfect mood.And I must say, all the actors and actresses did a splendid job in Excalibur. So rare do I find a movie where I love all the actors and actresses. All were visually pleasing and wonderful to listen to.Edited to add.....As I've been watching Excalibur, I've come to realize at least two movies, off the top of my head, (I'm sure there are many more) drew inspiration from Excalibur. The first being William C Faure's Shaka Zulu. There's lots of dialog using "so be it" in various parts of the mini series. The witchdoctor, Sitayi, having the exact same role as Merlin by ushering in a King through use of sorcery. Nandi ruling a kingdom by way of her illegitimate son, Shaka, just as Morgan le Fay did with Mordred. Both illegitimate sons hating their fathers and ultimately killing their mothers in the end and so forth.Then there's Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. The ending is nearly an exact copy of Excalibur, showcasing the Christian Crusaders by a sea vessel to civilize uncivilized people, so to speak.

I had the DVD version of this and thought that was great. But when I got an HD TV and Blu Ray player I decided to try this. WOW - the video image is great! I see things I never noticed before and the audio is a also great improvement. Worth every penny to upgrade to this blu ray version!!

Yea thanx Rarewaves, this Italian&Brittish directors collaboration gives choice of soundtrack and each slightly different cut preferences, beautiful photography, great acting by talented actors & actresses, skilled stunt team & clever choreography, special effects, tender moments edited sensitively ... definite choice version of this story ... (possibly originally Vatican sponsored story at a time of a king such as "the Lionheart" being missing from the realm & prince John not being trusted, €tc. ... ) ... €xcellent story telling, BlueRay shows off this to good advantage, rating more than five starz🎶❤💥

At last I have managed to get a copy of John Boorman 'Excalibur' on blu-ray, even if it is a foreign copy. I do find that certain films that don't seem to be released in England you can get hold of from abroad. Still as long as you can get a soundtrack that is in English, who cares?When I first saw Excalibur I thought what a brilliant film, but seeing it now I do think it could have had a few things done differently. The music used in the film plays well with the theme at the time, but I do think in some of the scenes it just seems to be a quick burst then dies quickly. Using Carl Orffs Carmina Burana is inspirational, especially when the knights ride out to their last battle. All in all a masterpiece, beautiful to look at (especially Cherie Lunghi), well scripted & well acted, even though Nicol Williamson playing Merlin was a bit over the top. Perhaps he was told to play it that way? Fantastic!

This is loopy. It has a king of grandeur, excess, and reverence for the Arthurian legend that many of the film versions tend to ignore. Nicol Williamson's Merlin is pantomimic and played far larger than the size of his role. The castles are grimy, dimly lit, dark places full of intrigue and oversized knights lumbering around. The final battle is glorious in its overblown nature, I was expecting it to happen with Ride of the Valkyries playing in the background. There are clumsy moments and some of the dialogue is as lumbering as the knights, but for all the flaws it's a brilliantly, dazzling version of the tale.

Its a Blue Ray with out the expected Blue Ray quality. The original film should have been restored before it was brought out on Blue Ray...great film but poor picture quality. The film gets 5 stars but i'm only giving the Blue Ray 3.

I saw this at the cinema when it was first released and loved it but nearly 40 years later I can see that it's not perfect.It's still head and shoulders above the latest King Arthur films which are just trash but I found the acting wooden apart from Merlin and the soft focus filming irritating.What I still love is the music soundtrack which is perfect, the location and the lack of modern day sensitivity and p.c nonsense.