Excalibur [Blu-ray]

Clear color on the blu ray and crisp sound. I love the story line and of course the acting is superb. Good entertainment and wonderful drama and action sequences. Well done!

I only wish John Boorman had a Director's Cut

Late in the film, King Arthur is about to fight his last battle against his estranged son Mordred. His kingdom of Camelot is falling; the knights of the Round Table are disbanding; and Guinevere has entered a convent. In short, Arthur's world is collapsing. He rides to the nunnery to see Guinevere for the last time. And there, she produces the ancient timeless object hidden beneath some linen: the sword Excalibur, still gleaming, still magical, still potent to fight in the battle that Arthur cannot win. He sheathes Excalibur, and, in full knightly regalia rides with his remaining loyal knights through the English countryside, their pennants and banners flying in the wind. The fortissimo chorus of Carmina Burana accompanies their ride in perfect harmony, chanting the lyrics from the medieval poem "O Fortuna". This is the stuff of legend...Artistic treatments of the Arthurian legends date back to illuminated codices from the Middle Ages. Thereafter the first, and one of the greatest, attempts to bring the stories into a novelistic form was written in the late 1400's by a knight, Sir Thomas Malory, entitled Le Morte d'Arthur ("The Death of Arthur") which is probably the most famous work of English letters proceeding Chaucer but before Shakespeare. Even later renditions include T.H. White's "The Once and Future King". By the 20th century, theatrical adaptations began appearing as well, including "Knights of the Round Table" (1953), Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), and the musical "Camelot" by Lerner and Lowe which was possibly the most popular rendition of the story before "Excalibur". These last renditions, although they have their appeal, cannot measure up to the movie "Excalibur" which was largely based upon Malory's original tome.Many here have detailed very well the merits of the film, and since most people know the story, I will keep this short. The reason why this is the best of the Arthurian-based films is its imagery and its dedication to the original Arthurian myths. The entire look of the film, which I have not seen in a movie since, reeks of Medieval Legend. The lush forests, the huge castles, and the glittering swords give a visual and dream-like reality. This is NOT how it was in the Middle Ages. This is how people in the Middle Ages would have liked it to have been, which is the entire point of the Arthurian myths. The filmmakers of Excalibur understood that myth is about dreams.Several moments in the film are inspired directly from Malory and earlier Medieval codices. For example, several Medieval illuminated manuscripts feature the hand of the Lady of the Lake bestowing the sword Excalibur to Arthur. Strangely this episode, which becomes an important theme throughout Excalibur, is lacking from other theatrical versions and yet it is central to the original myth. Another is the strange rhetoric that Arthur and the land are one, and when Arthur becomes ill, the land of his kingdom becomes barren. This concept was a widely held belief in the Middle Ages: that the sovereign was essentially married to the kingdom.Another aspect that makes this film outstanding is the portrayal of Merlin by Nicol Williamson. This was possibly the best Merlin ever to come to the large screen. Some of the most humorous moments of the film occur with Merlin. Instead of being the absent-minded wizard of "The Sword in the Stone", he is the last of the Druids, a race giving way to Medieval Christians. Worth the price of admission. It is sad that he obtained very little recognition for this portrayal.The fact is, a viewer either experiences "aesthetic arrest" with Excalibur, or he or she doesn't. If the scenes when the knights go riding through countryside with their pennants flying behind them doesn't give you the shivers, this is not and will never be your kind of movie. If Malory had lived to see this film, he would have been awed and proud. Malory gave Arthur to the world, and Excalibur gave Arthur back to Malory.

The 1981 film Excalibur is a gorgeous film that nearly perfectly blends action, philosophy, drama, fantasy and acting making Excalibur one of the best Author film adaptations to date. With it being the 21st century everyone should have at least heard the names King Author, Excalibur, Lancelot, Merlin and Camelot, and have so kind of knowledge of the Legend of King Author. Author is said to have been an English-Roman in around the 6th century, and who was most likely a descendent of the collapsing Roman Empire soldiers who stayed behind in England. According to legend Author rose quickly to prominence with his leadership ability and military tactics to surmount impossible odds to unite England, defeating the invading Saxons, and creating an empire that encompassed England, Norway, Ireland, Gual and Iceland. The compelling story quickly became popular as it spread across Europe, and certain authors added to the legend of Author by adding the myth of the Sword in the Stone, Lancelot and Merlin along with the fantasy elements. It is no wonder that the inspirational and fantastical story has inspired film and television adaptations like Quest for Camelot, Merlin, First Knight, The Last Legion to name a few, but few are on the level of John Boorman's Excalibur.Boorman's Excalibur is based on Thomas Malory's novel Le Morte d'Arthur, which is a compilation of stories about the life and times of King Author. Barrowman blends elements from each of the short stories into a two hour and twenty minute film that both hurts and helps his film. The story is quickly paced when it comes to events glossing over some character development like the crucial romance between Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) and Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi). The characters do not have a lot of screen time together and if not for the characters facial expressions and emotions you would not believe the two characters had any feelings what so ever for each other. With trying to push all the factual, fictional, mythical and fanciful elements of the legend of King Author being pushed into one film make for a compelling yet lackluster story. Thankfully for Barrowman he is aided by his cast which includes the who's who of Irish and English actors in Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson and the one and only Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Picard). These award winning actors along with the rest of the cast turn Excalibur from your run of the mill King Author/Medieval historical film into a compelling epic. The actors deliver their lines eloquently, and with passion breathing life into Excalibur.For a film that is twenty two years old, the action and effects hold up pretty well. Yes with the knights in all their armor make it easy for characters to get lost in the shuffle the action scenes, but the action makes up for it. The battles are well done and violent with characters having their arms cut off, eyes being pecked out by ravens and being decapitated and the effects especially hold up well considering the long period since the film was released. The wonderfully paced score was composed by Trevor Jones who wisely went to classical Carl Orff, and his masterpiece Carmina Burana, smartly used Orff's pieces for many of the battles and climatic sequences. Ireland is a gorgeous country, and is a beautiful place to film a film about King Author, which Excalibur was. The cinematography was simply gorgeous capturing all the different natural scenery of Ireland. Even with the slight flaws in the script John Boorman masterfully directs Excalibur getting the best out of his actors, and the film crew. Boorman could have worked on his editing of the film and the battles, but those are only minor flaws in what as I said was a masterful job of directing.Excalibur succeeds where many films like King Author, First Knight and the Last Legion failed with their adaptations of the Author Legend in creating a beautifully written yet flawed story with, excellent acting and charismatic actors along with gorgeously filmed cinematography, wonderfully choreographed battles, well-crafted directing and an epic score that makes Excalibur the best film based on the legend of Author. If there is one absolute must see film based on the stories of Author than Excalibur is it. Excalibur captures the feeling and essence of the legend nearly perfectly that I highly recommend Excalibur for anyone who is a fan of the Author stories or is just simply interested in a compelling medieval, historical and fanciful film.

innanzitutto grazie al servizio celere e ben curato da amazon ,per quanto riguarda il film spettacolare lo cercavo da tempo in dvd ,film d'altri tempi con scenografia e paesaggi stupendi da vedere per gli appassionati

Blijft een klassieker met goede soundtrack, ook het commentaar van Boorman is op zich wel interessant.Beeld ziet er goed uit , audio alleen 5.1 surround -puntje voor het ontbreken originele mix.en natuurlijke ondanks beloofde Nl ondertitel -punt voor afwezigheid daarvan op deze Italiaanse Blu-ray.Engels SDH doet het ook wel

Dvd fonctionnel. Une tres grande joie d'avoir récupérer ce film et de le revoir. La meilleure adaption de la légende du roi Arthur qui a ete faite au cinéma. Une photo magnifique, ne serait-ce que le fait de voire les armures des chevaliers (tres belles et scintillantes) dans la periode dorée de Camelot quand Arthur constitue la table ronde et prospère dans son royaume, et sales et limite rouillées pendant la quête du graal et les heures noires imposes par Morgane, la fée maléfique.Des acteurs confirmes de nos jours qui faisaient leurs premieres armes au cinéma tel Hélène Mirren, Liam Neeson ,Patrick Stewart ou Gabriel Byrne. Un scénario qui respecte la légende et arrive en, 2 h, a nous faire Re-découvrir le mythe,:de Uther Pendragon(le pere d'Arthur) qui demande a Merlin de prendre l'apparence de son enemi, pour coucher avec sa femme Igraine(incarnée par Katrine Boorman qui est magnifique) pour enfanter le futur roi, Merlin qui a vraiment l'apparence d'un druide et non pas l'image d'enchanteur incarnée par Walt Disney, le combat contre Lancelot du lac, tres épique et ou l'acteur Nicholas Claye y est beau comme Tom Cuise, la naissance de Mordred, le batard d'Arthur et de sa soeur qui causera sa perte, l'epee retiree du rocher, La Fee Viviane qui transmet Excalibur au roi, Guenievre(Cherry Lungi) qui, a cause de Morgane, Trompe Arthur avec Lancelot (refaisant vivre le conte de"Tristan et Iseult"). Tout est magnifique et je conseille a tous de redecouvrir ce film d'heroic Fantasy ou tout les fans de la serie" Kaamelott "pourront constater qu'Alexandre Asstier" a respecter le thème. Tres content

Always loved this movie and bought it on video then dvd and now blu-ray. Pity it was not remastered like a lot ofMovies but still a great movie

This film seared itself into my brain when I sneakily watched it late night on Channel 4 as a kid. THAT scene...and that one...oh, and that one. Fantastic soundtrack to boot!