King Arthur (2004)
Rule your fate.
Starring: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgård, Til Schweiger, Sean Gilder, Pat Kinevane, Ivano Marescotti, Ken Stott
Director: Antoine Fuqua
US MPAA rating: PG-13UK BBFC rating: 12a
Action, Adventure, Drama, War
In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius defeated the Sarmatians and sent a contingent of the survivors to serve under the prefect Lucius Artorius Castus in the outposts of Roman Britain. Some three centuries later, according to a hypothesis currently in vogue amongst Arthurian academics, when Rome had all but withdrawn from Britain, the descendants of these Sarmatian horsemen, led by a half-Roman half-British man also named Artorius Castus (quite possibly because he was related to the Roman prefect), united the Britons and fought off a Saxon invasion in a series of spectacular battles - and so the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table was born, accruing ever more fanciful episodes through the passage of time.
It is a legend that has been retold in many films, but Antoine Fuqua's 'King Arthur', scripted by David Franzoni, breaks new ground in trying to cast light on the Dark Ages history behind all the mythology. The sword named excalibur still has a place here, but it is now famed for its wielder rather than for any magical properties - and Arthur (Clive Owen) draws it from his father's tomb rather than from a stone. The 'round table' at which Arthur and the six Sarmatian knights meet on equal terms is not in some idealised Camelot castle, but in a military fort alongside Hadrian's wall. Merlin (Stephen Dillane) is no spell-casting wizard, but wise leader to the local Picts (or 'Woads', as they are called in the film) - and the quest for the Holy Grail, so prominent in the later, Christianised version of the legend, has here been replaced by personal struggles for faith and freedom. Yet even if old myths are rationalised and euhemerised in 'King Arthur', what replaces them is not history as such, but a whole new set of myths, where a highly speculative theory about the true identity of Arthur is freely dramatised in a plot spun together less from actual historical evidence (of which there is very little) than from Saving Private Ryan, 'The Seven Samurai' and 'The Magnificent Seven'.
Still, this grittier, more realistic Arthur is very much a myth for our own troubled times, with a mixed message perfectly in tune with the confusion of today's geopolitical situation. On the one hand, viewers are encouraged to cheer on a strange coalition of the willing against cartoon-evil barbarians - while on the other hand, we see Arthur's disillusionment as he discovers that the 'civilised' international power in which he has placed so much faith has been systematically torturing its perceived enemies. These contradictions are not deeply explored, let alone resolved, by 'King Arthur', but their obvious resonance with today's unfolding war on terrorism expands the film beyond the limited arena of Badon Hill (where the final battle takes place), refashioning ancient myth in the image of modern history.
'King Arthur' has its problems: the knights' seemingly endless discussions about freedom are too po-faced and go nowhere - although the far earthier comments of Bors (the excellent Ray Winstone) provide a welcome relief from this; and Keira Knightley has been cast as Guinevere merely to look good - certainly not to look convincing as a recent torture victim, nor to sound convincing as a Northern pagan. Yet 'King Arthur' is worth seeing for its impressive battle scenes - especially the face-off on a lake of cracking ice - and for Stellan Skarsgård, whose performance as Cerdic, the ruthless Saxon leader, is a masterclass in mumbling understatement that makes a potentially cardboard character come to life.
It's Got: A Saxon leader who forbids his invading forces to rape the local women because of the horrific possibility of Anglo-Saxon offspring; seven men and one woman standing up against a whole army on a lake that is iced over.
It Needs: A little more magic in its writing; and for Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) and Galahad (Hugh Dancy) to be easier to tell apart.
Alternatives: 'Excalibur', 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, 'The Seven Samurai', 'The Magnificent Seven'
Summary: Arthur demythologised and remythologised, but still in need of a little screenwriting magic.
External Links
Official Web Site
King Arthur at the IMDB
Comments34 Comments |
| i can't wait tosee it |
| Comment by:- Jessie Reeves | | 27 July 2004 | ip: logged |
| stupid movie don't waste your time |
| Comment by:- aussie | | 29 July 2004 | ip: logged |
| that sucks! |
| Comment by:- a | a | 01 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| y IS KEIRA mNIGHTLY IN EVERY SINGLE MOVIE NOW. |
| Comment by:- BROWNEYEDBEAUTY | | 03 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| SOUNDS A GREAT MOVIE THOUGH |
| Comment by:- Gorgeous gal | | 03 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| quality film, not an over the top american effects fest. gritty and real. |
| Comment by:- arthur | | 03 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Don't forget your basting tay, it's a turkey |
| Comment by:- Chris | | 06 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Entertaining and compared with other movies about the Aurthurian Legend, it is belivable |
| Comment by:- Geordie | | 07 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| very, very bad and overhyped movie! don't waste your time seeing it! |
| Comment by:- Erik | | 08 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| This is not the way archaeologists really see it! Slightly entertaining but characters a bit one-dimensional. Love Clive Owen though, very sexy ;) |
| Comment by:- sue | | 11 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| it is so cool mads mikkelsen and ioan gruffudd are so so so hot i cood see it again . |
| Comment by:- chelsea saunders | | 13 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| I have watched the film three times and have enjoyed it very much each time. Besides a couple of continuity errors the film throws the whole Arthurian legends into a spin and comes up with a whole new set of questions. I have attended lecturers given by some of the world's greatest thinkers in Arthurian legend and I would love to know what they think about this. Anyway, it's hard not to feel for the knights and Arthur as they struggle to find their way in the world and the battle scenes were magnificent as they were 'real' instead of CGI animated. Well done and thanks for the flight of fancy |
| Comment by:- Naomi Smith | | 13 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| It was absolutely awful. Once a new actress with a pretty face comes along Kiera Knightely (who is hilariously awful in this) will be old news. |
| Comment by:- Carys | | 15 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| They completely destroyed the legend. Arthur was NOT a peasant living in a village whose mother was killed by Merlin--HE WAS UTHER PENDRAGON'S SON!!!!!! Guinevere was not a peasant either, and why the heck was she fighting!!! The actors were horrible, the plot sucked, Galahad was supposed to be Lancelot's son, the battle sceens were incredibly aweful, I couldn't tell what was going on, nothing was explained throughly enough for stupid people like me, it was incredibly corny, and Merlin, oh my God, Merlin. He's supposed to be a sorcerer. NONE of that was in the movie!!!! What a waiste of a dollar!!! I can't believe I waisted two hours of my friday afternoon on that!! This is by far the suckiest movie I have ever seen!!! They made Guinevere look like a total slut and the way they TRIED to have the love triangle was aweful!!! King Arthur is the worst movie I have ever seen!!!! |
| Comment by:- Kingarthurmoviehater | | 20 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Totally embarassing!!, One of the worst films I've ever seen |
| Comment by:- SteveR | | 25 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Arthur is HOT ;9 |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 25 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| arthur is not hot he just has that manly rugged look i loved that movie |
| Comment by:- ghostkitty | none | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| absolute crap! badly acted with a nonsensical storyline that did not flow. Lancelot was a wet. |
| Comment by:- Andrew | | 03 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| the movie is not supposed to be like the legend. it is the story that INSPIRED the legend! can't you guys get that? how redundant can you get?! it was GREAT!!! |
| Comment by:- smilesmilesmile | | 14 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| AH COMEON!!! (/b> I want to see it but i dont really know if will compensate my money and time. |
| Comment by:- CloudcamaleonIV | | 26 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| LALALA lololo |
| Comment by:- asda | | 26 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| lalalalelelelililiiar iar iar |
| Comment by:- sdasd | | 26 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| hemhem...all these insultors of a great movie! and noone rites a comment for troy. hmph! wats the world coming to??? anyways, i reckon the movie was pretty good. (not as good as Troy or brad pitt though) Btw, has anyone seen a cinderella story, is it good? ok..King arthur rox! |
| Comment by:- Yvette, Sydney | | 08 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Tristan was awesome though. |
| Comment by:- Heather | | 03 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| ur bunch of stupid people who dont know good movies and what they are supposed to be like .... King Arthur is one heck of a good movie and i liked it.And to all of those people who cant tell a good movie from a bad movie u should learn to tell a movie from a good movie from a bad one..... and learn to write comments |
| Comment by:- random guy | | 08 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| IMO The only good thing about that movie was Mads Mikkelsen (who plays Tristan). Great character! The scenes that are meant to give goosebumps do nothing for me, it just doesn't come across. They should've made the movie longer so they wouldn't have needed all those corny dialogues. Besides that, Clive Owen overacts in almost every single scene! :( |
| Comment by:- Blue Coffee | | 05 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I wish the story line had followed the late Rosemary Sutcliffe's "Sword at Sunset" An excellent book on the historical King Arthur. |
| Comment by:- Spencer Davis | | 27 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| That is the best movie on earth and evr sense my dad bought it on DVD i can't stop watching it!!! |
| Comment by:- King Arthur Grl | | 29 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| The best freakin' movie in the freakin' world! |
| Comment by:- Ani | | 01 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| I loved it..cant stop watching it :) It's different from what I expected but it was good anyhow, you ppl need to get over the fact that it's NOT the legend. Tristan and Lancelot were the best! |
| Comment by:- youwish | | 02 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| Chick flick / 10 year old boy cartoon storyline. Absolutely cliche. Doesn't matter that it doesn't follow the legend, it still totally sucked. There's a million other movies out there exactly the same. Can we say FROMAGE? |
| Comment by:- Pappy | | 03 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| Quite violent and bloody for a kids movie. |
| Comment by:- Senor | | 03 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| I've watch King Arthur 4 times. I enjoyed it very much but I think it didn't have the impact I thought it would. Compared to all the hype its made for promotion ths movie isn't half as good as the book (written by Frank Thomson) based on the screenplay. Most of the knights lack character (in exception for Tristin, he was the best!!) and the scenes don't tend to deliver much. I also found that the scenes when Arthur was a boy should have been placed more at the beginning. It wasn't the only time a scene as such seemed useless because for some of us, it got confusing and random. But in all, with maybe a bit more of a well sequenced storyline its quite a piece of work by Fuqua. |
| Comment by:- brotha44 | | 26 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| Loved Mads Mikkelsen - greatest Danish actor EVER ! Loved him , loved him , LOVED HIM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes , he was the all time highlight for me in that movie , but I also really liked all the beautiful horses they used in too . Especially MM.'s horse , a very cute dapple gray gelding , who looked like he was still pretty young . And of course you had to feel sorry for poor Ioan Gruffudd ( also very hot , but not as hot as MM. ) , who was given a VERY tempermental horse to ride , and who ( the horse ) would act like a total BUTT HEAD when he was SUPPOSED to be acting better ! Silly pony ! |
| Comment by:- Tristan | | 27 January 2005 | ip: logged |
