Movie Review : Excalibur (1981)

If you are fiending for the Renaissance Fair and just don't know where to get your fix, the best thing to do is rent the movie Excalibur. This movie is full of great knights battling for the Queen's honor, feasting, and very pretty pale-skinned ladies with long maiden-like hair.

For the past decade we've been drummed in the head by a thick helping of contrived fantasy made for TV shows and movies that have both harmed and hurt the "fantasy" industry. While it is good that there has been renewed interest in Renaissance Fairs, movies like the Lord of the Rings, and Fantasy RPG's, we've been cursed with some of the worst movies and TV shows of all time. Beastmaster, Zeena-and more movies than I can count-come to mind.

Well, before all of that there was an amazing movie called Excalibur. This movie single handedly spurred the imaginations of fantasy fans for years to come and is the benchmark against which all other fantasy movies stand.

Excalibur is a movie about King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for peace in the kingdom. King Arthur must find the Holy Grail and vanquish his evil son, Mordred, in order to do so.

Excalibur was released in 1981 and reads like a violent, passionate play. While some of the scenes are a bit cheesy even for my standards, the dialogue is honest and the actors seem to have fully bought into the world of King Arthur and his knights.

Helen Mirrin get's into the mix as King Arthur's sinister sister, Morgana. She is quite the epitome of beauty and evil, and she was the girl of my dreams as a young D&D'er *blush*. Nigel Terry plays a solid King Arthur, the ever troubled King of Camelot. Let's not forget appearances by Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson as knights serving under King Arthur.

Nicol Williamson plays a wonderfully cynical Merlin who is trying to save the kingdom from ruin even as his power fades into antiquity. This is easily the best performance in the movie and is quite a treat. (Williamson was considered by many to be the greatest actor of his times in the 60's and 70's, but because of his eccentricities he never quite made it as far as he could have).

Despite the fact that there were virtually no special effects in this movie, many of the battle scenes still stand up to today's GCI-heavy movies. In the last battle of Excalibur, Lancelot returns to his King after a long absence, smashing through foes, coating his wild beard with blood. It always gives me chills watching that scene and proves that great acting and timing can easily stand above GCI.

Excalibur is a beautifully shot film, dreary yet vivid. There are scenes where the knights' armor stands in stark contrast to the harsh world around them. There is skillful use of light in this movie as it glances off of Excalibur in a myriad of colors, and the sunset as it reaches across a wide and bloody battlefield while the ocean roars in the distance.

Get your Renaissance fix early. Rent Excalibur.

As a classic film, I give this one a 8 out of 10.