Our favourite Restitutor Orbis is Returning ! (AKA TheKing Arthur review thread)

[Mahdi]

Thought I'd post this now, just so I can say I started it and edit this so my review is first come wensday :P

Although I could probably write a review right now.

Hmm, let's try....

You have to watch this film as three seperate entities.  Just as a film (the hardest of the three for myself and other Arthurian fans), an accurate biography of Lucius Artorius Castus, and finally an accurate portrayal of "The Truth behind the Legend" of King Arthur.

By claiming to be the truth behind the legend, it msut be judged as such.  No one knows the truth behind the legend, and claiming this film is the truth automatically means it fails as the third entity mentioned earlier.  You don't even have to watch the film or the trailers to know this.

One failure out of three.

Another way it must be judged is as an accurate representation of the life of Lucius Artorius Castus.  Again, because this film claims to be "the truth" it must be held to higher standards than other films about historical individuals, such as Braveheart.

Again, it fails.

I'm not going to go in depth with this because, well, if you want to learn more about Lucius all you have to do is google him and you'll find many a biography.  Lets jsut do this the quick way:  He wasn't a slave forced to fight, he didn't command six knights named Lancelot, Galahad, Tristan, Bors, Dagonet, and Tristan, he didn't marry a woman named Guenever, he wasn't sent to Britain by the Pope to protect a baby king and kill all the heathens (he was acutally putting down a rebellion) and, most importantly, HE LIVED IN THE SECOND CENTURY, NOT THE FIFTH!  I wonder what people would say of a biography of Washington if they set him in the 21st century fighting mind controlling brain slugs from the planet Will's Basement....

I mean, nothing.

That's enough of that.  Ya get the main points.

Two failures out of three.

Finally, and most importantly, was it a good movie?

Even if the other two failed, and that damn marketing campaign prevented it from being anything special, it could still be a damn entertaining movie.  Bruickheimer, when he's good, can put out a damn fine popcorn flick.

Meh.

It's ok.  No film could be all that great when it was filmed for an R-rating and was cut down to PG-13 in the editing room so it could appeal to the Pirates of the Carribbean crowd.

The action is tame compared to past epics, even of the last year (Troy, Last Samurai) and earlier (Gladiator, Braveheart).

The plot just plain bad.

The acting and dialogue were impressive though.  With a cast headed by Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, and Iaon Gruffed (or however you spell that) you can't go wrong.  The dialuge was typical Bruickheimer, with some cringe-worthy lines and soem other pretty damn good ones.  Luckily there were more of the latter than the former.

Some of the better ones:

"Imagine how quiet the world would be if everyones throat was slit."

-Galahad.  Not original, but still cool.

"The gifts the Gods gave me I use in battle or bed."

-Gawain.  Not all that clever, but a nice throwback to the ladies man of legend. 

Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you."

-Guenevere.  I only think I like this one because I keep comparing it to "Try wearing a corset!"

So, yeah, if you can get past the horrible marketing campaign I suggestyou give this a shot when it hits DVD.  Which probably won't be to long from now since it's bombing horribly.

In another note, I would kill to see a version (any version) that made Arthur the Red Ravager of the Welsh Triads and the greatest of the Nine Notables (Warrior Kings:  3 Pagan, 3 Jewish, 3 Christian) of Medival times.  Getting tired of everyone making Arthur just about the weakest of his Knights. 

There's probably a reason why when the Welsh list the three greatest killers of all time, they state at the end that none of them can compare to the greatest Red Ravager of all, Arthur....

Note:  I have not seen this film.  This is an advanced review just for the fun of it.  My real review will probably be up Wensday night.

[Mahdi]

Now I've seen the movie, here's a real review.  It's all jumbled as I just watched it, but bear (hehe) with me.

Ok, short form:  This movie is very good.  Few really cheesy moments "RIDE LANCELOT!"  and the horses at the end are two examples, but they were pretty rare.  The dialogue is excellent, although the plot is a little on the light side.  I was surprised to discover (through coments like "Ghilly" and the gate-locking scene, which is derived from the Welsh material of a gatekeeper who locked Arthur out) that the people behind this movie probably did do there homework, they just decided to ignore it.

Loved the ending when Arthur goes down and the Saxon (Was that supposed to be Aelle?) takes his sweet time getting ready to decapitate him and Arthur just stabs the guy and stands up showing he'd faked the guy out.  Laughed outloud at that.

Also thought they did a good (not great, but good) job with the "Uter" (means both "Wonderful" and "terrible".  Historians tend to ignore the "terrible" part, but I think they are really missing out on some important comment about Arthurs character by doing so.  He was the greatest Red Ravager of all, ya know) juxtaposition of Arthur's character.  An Idealist who believes in important things and is great to those he protects and need his help but terrible on the field of battle and when facing his enemies.  The scene where he orders the priests walled up showed this pretty well, especially with the Saxon (again, Aelle?) ordering the exact same thing.  Really drove home the point.

Thought the acting was great too, in particular Clive Owen.  Also liked how rough the Knights all were.

Biggest problem (besides the whole history thing) was the editing.  This film was made with a hard "R" in mind.  After production ended Bruckheimer changed his mind and decided to edit it down to PG-13.  This causes some bad cuts during fight scenes.

I also have to ask forgiveness for my comment on this being a biography of Lucuis Castus Artoris.  It's not.  This Arthur is his great-great-great-etc. grandson, and in this story an Arthur, with a band of Samartian Knights, has gaurded the Wall ever since Lucuis put down the rebellion.  Everyone has also died in combat.

Pure BS, but at least they arn't making him 300 years old.

Historically, it was horrible.  Luckily I forgot about the whole "Truth behind the legend" tagline a few minutes after, so it didn't bother me too much.  Still, for those of you who have problems seperating such things (coughbootscough) yer gonna flip out and attack the screen pretty damn quickly.  Hated it when I walked out and heard people say "So that's what really happened."  Wanted to smash them....

All in all, A very entertaining movie, well worth watching.  A good summer film with a vague plot, some nice visuals (the Ice fight) and great lines.  When the unrated directors cut DVD hits the stores, I'm gonna buy it. 

Btw, in the movie, Keira says "I won't let them rape you" to Lancelot.

[Dunenewt]

I haven't read much about this over here, is it out in the UK?