Highlighted by lush photography and fine performances.

This was one of my favourite movies in my youth. Sadly looking back it really doesn't hold up as much as I would have liked. The cast is mixed in terms of quality as some actors are superb and others are merely "OK." Historically, and mythic, accuracy is certainly tossed aside for a more entertaining account of King Arthur and his knights. Still it's great to see some of the visceral combat between two men fully decked in plate mail.

A film with great atmosphere that does an astonishingly good job of telling the whole story of the Arthurian legend in a little more than two hours. This is a pagan Britain, and Merlin--memorably played by Nicol Williamson--is clearly in charge. Helen Mirren is very good--and very lovely--as Morgana.

Overblown and gaudy, with an infamous fully-armored sex scene. Real knights didn't even walk around in theirs. Beautiful scenery and some sharp performances make up for failed narrative.

741

thou will thinketh they maketh too many films on this subject....

A nightmarish, brutal, exquisite fantasy tale, exactly the type of treatment the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table deserved. The characters are all relatively bland, and there's no depth or deeper allegory to the tale, as there was in the original stories, but a damn good film nonetheless.

Magnificently cheesy with a fun cast including Captain Picard, Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne. Excalibur tells the story very well, despite some pacing issues and a lack of character focus.