Although much-reviled on release, KING ARTHR gains a new lease of life when you view the Director's Cut of it. From a kiddie-friendly family film, it has been transformed into a gory, gritty adventure in which the blood sprays across the scene in frequent bursts and people are beheaded left right and centre. Dispensing with the mystical medieval aspects of the story, in this version the film takes place in a wild and untamed England, inhabited by the Woads and the Romans, who have decided to leave. The enemy are the Saxons, led by true Saxon Stellan Skarsgaard.
KING ARTHUR is an old-fashioned story which questions religion, free will and man's calling in life. As a film, it looks very good, with excellent choreography in the battle scenes and fine camera-work all round. The Irish locations are wonderfully picturesque and the wildness of the elements is put across very plainly, as our heroes battles snow, ice and freezing rain. The plot, as many have mentioned, bears a little resemblance to THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, but that's the case with plenty of movies anyway. Production values are high as is the testosterone evident, with a shouty Ray Winstone on good form and Clive Owen as a rugged, working class Arthur. Sadly, Owen's acting is a little stilted, and he is outdone at virtually every turn by the excellent Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot. A cast of British regulars pad out the leads and the attractive Keira Knightley ably supplies the love interest.
Action fans will be here for the battle sequences, which are impressive and carry on in the recent tradition of TROY, THE LAST SAMURAI, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and others. The battles are bloody and frenetic, true life-or-death down-and-dirty fighting, with clever tactics. The best moment of the film has to be the battle on an iced-over lake, which progresses pretty much the way you would expect, and is very much the better for it. The climactic battle is worth waiting for and seems undeniably epic. KING ARTHUR doesn't equal the status of rivals like BRAVEHEART, but it does prove to be a generally good film that is definitely worth a watch.
KING ARTHUR is an old-fashioned story which questions religion, free will and man's calling in life. As a film, it looks very good, with excellent choreography in the battle scenes and fine camera-work all round. The Irish locations are wonderfully picturesque and the wildness of the elements is put across very plainly, as our heroes battles snow, ice and freezing rain. The plot, as many have mentioned, bears a little resemblance to THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, but that's the case with plenty of movies anyway. Production values are high as is the testosterone evident, with a shouty Ray Winstone on good form and Clive Owen as a rugged, working class Arthur. Sadly, Owen's acting is a little stilted, and he is outdone at virtually every turn by the excellent Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot. A cast of British regulars pad out the leads and the attractive Keira Knightley ably supplies the love interest.
Action fans will be here for the battle sequences, which are impressive and carry on in the recent tradition of TROY, THE LAST SAMURAI, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and others. The battles are bloody and frenetic, true life-or-death down-and-dirty fighting, with clever tactics. The best moment of the film has to be the battle on an iced-over lake, which progresses pretty much the way you would expect, and is very much the better for it. The climactic battle is worth waiting for and seems undeniably epic. KING ARTHUR doesn't equal the status of rivals like BRAVEHEART, but it does prove to be a generally good film that is definitely worth a watch.